Thursday, July 16, 2026

^7:24Brothers, let each man, in whatever condition he was called, stay in that condition with God. ²⁵Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be trustworthy. ²⁶Therefore I think that because of the distress that is on us, it’s good for a man to remain as he is. ²⁷Are you bound to a wife? Don’t seek to be freed. Are you free from a wife? Don’t seek a wife. ²⁸But if you marry, you have not sinned. If a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have oppression in the flesh, and I want to spare you. ²⁹But I say this, brothers: the time is short. From now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none; ³⁰and those who weep, as though they didn’t weep; and those who rejoice, as though they didn’t rejoice; and those who buy, as though they didn’t possess; ³¹and those who use the world, as not using it to the fullest. For the mode of this world passes away. ³²But I desire to have you to be free from cares. He who is unmarried is concerned for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; ³³but he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife. ³⁴There is also a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. ³⁵This I say for your own benefit, not that I may ensnare you, but for that which is appropriate, and that you may attend to the Lord without distraction.

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^15:12Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” ¹³But he answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.” ¹⁵Peter answered him, “Explain the parable to us.” ¹⁶So Jesus said, “Do you also still not understand? ¹⁷Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly and then out of the body? ¹⁸But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man. ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies. ²⁰These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands doesn’t defile the man.” ²¹Jesus went out from there and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon.

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