1 Corinthians 7:40

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.

¹Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman.

⁸But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am.

³⁶What!? Was it from you that the word of God went out? Or did it come to you alone?

³⁷If any man thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize the things which I write to you, that they are the commandment of the Lord.

⁶But this I say by way of concession, not of commandment.

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.

⁸Therefore he who rejects this doesn’t reject man, but God, who has also given his Holy Spirit to you.

¹Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Aren’t you my work in the Lord? ²If to others I am not an apostle, yet at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³My defense to those who examine me is this:

⁸For even if I boast somewhat abundantly concerning our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for casting you down, I will not be ashamed, ⁹that I may not seem as if I desire to terrify you by my letters. ¹⁰For, “His letters”, they say, “are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is despised.”

¹¹I have become foolish in boasting. You compelled me, for I ought to have been commended by you, for I am in no way inferior to the very best apostles, though I am nothing.