But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
Parallel translations
- WEB But 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;
- KJV But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:
- BSB I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord.
- NKJV But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord.
- NLT I want you to be free from the concerns of this life. An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord’s work and thinking how to please him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul wants believers free from anxious cares; the unmarried person can give undivided attention to pleasing the Lord. Singleness can offer a focus that benefits devotion.
Overview
Here Paul gives the positive reason behind his counsel toward singleness: freedom for undistracted service. The unmarried believer has fewer competing obligations and can concentrate on the Lord's concerns. This is not a claim that single people are holier, but that their circumstances can allow a particular undividedness of devotion—a gift to be valued rather than pitied.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Matt 6:25–34Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
- 1 Tim 5:5Now she who is a widow indeed, and desolate, has her hope set on God, and continues in petitions and prayers night and day.
- Phil 4:6In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
- Ps 55:22Cast your burden on Yahweh, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
- Matt 13:22What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 7:32 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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