What I am saying in regard to this boastful confidence, I am saying not with the Lord's authority, but as a fool;
To the rest I say—I and not the Lord—that if any believer has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.
Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.
This I say by way of concession, not of command.
I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me!
otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—in this undertaking.