But didn’t Paul say for divorced persons to remain unmarried or be reconciled?

This argument of Paul is found in I Corinthians 7:10-11. In this place, he repeated the teaching of Jesus from Matthew 5:31-32 and 19:3-9. The issuer is two believers in the same church, for that is all Jesus ever dealt with, and Paul did not contradict the Lord’s allowance for divorce for sexual sins. These two believers had divorced for wrong reasons (they are stated to now be unmarried), and they should not remarry for that would preclude any possible reconciliation. Two believers wrongly divorced should reconcile. Paul dealt with mixed marriages, which Jesus had not done, in I Corinthians 7:12-16.