A comparison of virial theory and perturbation theory for spherical molecules is presented. A new equation of state is derived. This new model has the exact second virial coefficient behavior, converges to the correct mean-field behavior at high densities, acid successfully interpolates between these two limits. This new equation of state is applied to molecules that interact via the Lennard-Jones potential. Comparison is made with computer simulation results for the configurational energy, the compressibility factor, and the second virial coefficient of Lennard-Jones molecules.