⁸ Now to the unmarried^[a] and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.^{(A) 9} But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry,^(B) for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

²⁷ Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife.^(A)

²⁹ What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short.^(A) From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; ³⁰ those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; ³¹ those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.^(B)