^20 (A)Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. ²¹ Were you a bondservant^[a] when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) ²² For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is ^(B)a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is ^(C)a bondservant of Christ. ^23 (D)You were bought with a price; ^(E)do not become bondservants of men. ²⁴ So, brothers,^{[b] (F)}in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

The Unmarried and the Widowed

²⁵ Now concerning^[c] the betrothed,^{[d] (G)}I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as ^(H)one who by the Lord's mercy is ^(I)trustworthy. ²⁶ I think that in view of the present^[e] distress ^(J)it is good for a person to remain as he is. ²⁷ Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸ But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman^[f] marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. ²⁹ This is what I mean, brothers: ^(K)the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, ³⁰ and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy ^(L)as though they had no goods, ³¹ and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For ^(M)the present form of this world is passing away.