Principles of Marriage

7 Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me:

^(A)It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

⁸ But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: ^(A)It is good for them if they remain even as I am;

²⁶ I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress—^(A)that it is good for a man to remain as he is: ²⁷ Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

³⁷ Nevertheless he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but has power over his own will, and has so determined in his heart that he will keep his ^[a]virgin, does well. ^38 (A)So then he who gives ^[b]her in marriage does well, but he who does not give her in marriage does better.

¹⁰ His disciples said to Him, ^(A)“If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

Jesus Teaches on Celibacy

¹¹ But He said to them, ^(B)“All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:

⁶ And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For ^(A)I also withheld you from sinning ^(B)against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.

⁹ Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.”