⁸ To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain unmarried as I am.^(A)

³² I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord,^(A)

³⁴ and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the Lord, so that they may be holy in body and spirit, but the married woman is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband.^{(A) 35} I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.

²⁶ I think that, in view of the impending^[a] crisis,^[b] it is good for you to remain as you are.^{(A) 27} Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

⁷ I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has a particular gift from God, one having one kind and another a different kind.^(A)

Directions concerning Marriage

7 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.”