⁶ This I say by way of concession, not of command.^{(A) 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.^(B)

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

The Unmarried and the Widows

²⁵ Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.^{(A) 26} I think that, in view of the impending^[a] crisis,^[b] it is good for you to remain as you are.^{(B) 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 marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in the flesh, and I would spare you that. ²⁹ I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none,^{(C) 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 as though they had no possessions, ³¹ and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.^(D)