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)

⁸ To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain unmarried as I am.^{(B) 9} But if they are not practicing self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.^(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)

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,^{(E) 33} but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife, 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.^{(F) 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.