¹⁰ The^[a] disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

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) 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.^{(B) 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.

¹¹ But refuse to put younger widows on the list, for when their sensual desires alienate them from Christ, they want to marry, ¹² and so they incur condemnation for having violated their first pledge. ¹³ Besides that, they learn to be idle, gadding about from house to house, and they are not merely idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not say.^{(A) 14} So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, and manage their households, so as to give the adversary no occasion to revile us.^{(B) 15} For some have already turned away to follow Satan.

³ They forbid marriage and abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.^(A)

³⁹ A wife is bound as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies,^[a] she is free to marry anyone she wishes, only in the Lord.^{(A) 40} But in my opinion she is more blessed if she remains as she is. And I think that I, too, have the Spirit of God.

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

Directions concerning Marriage

7 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.” ² But because of cases of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.