1Now about the things you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
2Yet to avoid sexual sin, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
3Let the husband give his wife what is due to her, and let the wife do the same for her husband.
4The wife does not have authority over her own body; her husband does. In the same way the husband does not have authority over his own body; his wife does.
5Do not keep yourselves from one another, unless you both agree to it for a time, so that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because you lack self-control.
6I say this as something allowed, not as a command.
7I wish that all people were as I am myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one of this kind, another of that.
8So I say to the unmarried and to widows: it is good for them if they stay as I am.
9But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. It is better to marry than to burn.
10To the married I give this command - not I, but the Lord: the wife must not leave her husband.
11But if she does leave, she must stay unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband. And the husband must not send his wife away.
12To the rest I speak, not the Lord: if any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, he must not send her away.
13And if a woman has a husband who does not believe, and he is willing to live with her, she must not leave him.
14For the unbelieving husband is made holy by his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy by her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean; but as it is, they are holy.
15But if the one who does not believe leaves, let him leave. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called us to peace.
16For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
17But as God has given to each one, and as the Lord has called each one, so let him live. This is what I order in all the churches.
18Was any man circumcised when he was called? He should not try to undo it. Was any man called while uncircumcised? He should not be circumcised.
19Circumcision is nothing, and being uncircumcised is nothing. What matters is keeping God's commandments.
20Let everyone stay in the state he was in when he was called.
21Were you a servant when you were called? Do not let it trouble you. But if you can become free, take the chance.
22For the one who was a servant when the Lord called him is the Lord's free man. In the same way, the one who was free when he was called is Christ's servant.
23You were bought with a price. Do not become the servants of men.
24Brothers and sisters, let each one stay with God in the state he was in when he was called.
25Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord. But I give my own judgment, as one who has received mercy from the Lord to be faithful.
26So I think this is good, because of the present trouble - I say it is good for a person to stay as he is.
27Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be set free. Are you free from a wife? Do not look for a wife.
28But if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have trouble in this life, and I would spare you that.
29This I say, brothers and sisters: the time is short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none;
30and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they owned nothing;
31and those who use this world, as though they did not make full use of it. For the way this world is shaped is passing away.
32I want you to be free from worry. The unmarried man cares for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord.
33But the married man cares for the things of the world, how he may please his wife.
34There is a difference too between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in body and in spirit. But the married woman cares for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
35I say this for your own good, not to put a trap on you, but for what is right, so that you may serve the Lord without being pulled away.
36But if any man thinks he is not acting properly toward his virgin, if she is past the flower of her age, and there is need, let him do what he wants. He does not sin. Let them marry.
37But the man who stands firm in his heart, who is under no pressure, who has control over his own will, and who has decided in his heart to keep his virgin as she is, does well.
38So then the one who gives her in marriage does well, but the one who does not give her in marriage does better.
39A wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry whoever she wishes, only in the Lord.
40But in my judgment she is happier if she stays as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.