²⁰ Each person should remain in the condition he was in when he was called.

²¹ Were you a slave when you were called? Well, don’t let it bother you; although if you can gain your freedom, take advantage of the opportunity. ²² For a person who was a slave when he was called is the Lord’s freedman; likewise, someone who was a free man when he was called is a slave of the Messiah. ²³ You were bought at a price, so do not become slaves of other human beings. ²⁴ Brothers, let each one remain with God in the condition in which he was called.

²⁵ Now the question about the unmarried: I do not have a command from the Lord, but I offer an opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is worthy to be trusted. ²⁶ I suppose that in a time of stress like the present it is good for a person to stay as he is. ²⁷ That means that if a man has a wife, he should not seek to be free of her; and if he is unmarried, he should not look for a wife. ²⁸ But if you marry you do not sin, and if a girl marries she does not sin. It is just that those who get married will have the normal problems of married life, and I would rather spare you. ²⁹ What I am saying, brothers, is that there is not much time left: from now on a man with a wife should live as if he had none — ³⁰ and those who are sad should live as if they weren’t, those who are happy as if they weren’t, ³¹ and those who deal in worldly affairs as if not engrossed in them — because the present scheme of things in this world won’t last much longer. ³² What I want is for you to be free of concern. An unmarried man concerns himself with the Lord’s affairs, ³³ with how to please the Lord; but the married man concerns himself with the world’s affairs, with how to please his wife; ³⁴ and he finds himself split. Likewise the woman who is no longer married or the girl who has never been married concerns herself with the Lord’s affairs, with how to be holy both physically and spiritually; but the married woman concerns herself with the world’s affairs, with how to please her husband. ³⁵ I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to put restrictions on you — I am simply concerned that you live in a proper manner and serve the Lord with undivided devotion.

³⁶ Now if a man thinks he is behaving dishonorably by treating his fiancée this way, and if there is strong sexual desire, so that marriage is what ought to happen; then let him do what he wants — he is not sinning: let them get married. ³⁷ But if a man has firmly made up his mind, being under no compulsion but having complete control over his will, if he has decided within himself to keep his fiancée a virgin, he will be doing well. ³⁸ So the man who marries his fiancée will do well, and the man who doesn’t marry will do better.

³⁹ A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives, but if the husband dies she is free to marry anyone she wishes, provided he is a believer in the Lord. ⁴⁰ However, in my opinion, she will be happier if she remains unmarried, and in saying this I think I have God’s Spirit.