may give
yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that Satan
doesn’t tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
6 But this I say by way of concession, not of commandment. 7 Yet I wish
that all men were like me. However each man has his own gift from God, one of
this kind, and another of that kind. 8 But I say to the unmarried and to
widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am. 9 But if they
don’t have self-control, let them marry. For it’s better to marry than to
burn. 10 But to the married I command — not I, but the Lord — that the
wife not leave her husband 11 (but if she departs, let her remain
unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband not
leave his wife.
12 But to the rest I — not the Lord — say, if any brother has an
unbelieving wife, and she is content to live with him, let him not leave her.
13 The woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he is content to live
with her, let her not leave her husband. 14 For the unbelieving husband is
sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the
husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now are they holy.
15 Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or
the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in
peace. 16 For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband?
Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? 17 Only, as
the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him
walk. So I command in all the assemblies.
18 Was anyone called having been circumcised? Let him not become
uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not be
circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing,
but the keeping of the commandments of God. 20 Let each man stay in that
calling in which he was called. 21 Were you called being a bondservant?
Don’t let that bother you, but if you get an opportunity to become free, use
it. 22 For he who was called in the Lord being a bondservant is the Lord’s
free man. Likewise he who was called being free is Christ’s bondservant.
23 You were bought with a price. Don’t become bondservants of men.
24 Brothers, let each man, in whatever condition he was called, stay in
that condition with God.
25 Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give
my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be trustworthy.
26 I think that it is good therefore, because of the distress that is on
us, that it is good for a man to be as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife?
Don’t seek to be freed. Are you free from a wife? Don’t seek a wife.
28 But if you marry, you have not sinned. If a virgin marries, she has not
sinned. Yet such will have oppression in the flesh, and I want to spare you.
29 But I say this, brothers: the time is short, that from now on, both
those who have wives may be as though they had none; 30 and those who
weep, as though they didn’t weep; and those who rejoice, as though they
didn’t rejoice; and those who buy, as though they didn’t possess; 31 and
those who use the world, as not using it to the fullest. For the mode of this
world passes away. 32 But I desire to have you to be free from cares. He
who is unmarried is concerned for the things of the Lord, how he may please
the Lord; 33 but he who is married is concerned about the things of the
world, how he may please his wife. 34 There is also a difference between a
wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord,
that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares
about the things of the world — how she may please her husband. 35 This I
say for your own profit; not that I may ensnare you, but for that which is
appropriate, and that you may attend to the Lord without distraction.
36 But if any man thinks that he is behaving inappropriately toward his
virgin, if she is past the flower of her age, and if need so requires, let
him do what he desires. He doesn’t sin. Let them marry. 37 But he who
stands steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but has power over his
own heart, to keep his own virgin, does well. 38 So then both he who gives
his own virgin in marriage does well, and he who doesn’t give her in marriage
does better. 39 A wife is bound by law for as long as her husband lives;
but if the husband is dead, she is free to be married to whoever she desires,
only in the Lord. 40 But she is happier if she stays as she is, in my
judgment, and I think that I also have God’s Spirit.
World English Bible - Public Domain