725Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord,
but I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is
trustworthy.
26I think then that this is good in view of
the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is.
27Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released.
Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
28But
if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has
not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying
to spare you.
29But this I say, brethren, the time has
been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be
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 did not possess;
31and
those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it;
for the form of this world is passing away.
32But I want
you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about
the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
33but
one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how
he may please his wife,
34and
his interests are
divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned
about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and
spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the
world, how she may please her husband.
35This I say for
your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote
what is appropriate and
to secure undistracted devotion to
the Lord.
36But if any man thinks that he is acting unbecomingly
toward his virgin daughter, if she is past her youth, and if
it must be so, let him do what he wishes, he does not sin; let her
marry. 37But he who stands firm in his heart, being under
no constraint, but has authority over his own will, and has decided
this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin daughter, he
will do well. 38So then both he who gives his own virgin
daughter in marriage does well, and he who does not give her
in marriage will do better.
39A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if
her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes,
only in the Lord. 40But in my opinion she is happier if
she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of
God.