1 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: It is commendable for a man to abstain from sexual relations with a woman.+ 2 Due to the rampant immorality, however, it is fine for every husband to enjoy his own wife, and for every wife to enjoy her own husband. 3 The desires of his wife a husband is to respect, and the same goes for a wife in regard to her husband. 4 It is not the wife who exercises authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise, it is not the husband who exercises authority over his own body, but the wife. 5 Don’t deprive one another, except perhaps by mutual agreement for a set time, so that you can give more time to prayer. Then resume normal marital relations, lest Satan tempt you on account of a lack of self-control on your part. 6 This, however, I am saying as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that everyone were like me. Each person, however, has his own gift from God. One person is enabled in one way, someone else in another.

8 Now here is my counsel to the unmarried and to the widows: It is very commendable for them to remain unmarried like me. 9 If they are having a hard time keeping their desires under control, however, they should go ahead and get married. It is better, you see, to marry than to burn with passion.

10 To the married, moreover, I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife is not to leave her husband 11 (if she does, though, she is to remain unmarried, or to her husband be reconciled), and a husband must not divorce his wife.

12 To the rest of you, meanwhile, I say this (I, not the Lord): If a brother is married to a woman who is not a believer, and yet she agrees to go on living with him, he is not to divorce her. 13 Likewise, if a woman is married to an unbelieving husband, and yet he agrees to go on living with her, she is not to divorce her husband. 14 An unbelieving husband is set apart to God because of his union with a believing wife, you see, and an unbelieving wife is set apart because of her union with a believing husband. Your children, otherwise, would be unclean; as things now stand, however, they are set apart. 15 If an unbelieving spouse insists on leaving, however, let the person go ahead and do so. A brother or a sister is not under obligation in such situations. It is to peace that God has summoned you. 16 For how can you be sure, wife, that ˢyou will not be used to bring your husband to salvation? Or how can you be sure, husband, that ˢyou will not be used to save your wife? 17 Aside from this exception, to each person as the Lord has assigned a lot, each person as he was when God summoned him, so he is to continue to live. This command I lay down in each and every assembly. 18 If a man was already circumcised when the Lord summoned him, he shouldn’t try to have it reversed. Or suppose a man was uncircumcised when the Lord summoned him—he shouldn’t undergo circumcision. 19 Circumcision carries not a bit of weight, and uncircumcision carries not a bit of weight; the important thing is obeying God’s commandments. 20 Each person in the place in life he occupied when he was summoned—in this he is to remain. 21 Were you a slave when you were summoned? Don’t let that cause you concern; rather, even if you are able to gain your freedom, be all the more useful. 22 A slave who has been summoned, you see, by the Lord, is, in reality, the Lord’s freedman. Likewise, if someone was, when the Lord summoned him, free, he is now, in reality, a slave, of the Messiah. 23 It was at a high price that you were bought; don’t conduct yourselves as slaves of mere men. 24 Each person in the place in life he occupied when he was summoned, brothers and sisters, in this he is to remain under the watchful eye of God.

25 Now concerning the betrothed: It is not a command from the Lord that I have, but my own conviction that I will share, as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26 I consider this, therefore, in view of the impending times of distress, to be especially commendable: It is very commendable for a man to remain precisely as he is. 27 Do ˢyou have an obligation to a woman? Don’t try to get out of it. Have ˢyou been released from your obligation to a woman? Don’t look for a wife. 28 If ˢyou do get married, though, you haven’t sinned; and if a woman who is betrothed gets married, she hasn’t sinned. Such people will experience, however, great trial and distress, and I want to spare ᵖyou that.

29 Here’s my point, brothers and sisters: The end of the age is very near. From now on, those who have wives should have things far weightier than marriage on their minds; 30 those who weep and those who rejoice shouldn’t get too caught up in weeping and rejoicing; those who buy something should hold to it lightly; 31 those who avail themselves of the things of the world should do so sparingly. The world in its present form is destined to pass away, you see. 32 And I don’t want you to be preoccupied with its affairs. An unmarried man is able to give his full attention to the Lord’s affairs, how he can serve the Lord. 33 A married man, though, is preoccupied with the affairs of the world—how he can please his wife— 34 and is pulled in two directions. Likewise, an unmarried or betrothed woman is able to give her full attention to the Lord’s affairs; her concern is to be set apart to God both in body and in spirit. A married woman, however, is preoccupied with the affairs of the world, how she can please her husband. 35 As to these things, it is because I want to help you that I am saying them, not to impose on you a strict requirement, but to encourage appropriate conduct and undivided devotion to the Lord.

36 If a man thinks he is beginning to conduct himself inappropriately, however, toward his betrothed; if his desire is too strong and he feels that it is what he ought to do, he should go ahead do as he wishes. He isn’t sinning. They should get married. 37 If a man’s decision is firm, however, and no one else is making him do it, and if he has control over his own desire and has made up his own mind not to marry his betrothed, he will be acting quite commendably. 38 So then, if a man does marry his betrothed, he is acting very commendably, though someone who decides not to marry does even better.+

39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he is alive. If her husband dies, however, she is certainly free to marry, so long as the man is a believer, anyone she wishes. 40 Happier she will be, however, if she remains as she is, as I myself see things. And I believe that in my case, too, it is the Spirit of God who is guiding me.