7 ²⁵ On the question of celibacy, I have no instructions from the Lord, but I give my judgement as one who by God's mercy is fit to be trusted. 7 ²⁶ It is my opinion, then, that in a time of stress like the present this is the best way for a man to live-it is best for a man to be as he is. 7 ²⁷ Are you bound in marriage? Do not seek a dissolution. Has your marriage been dissolved? Do not seek a wife. 7 ²⁸ If, however, you do marry, there is nothing wrong in it; and if a virgin marries, she has done no wrong. But those who marry will have pain and grief in this bodily life, and my aim is to spare you.
7 ²⁹ What I mean, my friends, is this. The time we live in will not last long. While it lasts, married men should be as if they had no wives; 7 ³⁰ mourners should be as if they had nothing to grieve them, the joyful as if they did not rejoice; buyers must not count on keeping what they buy, 7 ³¹ nor those who use the world's wealth on using it to the full. For the whole frame of this world is passing away.

7 ³² I want you to be free from anxious care. The unmarried man cares for the Lord's business; his aim is to please the Lord. 7 ³³ But the married man cares for worldly things; his aim is to please his wife; 7 ³⁴ and he has a divided mind. The unmarried or celibate woman cares Some witnesses read: ... his wife. And there is a difference between the wife and the virgin. The unmarried woman cares ... for the Lord's business; her aim is to be dedicated to him in body as in spirit; but the married woman cares for worldly things; her aim is to please her husband.
7 ³⁵ In saying this I have no wish to keep you on a tight rein. I am thinking simply of your own good, of what is seemly, and of your freedom to wait upon the Lord without distraction.

7 ³⁶ But if a man has a partner in celibacy Or: a virgin daughter (or: ward). and feels that he is not behaving properly towards her, if, that is, his instincts are too strong for him, Or: if she is ripe for marriage. and something must be done, he may do as he pleases; there is nothing wrong in it; let them marry. Or: let the girl and her lover marry. 7 ³⁷ But if a man is steadfast in his purpose, being under no compulsion, and has complete control of his own choice; and if he has decided in his own mind to preserve his partner Or: his daughter. in her virginity, he will do well. 7 ³⁸ Thus, he who marries his partner Or: gives his daughter in marriage. does well, and he who does not will do better.

7 ³⁹ A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband die, she is free to marry whom she will, provided the marriage is within the Lord's fellowship. 7 ⁴⁰ But she is better off as she is; that is my opinion, and I believe that I too have the Spirit of God.