²⁵Now about virgins:^H I have no command from the Lord, but I do give an opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy^j is faithful.^k ²⁶Because of the present distress, I think 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. ²⁸However, if you do get married,^l you have not sinned, and if a virgin^I marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have trouble in this life,^J and I am trying to spare you.

²⁹This is what I mean, brothers and sisters: The time is limited,^m so from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none, ³⁰those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoiceⁿ as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they didn’t own anything, ³¹and those who use the world as though they did not make full use of it. For this world in its current form is passing away.^o

³²I want you to be without concerns. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please^p the Lord. ³³But the married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife—³⁴and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord,^q so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. ³⁵I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but to promote what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.

³⁶If any man thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, if she is getting beyond the usual age for marriage, and he feels he should marry—he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married. ³⁷But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will^r) and has decided in his heart to keep her as his fiancée, will do well. ³⁸So, then, he who marries his fiancée does well, but he who does not marry will do better. ^A

³⁹A wife is bound^B as long as her husband is living. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to anyone she wants—only in the Lord. ⁴⁰But she is happier if she remains as she is, in my opinion. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.

FOOD OFFERED TO IDOLS

8Now about food sacrificed to idols:^a We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up,^b but love^c builds up.

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Footnotes

HOr betrothed, or those not yet married
IOr betrothed woman
J in the flesh
A 7:36–38 Or If any man thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin daughter, if she is getting beyond the usual age for marriage, and he feels she should marry—he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; she can get married. 37But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will) and has decided in his heart to keep his own virgin daughter will do well. 38So then he who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does well, but he who does not give his own virgin daughter in marriage will do better.
BOther add by law

Cross references

j Mt 5:7; Mk 5:19; Lk 1:50
k Nm 12:7
l 1Tm 5:14
m Rm 13:11
n Php 1:18
o Mk 13:7; 1Jn 2:8
p 1Th 4:1
q 1Tm 5:5
r Jn 1:13
a Ac 15:29; 21:25; 1Co 10:19; Rv 2:14,20
b 1Co 4:6
c 1Co 13:1–13