1 Corinthians 7:25–8:1

About the Unmarried and Widows

²⁵About virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I do give an opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy ^qis trustworthy. ^r26Therefore I consider this to be good because of the present distress: It is fine for a man to remain as he is. ²⁷Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸However, if you do get married, ^syou have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have trouble in this life, ^tand I am trying to spare you. ²⁹And I say this, brothers: The time is limited, ^uso 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 rejoice ^vas though they did not rejoice, 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 this world in its current form is passing away. ^w

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

³⁶But if any man thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin, ^zif she is past marriageable age, ^aand so it must be, 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 ^b) and has decided in his heart to keep his own virgin, will do well. ³⁸So then he who marries ^chis virgin does well, but he who does not marry ^dwill do better.

³⁹A wife is bound ^eas 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. ^f40But 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

8About food offered to idols: ^gWe know that “we all have knowledge.” ^hKnowledge inflates with pride, ⁱbut love ^jbuilds up.