1 Corinthians 7:20–40

^20aEach man must remain in that ¹condition in which he was called.

²¹Were you called while a slave? ¹Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather ²do that.

²²For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is ^athe Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is ^bChrist’s slave.

^23aYou were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.

²⁴Brethren, ^aeach one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.

²⁵Now concerning virgins I have ^ano command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who ^1bby the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy.

²⁶I think then that this is good in view of the ¹present ^adistress, that ^bit is good for a man ²to 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 ¹trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.

²⁹But this I say, brethren, ^athe 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 ^amake full use of it; for ^bthe form of this world is passing away.

³²But I want you to be free from concern. One who is ^aunmarried 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 ¹to 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 ¹her marry.

³⁷But he who stands firm in his heart, ¹being under no constraint, but has authority ²over 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.

^39aA wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband ¹is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only ^bin the Lord.

⁴⁰But ^ain my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.