1 Corinthians 7:32–40

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.