²⁵Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord,^l but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy^m is trustworthy. ²⁶Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is.ⁿ ²⁷Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife.^o ²⁸But if you do marry, you have not sinned;^p and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

²⁹What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short.^q From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; ³⁰those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; ³¹those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.^r

³²I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs^s—how he can please the Lord. ³³But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife—³⁴and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit.^t But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. ³⁵I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided^u devotion to the Lord.

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Cross references

lver 6; 2 Co 8:8
m 2 Co 4:1; 1 Ti 1:13, 16
nver 1, 8
over 20, 21
pver 36
qver 31; See Ro 13:11, 12
rver 29; See Heb 12:27
s 1 Ti 5:5
t Lk 2:37
u Ps 86:11