1 Corinthians 7:25–8:1

The Unmarried and the Widows

²⁵Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.^{* 26}I think that, in view of the impending^e crisis,^f it is good for you to remain as you are.^{* 27}Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in the flesh, and I would spare you that. ²⁹I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none,^{* 30}and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, ³¹and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.^*

³²I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord,^{* 33}but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife, ³⁴and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the Lord, so that they may be holy in body and spirit, but the married woman is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband.^{* 35}I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.

³⁶If anyone thinks that he is behaving indecently toward his fiancée,^g if his passions are strong and so it has to be, let him marry as he wishes; it is no sin. Let them marry. ³⁷But if someone stands firm in his resolve, being under no necessity but having his own desire under control, and has determined in his own mind to keep her as his fiancée,^h he will do well. ³⁸So then, he who marries his fiancéeⁱ does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do better.

³⁹A wife is bound as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies,^j she is free to marry anyone she wishes, only in the Lord.^{* 40}But in my opinion she is more blessed if she remains as she is. And I think that I, too, have the Spirit of God.

Food Offered to Idols

⁸Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.^*