1 Corinthians 7:25–38

²⁵And concerning the virgins, a command of the Lord I have not; and I give judgment as having obtained kindness from the Lord to be faithful: ²⁶I suppose, therefore, this to be good because of the present necessity, that it is good for a man that the matter be thus:— ²⁷Hast thou been bound to a wife? seek not to be loosed; hast thou been loosed from a wife? seek not a wife. ²⁸But and if thou mayest marry, thou didst not sin; and if the virgin may marry, she did not sin; and such shall have tribulation in the flesh: and I spare you. ²⁹And this I say, brethren, the time henceforth is having been shortened—that both those having wives may be as not having; ³⁰and those weeping, as not weeping; and those rejoicing, as not rejoicing; and those buying, as not possessing; ³¹and those using this world, as not using it up; for passing away is the fashion of this world. ³²And I wish you to be without anxiety; the unmarried is anxious for the things of the Lord, how he shall please the Lord; ³³and the married is anxious for the things of the world, how he shall please the wife. ³⁴The wife and the virgin have been distinguished: the unmarried is anxious for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit, and the married is anxious for the things of the world, how she shall please the husband. ³⁵And this for your own profit I say: not that I may cast a noose upon you, but for the seemliness and devotedness to the Lord, undistractedly.

³⁶And if any one doth think it to be unseemly to his virgin, if she may be beyond the bloom of age, and it ought so to be, what he willeth let him do; he doth not sin—let him marry. ³⁷And he who hath stood stedfast in the heart—not having necessity—and hath authority over his own will, and this he hath determined in his heart—to keep his own virgin—doth well; ³⁸so that both he who is giving in marriage doth well, and he who is not giving in marriage doth better.