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35 I am saying this for your own benefit, not to impose a restriction, but to encourage honorable, undistracted devotion to the Lord.

36 But if someone thinks he is behaving inappropriately toward his virgin,[a] if his feelings are strong[b] and it seems necessary, he should do what he desires. It is not a sin. They should marry. 37 But if someone stands firm in his heart and is not driven by need, but has control over his own desire[c] and has decided in his own heart to keep his virgin as she is, he does well.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 7:36 Or virgin daughter
  2. 1 Corinthians 7:36 Or if she is past marriageable age
  3. 1 Corinthians 7:37 Or and is not being pressured, but has freedom to make up his own mind

35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided(A) devotion to the Lord.

36 If anyone is worried that he might not be acting honorably toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if his passions are too strong[a] and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning.(B) They should get married. 37 But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 7:36 Or if she is getting beyond the usual age for marriage