Concerning Marriage and Singleness

7 Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is ^(A)good for a man not to touch a woman. ² But because of sexual immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. ³ The husband must ^[a]fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. ⁴ The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. ^5 (B)Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and ^[b]come together again so that ^(C)Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶ But this I say as a concession, ^(D)not as a command. ^7 [c]Yet I wish that all men were ^(E)even as I myself am. However, ^(F)each man has his own gift from God, one this way, and another that.

⁸ But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is ^(G)good for them if they remain ^(H)even as I. ⁹ But if they do not have self-control, ^(I)let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

²⁵ Now concerning virgins I have ^(A)no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who ^[a](B)by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy.

²⁶ I think then that this is good because of the ^[a]present ^(A)distress, that ^(B)it is good for a man ^[b]to remain as he is.

³² But I want you to be free from concern. One who is ^(A)unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord.

³³ But one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife,

^39 (A)A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband has ^[a]fallen asleep, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only ^(B)in the Lord.

⁴⁰ But ^(A)in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.