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concerning the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have intimate relations with a woman”. 2 But because of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfil his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but her husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but his wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another except by mutual agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all people were as I am. But each one has his own gift from God, one this and another that.
8 Now I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them if they remain unmarried as I am. 9 But if they do not have self-control, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
10 To the married I give this command—not I, but the Lord: A wife should not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does separate, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And the husband is not to divorce his wife.
12 To the rest I say (I and not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer, and she is willing to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13 And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he is willing to live with her, she should not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. A believing man or woman is not bound in such cases. It is to peace that God has called you. 16 For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or you, O husband, how do you know whether you will save your wife?
17 However, let each of you live his life according to the way the Lord assigned and to which God has called you. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. 18 Was anyone already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was anyone uncircumcised when he was called? He should not become circumcised. 19 Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter, but obeying the commandments of God is what really counts. 20 Each one should remain in the life situation he was in when he was called. 21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you. But if you can gain your freedom, by all means do so. 22 For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. 24 Brothers, each person should remain in the situation he was in when God called him.
25 Now concerning virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26 In view of the present crisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be freed. Are you freed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who do marry will have many troubles in this life, and I am trying to spare you this.
29 What I am trying to say, brothers, is that the time is short. So from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none, 30 those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the world in its present form is passing away.
32 I want you to be free from concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife— 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she can please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint on you, but because of what is proper, and so you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.
36 If anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if she is getting past the age for marriage, and so it must be, let him do as he wishes. He is not sinning; they should get married. 37 But the man who stands firm in his resolve, and is under no compulsion but has control over his will, and has determined in his own heart not to marry the virgin, will do well. 38 So then, he who marries the virgin does well, but he who refrains from marriage does even better.
39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as her husband lives. But if her husband dies. she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. 40 But in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.