1 Y ou asked me some questions in your letter. This is my answer. It is good if a man does not get married.

Now as to the matters of which you wrote me. It is well for a man not to touch a woman but to remain unmarried.

2 B ut because of being tempted to sex sins, each man should get married and have his own wife. Each woman should get married and have her own husband.

But because of the temptation to impurity and to avoid immorality, let each have his own wife and let each have her own husband.

3 T he husband should please his wife as a husband. The wife should please her husband as a wife.

The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights (goodwill, kindness, and what is due her as his wife), and likewise the wife to her husband.

4 T he wife is not the boss of her own body. It belongs to the husband. And in the same way, the husband is not the boss of his own body. It belongs to the wife.

For the wife does not have authority and control over her own body, but the husband; likewise also the husband does not have authority and control over his body, but the wife.

5 D o not keep from each other that which belongs to each other in marriage unless you agree for awhile so you can use your time to pray. Then come together again or the devil will tempt you to do that which you know you should not do.

Do not refuse and deprive and defraud each other, except perhaps by mutual consent for a time, so that you may devote yourselves unhindered to prayer. But afterwards resume marital relations, lest Satan tempt you through your lack of restraint of sexual desire.

6 T his is what I think. I am not saying you must do it.

But I am saying this more as a matter of permission and concession, not as a command or regulation.

7 I wish everyone were as I am, but each has his own gift from God. One has one gift. Another has another gift.

I wish that all men were like I myself am. But each has his own special gift from God, one of this kind and one of another.

8 T his is what I say to those who are not married and to women whose husbands have died. It is good if you do not get married. I am not married.

But to the unmarried people and to the widows, I declare that it is well (good, advantageous, expedient, and wholesome) for them to remain even as I do.

9 B ut if you are not able to keep from doing that which you know is wrong, get married. It is better to get married than to have such strong sex desires.

But if they have not self-control (restraint of their passions), they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame.

10 I have this to say to those who are married. These words are from the Lord. A wife should not leave her husband,

But to the married people I give charge—not I but the Lord—that the wife is not to separate from her husband.

11 b ut if she does leave him, she should not get married to another man. It would be better for her to go back to her husband. The husband should not divorce his wife.

But if she does, let her remain single or else be reconciled to her husband. And the husband that he should not put away or divorce his wife.

12 I have this to say. These words are not from the Lord. If a Christian husband has a wife who is not a Christian, and she wants to live with him, he must not divorce her.

To the rest I declare—I, not the Lord —that if any brother has a wife who does not believe and she consents to live with him, he should not leave or divorce her.

13 I f a Christian wife has a husband who is not a Christian, and he wants to live with her, she must not divorce him.

And if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he consents to live with her, she should not leave or divorce him.

14 T he husband who is not a Christian is set apart from the sin of the world because of his Christian wife. The wife who is not a Christian is set apart from the sin of the world because of her Christian husband. In this way, the lives of the children are not unclean because of sin, they are clean.

For the unbelieving husband is set apart (separated, withdrawn from heathen contamination, and affiliated with the Christian people) by union with his consecrated (set-apart) wife, and the unbelieving wife is set apart and separated through union with her consecrated husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean (unblessed heathen, outside the Christian covenant), but as it is they are prepared for God.

15 I f the one who is not a Christian wants to leave, let that one go. The Christian husband or wife should not try to make the other one stay. God wants you to live in peace.

But if the unbelieving partner leaves, let him do so; in such brother or sister is not morally bound. But God has called us to peace.

16 C hristian wife, how do you know you will not help your husband to become a Christian? Or Christian husband, how do you know you will not help your wife to become a Christian? Stay as You Were When God Chose You

For, wife, how can you be sure of converting and saving your husband? Husband, how can you be sure of converting and saving your wife?

17 E veryone should live the life the Lord gave to him. He should live as he was when he became a Christian. This is what I teach in all the churches.

Only, let each one lead the life which the Lord has allotted and imparted to him and to which God has invited and summoned him. This is my order in all the churches.

18 I f a man became a Christian after he had gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew, he should do nothing about it. If a man became a Christian before, he should not go through the religious act of becoming a Jew.

Was anyone at the time of his summons already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the evidence of circumcision. Was anyone at the time called him uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised.

19 I f it is done or not done, it means nothing. What is important is to obey God’s Word.

For circumcision is nothing and counts for nothing, neither does uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.

20 E veryone should stay the same way he was when he became a Christian.

Everyone should remain after God calls him in the station or condition of life in which the summons found him.

21 W ere you a servant who was owned by someone when you became a Christian? Do not worry about it. But if you are able to become free, do that.

Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let that trouble you. But if you are able to gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.

22 A servant who is owned by someone and who has become a Christian is the Lord’s free man. A free man who has become a Christian is a servant owned by Christ.

For he who as a slave was summoned in the Lord is a freedman of the Lord, just so he who was free when he was called is a bond servant of Christ (the Messiah).

23 H e paid a great price for you when He bought you. Do not let yourselves become servants owned by men.

You were bought with a price; then do not yield yourselves up to become slaves to men.

24 C hristian brothers, each one should stay as he was when he became a Christian.

So, brethren, in whatever station or state or condition of life each one was when he was called, there let him continue with and close to God.

25 I have no word from the Lord about women or men who have never been married. I will tell you what I think. You can trust me because the Lord has given me His loving-kindness.

Now concerning the virgins (the marriageable maidens) I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion and advice as one who by the Lord’s mercy is rendered trustworthy and faithful.

26 I think, because of the troubles that are coming, it is a good thing for a person not to get married.

I think then, because of the impending distress, it is well (expedient, profitable, and wholesome) for a person to remain as he or she is.

27 A re you married to a wife? Do not try to get a divorce. If you are not married, do not look for a wife.

Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

28 I f you do get married, you have not sinned. If a woman who is not married gets married, it is no sin. But being married will add problems. I would like to have you free from such problems.

But if you do marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will have physical and earthly troubles, and I would like to spare you that.

29 I mean this, Christian brothers. The time is short. A married man should use his time as if he did not have a wife.

I mean, brethren, the appointed time has been winding down and it has grown very short. From now on, let even those who have wives be as if they had none,

30 T hose who have sorrow should keep on working as if they had no sorrow. Those who have joy should keep on working as if there was no time for joy. Those who buy should have no time to get joy from what they have.

And those who weep and mourn as though they were not weeping and mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they did not possess anything,

31 W hile you live in this world, live as if the world has no hold on you. The way of this world will soon be gone.

And those who deal with this world '> overusing the enjoyments of this life] as though they were not absorbed by it and as if they had no dealings with it. For the outward form of this world (the present world order) is passing away.

32 I want you to be free from the cares of this world. The man who is not married can spend his time working for the Lord and pleasing Him.

My desire is to have you free from all anxiety and distressing care. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord;

33 T he man who is married cares for the things of the world. He wants to please his wife.

But the married man is anxious about worldly matters—how he may please his wife—

34 M arried women and women who have never been married are different. The woman who has never been married can spend her time working for the Lord. She wants to please the Lord with her body and spirit. The woman who is married cares for the things of the world. She wants to please her husband.

And he is drawn in diverging directions. And the unmarried woman or girl is concerned and anxious about the matters of the Lord, how to be wholly separated and set apart in body and spirit; but the married woman has her cares in earthly affairs—how she may please her husband.

35 I am saying these things to help you. I am not trying to keep you from getting married. I want you to do what is best. You should work for Him without other things taking your time.

Now I say this for your own welfare and profit, not to put restraint upon you, but to promote what is seemly and in good order and to secure your undistracted and undivided devotion to the Lord.

36 I f a man and woman expect to get married, and he thinks his desires to marry her are getting too strong, and she is getting older, they should get married. It is no sin.

But if any man thinks that he is not acting properly toward and in regard to his virgin, in case she is passing the bloom of her youth and if there is need for it, let him do what to him seems right; he does not sin; let them marry.

37 B ut if a man has the power to keep from getting married and knows in his mind that he should not, he is wise if he does not get married.

But whoever is firmly established in his heart, not being forced by necessity but having control over his own will and desire, and has resolved this in his heart to keep his own virginity, he is doing well.

38 T he man who gets married does well, but the man who does not get married does better.

So also then, he who gives his virgin (his daughter) in marriage does well, and he who does not give in marriage does better.

39 A wife is not free as long as her husband lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wants, if he is a Christian.

A wife is bound to her husband by law as long as he lives. If the husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she will, only in the Lord.

40 I think she will be much more happy if she does not get married again. This is what I think. I believe it is what the Holy Spirit is saying.

But in my opinion is happier (more blessed and to be envied) if she does not remarry. And also I think I have the Spirit of God.