19. For whether or not a man is circumcised means nothing; what matters is to obey God's commandments.
20. Each of you should remain as you were when you accepted God's call.
21. Were you a slave when God called you? Well, never mind; but if you have a chance to become free, use it.
22. For a slave who has been called by the Lord is free for the Lord; in the same way a free person who has been called by Christ is his slave.
23. God bought you for a price; so do not become slaves of human beings.
24. My friends, each of you should remain in fellowship with God in the same condition as you were when you were called.
25. Now, concerning what you wrote about unmarried people: I do not have a command from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is worthy of trust.
26. Considering the present distress, I think it is better for a man to stay as he is.
27. Have you got a wife? Then don't try to get rid of her. Are you unmarried? Then don't look for a wife.
28. But if you do marry, you haven't committed a sin; and if an unmarried woman marries, she hasn't committed a sin. But I would rather spare you the everyday troubles that married people will have.
29. What I mean, my friends, is this: there is not much time left, and from now on married men should live as though they were not married;
30. those who weep, as though they were not sad; those who laugh, as though they were not happy; those who buy, as though they did not own what they bought;