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;
31. those who deal in material goods, as though they were not fully occupied with them. For this world, as it is now, will not last much longer.
32. I would like you to be free from worry. An unmarried man concerns himself with the Lord's work, because he is trying to please the Lord.
33. But a married man concerns himself with worldly matters, because he wants to please his wife;
34. and so he is pulled in two directions. An unmarried woman or a virgin concerns herself with the Lord's work, because she wants to be dedicated both in body and spirit; but a married woman concerns herself with worldly matters, because she wants to please her husband.