27. Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife.
28. But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
29. What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not;
30. those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep;
31. those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
32. I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs – how he can please the Lord.
33. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world – how he can please his wife –
34. and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world – how she can please her husband.
35. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.