26. I think then, because of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is.
27. Are you bound to a wife? Don’t seek a divorce. Are you free from a wife? Don’t seek a wife.
28. But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such people will have trouble in this fleshly life, and I am trying to spare you.
29. But this I say, brothers and sisters—the time is short. From now on those who have wives should be as though they had none;
30. and those who weep, as though not weeping; and those who rejoice, as though not rejoicing; and those who buy, as though not possessing;
31. and those who use the world, as though not using it to the fullest. For the present form of this world is passing away.
32. But I want you to be free from cares. An unmarried man cares about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord;
33. but the married man cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife—
34. and he is divided. The unmarried woman, as well as the virgin, cares about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But the married woman cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband.
35. Now I say this for your own benefit—not to put a restraint on you, but to promote proper and constant service to the Lord without distraction.