1. Now I will discuss the things you wrote to me about. It is good for a man not to marry.
2. But sexual immorality is a danger. So each man should have his own wife. And each woman should have her own husband.
3. The husband should give his wife all that she should have as his wife. And the wife should give her husband all that he should have as her husband.
4. The wife does not have power over her own body. Her husband has the power over her body. And the husband does not have power over his own body. His wife has the power over his body.
5. Do not refuse to give your bodies to each other. But you might both agree to stay away from intimate relations for a time. You might do this so that you can give your time to prayer. Then come together again. This is so that Satan cannot tempt you in your weakness.
6. I say this to give you permission. It is not a command.
7. I wish everyone were like me. But each person has his own gift from God. One has one gift, another has another gift.
8. Now for those who are not married and for the widows I say this: It is good for them to stay single as I am.
9. But if they cannot control their bodies, then they should marry. It is better to marry than to burn with lust.
10. Now I give this command for the married people. (The command is not from me; it is from the Lord.) A wife should not leave her husband.
11. But if she does leave, she must not marry again. Or she should go back to her husband. Also the husband should not divorce his wife.