24. Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.
25. Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.
26. Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is.
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—