The Unmarried and Widowed
Paul says that about virgins he has no command from the Lord, but offers a trustworthy judgment that because of the present crisis it is good to remain as one is. Marriage is not sin, yet it brings troubles in this life, and because the time is short and the world's present form is passing away, all ordinary conditions must be held with a certain looseness.
N25ow about virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26Because of the present crisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is. 27Are you committed to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you free of commitment? Do not look for a wife. 28But if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this. 29What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; 30those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing; 31and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
Paul says he wants them free from anxious division, because the unmarried person can attend more directly to the Lord's affairs, while the married person must also attend to the concerns of spouse and household. He is not trying to restrain them, but to encourage what is fitting and conducive to undivided devotion to the Lord.
32I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord. 33But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife, 34and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the work of the Lord, how she can be holy in both body and spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, how she can please her husband. 35I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but in order to promote proper decorum and undivided devotion to the Lord.
If a man thinks he is not acting properly toward his betrothed and marriage seems necessary, Paul says he may marry without sin. But if he is inwardly settled and under no constraint, remaining unmarried is also good, so the one who marries does well and the one who refrains does better.
36However, if someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward his betrothed, and if she is beyond her youth and they ought to marry, let him do as he wishes; he is not sinning; they should get married. 37But the man who is firmly established in his heart and under no constraint, with control over his will and resolve in his heart not to marry the virgin, he will do well. 38So then, he who marries the virgin does well, but he who does not marry her does even better.
A wife is bound to her husband while he lives, but if he dies she is free to marry, provided it is in the Lord. Yet in Paul's judgment she will be happier if she remains as she is, and he adds that he too thinks he has the Spirit of God.
39A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord. 40In my judgment, however, she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.