Paul answers the Corinthians' questions about marriage: husbands and wives owe each other faithfulness, the unmarried may stay single, and believers should remain in the situation in which God called them.
1 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me : It is good for a man not to touch a woman .
2 Nevertheless , to avoid fornication , let every man have his own wife , and let every woman have her own husband .
3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence : and likewise also the wife unto the husband .
4 The wife hath not power of her own body , but the husband : and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body , but the wife .
5 Defraud ye not one the other , except it be with consent for a time , that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer ; and come together again , that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency .
6 But I speak this by permission , and not of commandment .
7 For I would that all men were even as I myself . But every man hath his proper gift of God , one after this manner , and another after that .
8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows , It is good for them if they abide even as I .
9 But if they cannot contain , let them marry : for it is better to marry than to burn .
10 And unto the married I command , yet not I , but the Lord , Let not the wife depart from her husband :
11 But and if she depart , let her remain unmarried , or be reconciled to her husband : and let not the husband put away his wife .
12 But to the rest speak I , not the Lord : If any brother hath a wife that believeth not , and she be pleased to dwell with him , let him not put her away .
13 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not , and if he be pleased to dwell with her , let her not leave him .
14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife , and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband : else were your children unclean ; but now are they holy .
15 But if the unbelieving depart , let him depart . A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace .
16 For what knowest thou , O wife , whether thou shalt save thy husband ? or how knowest thou , O man , whether thou shalt save thy wife ?
17 But as God hath distributed to every man , as the Lord hath called every one , so let him walk . And so ordain I in all churches .
18 Is any man called being circumcised ? let him not become uncircumcised . Is any called in uncircumcision ? let him not be circumcised .
19 Circumcision is nothing , and uncircumcision is nothing , but the keeping of the commandments of God .
20 Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called .
21 Art thou called being a servant ? care not for it : but if thou mayest be made free , use it rather .
22 For he that is called in the Lord , being a servant , is the Lord's freeman : likewise also he that is called , being free , is Christ's servant .
23 Ye are bought with a price ; be not ye the servants of men .
24 Brethren , let every man , wherein he is called , therein abide with God .
25 Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord : yet I give my judgment , as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful .
26 I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress , I say, that it is good for a man so to be .
27 Art thou bound unto a wife ? seek not to be loosed . Art thou loosed from a wife ? seek not a wife .
28 But and if thou marry , thou hast not sinned ; and if a virgin marry , she hath not sinned . Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh : but I spare you .
29 But this I say , brethren , the time is short : it remaineth , that both they that have wives be as though they had none ;
30 And they that weep , as though they wept not ; and they that rejoice , as though they rejoiced not ; and they that buy , as though they possessed not ;
31 And they that use this world , as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away .
32 But I would have you without carefulness . He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord , how he may please the Lord :
33 But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world , how he may please his wife .
34 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin . The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord , that she may be holy both in body and in spirit : but she that is married careth for the things of the world , how she may please her husband .
35 And this I speak for your own profit ; not that I may cast a snare upon you , but for that which is comely , and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction .
36 But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin , if she pass the flower of her age , and need so require , let him do what he will , he sinneth not : let them marry .
37 Nevertheless he that standeth stedfast in his heart , having no necessity , but hath power over his own will , and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin , doeth well .
38 So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth well ; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better .
39 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth ; but if her husband be dead , she is at liberty to be married to whom she will ; only in the Lord .
40 But she is happier if she so abide , after my judgment : and I think also that I have the Spirit of God .