Paul gives advice to people who are married
1I will now answer the questions that you asked in your letter. You asked if it is better for a man not to get married. 2There are many people living immorally. That is why every man must have his own wife and every woman must have her own husband. 3A man and woman who are married must have sex as often as they both need it. 4The wife's body does not belong to herself, because it belongs to her husband and the man's body does not belong to himself, because it belongs to his wife. 5A man and his wife must not stop having sex with each other, but they may decide to stop for a while so that they can have more time to pray. Then they must sleep together again so that the devil will not tempt them to think about sex with other people. 6But remember, I am saying you can decide not to have sex so that you have more time to pray. I am not saying you must stop having sex. 7I wish that everyone was not married, like me. But God gives spiritual_gifts to each one of us and the gift that He gives to one person is not the same as the gift He gives another person.
8For the people who are no longer married and for the widows, I say this: It is better to stay as they are and not to marry, to do as I have done. 9But if it is too difficult for them not to have sex, then they must get married. It is better to be married than to be alone and always longing to have sex.
10And to the people who are married, the Lord says: ‘A woman may not divorce her husband. It is not I who say this. 11But if she divorces him, then she must stay alone and not get married again, or she must go back to her husband. And the man may not divorce his wife.’
12There is also the problem of someone who is married to a husband or wife who is not a believer. The Lord Jesus did not say anything special about them, but I want to say something about them: If a Christian man is married to a wife who does not believe in the Lord, and his wife is happy to stay with him, then the husband must not divorce his wife. 13It is the same with a Christian wife. If she is married to a husband who does not believe, and her husband is happy to stay with her, then the Christian wife must not divorce her husband. 14I say this because the Christian wife makes her husband, who does not believe, part of God's people. The Christian husband also makes the unbelieving wife part of God's people. If this were not so, then their children would not belong to God, but now their children are part of God's people. 15But if the husband or wife who does not believe wants to divorce, then you must not stop them because God wants peace between a husband and wife. No one can tell the believing husband or wife that they must stay married. 16The Christian wife can not be sure that she will be able to save her husband who does not believe in Christ. And the Christian husband can not be sure that he will save his unbelieving wife for God.
17So, there will be people who will divorce, but to all others I say: Keep on living as you are. If you are married, stay married, and if you are not married, do not get married. You must accept what the Lord has given you in your life. You must stay the same as you were when God called you to belong to Him and to do his work. This is what I tell all the congregations. 18If you were circumcised when God called you, do not try to hide your circumcision. If you were not circumcised when God called you, do not ask to be circumcised. 19It is not important if you are circumcised or not. But what is important is to listen to the laws of God and obey them. 20That is why all of you must stay the way you were when God called you. 21If you were a slave when God called you, do not worry about that. But if your master wants to let you go free, you can accept it and be free. 22It is not important if you are a slave or free because if you are a slave and the Lord has called you, then you are free because you belong to the Lord. And if you are free and the Lord has called you, then you are a slave of Christ. 23Christ has paid a very high price to buy you, and that is why you must not become slaves to people. 24My friends, you must serve God and keep on living the way you did when He called you. Do not try to be something else.
Young people who are not married
25The Lord did not say anything to me about young people who are not yet married, but you can trust me when I give you advice because the Lord gave his mercy to me. 26People will suffer a lot in the time to come. I think it will be best for you if you stay as you are. 27If you have a wife, don't divorce her. If you are not married, do not get a wife. 28But if you do get married, that is not wrong. And if a young woman gets married, it is not wrong. But married people will suffer because there are lots of things that married people have to do and I do not want you to suffer.
29My friends, I am warning you that it will not be long before Christ comes again. That is why a man who does have a wife must live like someone who does not have a wife. 30People who cry must live like people who do not cry. People who are happy must live like people who are not happy. People who can buy things must be like people who have nothing. 31And the people who are very busy in the world must be like people who think the world is not important. Because the world as it is now will disappear.
32I don't want you to worry about things. If a man is not married, he has more time to do the things of God and things that the Lord loves. 33But if a man is married, he is busy with the things of this world, and he tries to do things that his wife loves. 34A married man can not think only about the Lord. He must also think about his wife. This is the same for a woman. If a woman is not married, she can be busy with the things of the Lord. She can give her whole life to the Lord. But if she is married, she will be busy with the things of this world, and she must do things that her husband loves. 35I am saying this because I want to help you. I do not want to make life difficult for you. No, I want you to live in the right way and to give your whole life to the Lord. Do not let anything stop you thinking about the Lord.
36If a young man is engaged to a woman and he thinks that he is not doing what is right to her, and he wants to sleep with her, then he must marry her. He does not sin if he marries her. They must get married. 37If a young man is engaged to a young woman but he decides not to sleep with her and he is sure that he does not want to get married to her, then it is right if he does not marry her. But no one must tell him that it is wrong to get married to her. 38So, the man who gets married is doing a good thing, but the man who does not get married is doing better.
39A woman who is married may not leave her husband. But if her husband dies, then she may get married to anyone, but it must be someone who believes in Jesus. 40But I think a widow will be happier if she does not get married again. And I think that the Spirit of God also tells me what to say to you. I think you must listen to me.
