¹⁰ The disciples say to him, If this is the position of a man in relation to his wife, it is better not to be married.

¹⁸ And the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be by himself: I will make one like himself as a help to him

³ Who keep men from being married and from taking food which God made to be taken with praise by those who have faith and true knowledge.

³⁹ It is right for a wife to be with her husband as long as he is living; but when her husband is dead, she is free to be married to another; but only to a Christian.

⁴⁰ But it will be better for her to keep as she is, in my opinion: and it seems to me that I have the Spirit of God.

³² But it is my desire for you to be free from cares. The unmarried man gives his mind to the things of the Lord, how he may give pleasure to the Lord:

³³ But the married man gives his attention to the things of this world, how he may give pleasure to his wife.

³⁴ And the wife is not the same as the virgin. The virgin gives her mind to the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in body and in spirit: but the married woman takes thought for the things of the world, how she may give pleasure to her husband.

³⁵ Now I say this for your profit; not to make things hard for you, but because of what is right, and so that you may be able to give all your attention to the things of the Lord.

²⁶ In my opinion then, because of the present trouble, it is good for a man to keep as he is.

²⁷ If you are married to a wife, make no attempt to get free from her: if you are free from a wife, do not take a wife.

²⁸ If you get married it is not a sin; and if an unmarried woman gets married it is not a sin. But those who do so will have trouble in the flesh. But I will not be hard on you.

⁸ But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, It is good for them to be even as I am.

¹ Now, as to the things in your letter to me: It is good for a man to have nothing to do with a woman.

² But because of the desires of the flesh, let every man have his wife, and every woman her husband.

¹⁹ It is better to be living in a waste land, than with a bitter-tongued and angry woman.

⁹ It is better to be living in an angle of the house-top, than with a bitter-tongued woman in a wide house.

¹³ A foolish son is the destruction of his father; and the bitter arguments of a wife are like drops of rain falling without end.

¹⁴ House and wealth are a heritage from fathers, but a wife with good sense is from the Lord.

²² Whoever gets a wife gets a good thing, and has the approval of the Lord.

¹⁵ Let water from your store and not that of others be your drink, and running water from your fountain.

¹⁶ Let not your springs be flowing in the streets, or your streams of water in the open places.

¹⁷ Let them be for yourself only, not for other men with you.

¹⁸ Let blessing be on your fountain; have joy in the wife of your early years.

¹⁹ As a loving hind and a gentle doe, let her breasts ever give you rapture; let your passion at all times be moved by her love.

¹¹ But to the younger widows say No: for when their love is turned away from Christ, they have a desire to be married;

¹² And they are judged because they have been false to their first faith;

¹³ And they get into the way of doing no work, going about from house to house; and not only doing no work, but talking foolishly, being over-interested in the business of others, saying things which they have no right to say.

¹⁴ So it is my desire that the younger widows may be married and have children, controlling their families, and giving the Evil One no chance to say anything against them,

¹⁵ For even now some are turned away to Satan.