1You wrote a letter to me and asked me some questions, and now I will answer one of those questions. You asked me, “Is it good for a man if he stays single and never marries a woman?” My answer is, “Yes, but only if he can stay single without going wrong.”
2You see, a lot of people can’t do that. They try to stay single, but then they go wrong and they end up sleeping with somebody and doing wrong with them. So, I reckon, every man has to have his own wife and only ever sleep with her, and every woman has to have her own husband and only ever sleep with him.
3If the wife needs the husband to sleep with her and do what married people do together, he has to agree to it, to make her happy. And if the husband needs the wife to sleep with him that way, she has to agree to it, to make him happy.
4You see, the wife’s body does not only belong to her, it also belongs to her husband too. In the same way, the husband’s body doesn’t only belong to him, it also belongs his wife too.
5So, if a husband and wife are together, and one of you wants to sleep with the other and do what married people do together, the other one can’t say, “No.” But both of you can agree to wait for a while without doing it, so you can use the time to pray. Then, soon after that, you have to sleep together, and do it together again. If you don’t do it together again, Satan might trick you. He knows you can’t control yourselves very well. If you go too long without sleeping together he will try to get one of you to sleep with somebody else.
6I’m not saying that you have to stop doing it. I’m saying that it is all right, if you both agree, to stop for a while, so you can pray more.
7You know, I reckon it is good for everyone to stay single, like me. But God helps people in different ways. He helps some people be a good husband or wife, and he helps other people stay single without going wrong.
8Now I will talk to you people that are not married. Maybe your wife or husband has died, or maybe you never married anyone. This is what I reckon. Stay single, like me.
9But you have to control yourself properly. If that is too hard for you, then marry somebody. Don’t try to stay single if you are always wanting to sleep with somebody and do what married people do together.
10Now I will talk to you Christians that are married to Christians. I’m telling you a rule that comes from our leader Jesus, not just from me. Don’t get divorced. A wife can’t leave her husband.
11But if she does leave him, she has to stay single. Or she can go back to her husband. And a husband has to stay with his wife.
12Now I will talk to you people that are married, but your partners are not a Christians. This is not a rule that comes from our leader, Jesus, but this is what I reckon. If a Christian man has a wife and she doesn’t believe in Jesus, but she agrees to stay with him, that man can’t split up the marriage, he can’t divorce her.
13If a Christian woman has a husband and he doesn’t believe in Jesus, but he agrees to stay with her, that woman can’t split up the marriage, she can’t divorce him.
14You see, if a man doesn’t believe in Jesus but his wife does, God says it’s still good for them to be married. And in the same way, if a woman doesn’t believe in Jesus but her husband does, God says it’s still good for them to be married. And I’ll tell you about their kids, too. If their mother or father believes in Jesus, God reckons those kids are special, not like kids whose mothers and fathers don’t believe in him.
15If you have a husband or wife that isn’t Christian, and they want to leave you, then you can let them go. Christians don’t have to try to make their partners stay with them if their partners are not Christians. God wants us to be quiet and happy. He doesn’t want us to be arguing and fighting with each other.
16So if your husband or wife isn’t Christian, but they are happy to stay with you, don’t leave them. Listen, Christian wife, maybe you can help your husband turn around and let God save him. And listen, Christian husband, maybe you can help your wife turn around and let God save her.
17You know, I’ve been talking to you about marriage. I’ve been saying that if you are married you have to stay married. This is the rule that I tell Christians in all the churches, everywhere I go. I tell them, “You don’t have to try to change everything. You can just stay the same as you were when God picked you to be in his family, like if you’re married or not, or if you’re a prisoner or not. That is the way our leader wants you to live as his follower.”
18It’s like this. Some of you were born in the Jewish tribe, so your Jewish family did a young man’s operation on you. After that God picked you to be in his family. All right, don’t try to get another operation to change it back again. And some of you are not born Jews, but God has picked you to be in his family. All right, don’t try to be Jewish now. Don’t get a young man’s operation.
19It doesn’t matter if you get that Jewish operation, or not. This is what’s important, you have to do what God tells you to do.
20You see, God picked each of you to be in his family, so don’t try to change everything. Stay the same as you were at that time when God picked you.
21If God picked you while you were like a prisoner in jail, and you had to work all the time for no pay, don’t worry. Don’t try to run away and get free. (But if your boss gives you a chance to go free, then take it.)
22It’s like this, maybe God picked you while you were like a prisoner in jail, but you are in God’s family now, and you are free from the devil. In the same way, if God picked you while you were a free person, not in jail, well, now you work all the time for Jesus, like you are his prisoner.
23You see, God bought you and he paid a lot for you. So, don’t let anyone else push you to do what they want, instead of what God wants.
24So I’m telling you, my friends, that each one of you should live for God, and stay the same as you were when God picked you.
25I’m going to talk now about young people that are not married, and I will try to answer your question. Our leader Jesus didn’t tell me what to say about this, but I will tell you what I think. God has been very good to me and he helps me think properly, so I reckon you can believe me. This is what I think.
26People everywhere are making trouble for God’s people these days, so I reckon it is best for every man to stay the way he is.
27So I reckon, if you have a wife, don’t try to leave her. Or if you don’t have a wife, don’t look for one.
28The bad people in this world will make a lot of trouble for God’s people, and married couples will find it hard to live with this trouble. I want to save you from that trouble, so I’m telling you to stay single. But if you do marry somebody, you are not doing wrong.
29My friends, listen to what I’m saying. There is not much time left before Jesus will come back, and he will change this world. So don’t just think about the things of this world. That is why I’m telling you men that are married, it will not matter if you are married or single when Jesus comes back. And I’m telling you people that are sad, don’t worry, that trouble that makes you sad will go away when Jesus comes back. And I’m telling you people that are happy, the things that make you happy will go away when Jesus comes back. And I’m telling you people that buy things for yourselves, you will not own those things when Jesus comes back. You see, those are things that we do in this world now, but soon, when Jesus comes back, all those things will finish up, so don’t worry about them.
32I don’t want you to be worried about anything. You see, a single man thinks a lot about Jesus, and he wants to make Jesus happy.
33But a married man wants to make his wife happy too, and he has kids to look after, so he also thinks a lot about the things that belong to this world.
34So he has a lot to think about. He doesn’t just think about God but he thinks about his family too. And it is like that for women, too. A single woman thinks a lot about God and she wants to belong to him properly, to think about him and do what he wants. But a married woman wants to make her husband happy too, and she has kids to look after, so she also thinks a lot about the things that belong to this world.
35I’m saying this to help you. I’m not making rules for you, but I want you to listen to God, and think about him, and work properly for him. Don’t let anything get in your way and stop you from doing that.
36Maybe a girl is promised to a man, but those 2 decide to work for God and not to get married yet. And maybe that girl is getting older now and soon she will not be a good age to marry, so that man thinks that it is best for him to marry her now. That’s all right. He has to do what he thinks is good. It’s all right for them to get married. He will not be doing anything wrong.
37But maybe another man and his promised girl, those 2 decide to work for God and not to get married, and maybe the man still wants to stay single and he can control himself. Well, he can stay single if he wants to. If he doesn’t get married, that is good.
38This is what I reckon. The man that marries his promise does something good. But the man that stays single does something better.
39And now I will tell you about widows. A married woman has to stay with her husband while he is alive. She can’t leave him and go away and marry another man. But if her husband dies, then she can marry again. But she has to marry a Christian.
40But I think she will be more happy if she stays single. That is what I reckon. And I think God’s spirit is leading me when I say this.
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