22. For the slave called in the Lord is a freed person in the Lord, just as the free person who has been called is a slave of Christ.
23. You have been purchased at a price. Do not become slaves to human beings.
24. Brothers, everyone should continue before God in the state in which he was called.
25. Now in regard to virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.
26. So this is what I think best because of the present distress: that it is a good thing for a person to remain as he is.
27. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek a separation. Are you free of a wife? Then do not look for a wife.
28. If you marry, however, you do not sin, nor does an unmarried woman sin if she marries; but such people will experience affliction in their earthly life, and I would like to spare you that.