⁸ But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, [that as a practical matter] it is good if they remain [single and entirely devoted to the Lord] ^[a]as I am.

²⁶ I think then that because of the impending distress [that is, the pressure of the current trouble], it is good for a man to remain as he is.

²⁸ But if you do marry, you have not sinned [in doing so]; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned [in doing so]. Yet those [who marry] will have troubles (special challenges) in this life, and I am trying to spare you that.