⁷ I wish everyone could get along without marrying, just as I do. But we are not all the same. God gives some the gift of a husband or wife, and others he gives the gift of being able to stay happily unmarried. ⁸ So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—better to stay unmarried if you can, just as I am. ⁹ But if you can’t control yourselves, go ahead and marry. It is better to marry than to burn with lust.