This verse is a single sentence in Greek. The first part of the sentence suggests that Paul is giving advice that he feels is useful but not absolutely necessary to follow. He has not been speaking of matters that are clearly right or wrong, but of how he thinks Christians should best live in the short time before the last days. Good News Bible‘s “I want to,” “I am … trying,” and “I want” help to bring out Paul’s feelings more clearly than Revised Standard Version‘s rather literal translation.

One may translate I say this as “I talk to you like this” or “I have said all these things to you….”

Restraint: the image is that of putting a halter around the neck of a domestic animal (compare 2 Cor 1.24). This whole sentence not to lay any restraint upon you may be translated as “I am not trying to restrain you in any way” or “I am not … to put a restrictive burden on you.”

There may be an implied contrast between any restraint and undivided devotion. In this case the implied meaning is “far from trying to restrict you, I want to help you serve the Lord without being restricted in any way.”

To promote good order refers to decent behavior rather than to church discipline. Another way to render this sentence is “I want you to live in a right and proper way.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .