1 Corinthians 7

Now concerning what you wrote: it is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman. But because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife and each woman her own husband. Let the husband fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except by mutual agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then be together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish everyone were as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one in this way and another in that. Now I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them to remain as I am. But if they do not exercise self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. To the married I give this command, not I but the Lord: a wife must not separate from her husband (but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband), and a husband must not leave his wife. To the rest I say, I and not the Lord: if a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not leave her. And if a woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not leave her husband. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through the wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through the brother. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. But if the unbeliever separates, let that person separate. The brother or sister is not enslaved in such cases. God has called us in peace. For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? Only let each live as the Lord has assigned to him and as God has called him. This is what I direct in all the churches. Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the mark of circumcision. Has anyone been called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping God’s commandments is what matters. Let each remain in the calling in which he was called. Were you called as a slave? Do not let it trouble you. But if you can become free, take the opportunity. For the one called in the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise, the one called as a free person is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price. Do not become slaves of human beings. Brothers, let each remain with God in the condition in which he was called. Now concerning virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who has received mercy from the Lord to be faithful. So I think that, because of the present distress, it is good for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek release. Are you free of a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you marry, you have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such people will have affliction in the flesh, and I wish to spare you. This I say, brothers: the time has been shortened. From now on, let those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who weep as though not weeping, and those who rejoice as though not rejoicing, and those who buy as though not possessing, and those who use the world as though not making full use of it. For the form of this world is passing away. I want you to be free from cares. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But the married man is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided. The unmarried woman and the virgin are concerned about the things of the Lord, to be holy in both body and spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to ensnare you, but to promote what is proper and devotion to the Lord without distraction. But if anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin daughter, if she is past the usual age for marriage and it must be so, let him do what he wishes; he does not sin. Let them marry. But the one who stands firm in his heart, under no necessity and with authority over his own will, and has decided in his own heart to keep his virgin daughter unmarried, will do well. So the one who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does well, and the one who does not give her in marriage will do better. A wife is bound as long as her husband lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry whom she wishes, only in the Lord. But in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

Rights and attribution