1 Corinthians 7

1 Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

With reference to the subjects about which you wrote to me: It is good for a man to remain single.

2 But, because of fornication, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.

But, owing to the prevalence of immorality, I advise every man to have his own wife, and every woman her husband.

3 A husband should fulfill his obligation to his wife, and a wife should also act similarly toward her husband.

A husband should give his wife her due, and a wife her husband.

4 It is not the wife, but the husband, who has power over her body. But, similarly also, it is not the husband, but the wife, who has power over his body.

It is not the wife, but the husband, who exercises power over her body; and so, too, it is not the husband, but the wife, who exercises power over his body.

5 So, do not fail in your obligations to one another, except perhaps by consent, for a limited time, so that you may empty yourselves for prayer. And then, return together again, lest Satan tempt you by means of your abstinence.

Do not deprive each other of what is due – unless it is only for a time and by mutual consent, so that your minds may be free for prayer until you again live as man and wife – otherwise Satan might take advantage of your want of self-control and tempt you.

6 But I am saying this, neither as an indulgence, nor as a commandment.

I say this, however, as a concession, not as a command.

7 For I would prefer it if you were all like myself. But each person has his proper gift from God: one in this way, yet another in that way.

I should wish everyone to be just what I am myself. But everyone has his own gift from God – one in one way, and one in another.

8 But I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them, if they would remain as they are, just as I also am.

My advice, then, to those who are not married, and to widows, is this: It would be good for them to remain as I am myself.

9 But if they cannot restrain themselves, they should marry. For it is better to marry, than to be burned.

But, if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to be consumed with passion.

10 But to those who have been joined in matrimony, it is not I who commands you, but the Lord: a wife is not to separate from her husband.

To those who are married my direction is – yet it is not mine, but the Master’s – that a woman is not to leave her husband

11 But if she has separated from him, she must remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband should not divorce his wife.

(If she has done so, she should remain as she is, or else be reconciled to her husband) and also that a man is not to divorce his wife.

12 Concerning the rest, I am speaking, not the Lord. If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.

To all others I say – I, not the Master – If a follower of the Lord is married to a woman, who is an unbeliever but willing to live with him, he should not divorce her;

13 And if any woman has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce her husband.

and a woman who is married to a man, who is an unbeliever but willing to live with her, should not divorce her husband.

14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through the believing wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through the believing husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, whereas instead they are holy.

For, through his wife, the husband who is an unbeliever has become associated with Christ’s people; and the wife who is an unbeliever has become associated with Christ’s people through the Lord’s follower whom she has married. Otherwise your children would be “defiled,” but, as it is, they belong to Christ’s people.

15 But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart. For a brother or sister cannot be made subject to servitude in this way. For God has called us to peace.

However, if the unbeliever wishes to be separated, let them be so. Under such circumstances neither is bound; God has called you to live in peace.

16 And how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

How can you tell, wife, whether you may not save your husband? And how can you tell, husband, whether you may not save your wife?

17 However, let each one walk just as the Lord has distributed to him, each one just as God has called him. And thus do I teach in all the churches.

In any case, a person should continue to live in the condition which the Lord has allotted to them, and in which they were when God called them. This is the rule that I lay down in every church.

18 Has any circumcised man been called? Let him not cover his circumcision. Has any uncircumcised man been called? Let him not be circumcised.

Was a man already circumcised when he was called? Then he should not efface his circumcision. Has a man been called when uncircumcised? Then he should not be circumcised.

19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; there is only the observance of the commandments of God.

Circumcision is nothing; the want of it is nothing; but to keep the commands of God is everything.

20 Let each and every one remain in the same calling to which he was called.

Let everyone remain in that condition of life in which they were when the call came to them.

21 Are you a servant who has been called? Do not be concerned about it. But if you ever have the ability to be free, make use of it.

Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let that trouble you. No, even if you are able to gain your freedom, still do your best.

22 For any servant who has been called in the Lord is free in the Lord. Similarly, any free person who has been called is a servant in Christ.

For the person who was a slave when they were called to the master’s service is the Master’s freedman; so, too, the person who was free when called is Christ’s slave.

23 You have been bought with a price. Do not be willing to become the servants of men.

You were bought, and the price was paid. Do not let yourselves become slaves to people.

24 Brothers, let each one, in whatever state he was called, remain in that state with God.

Friends, let everyone remain in the condition in which they were when they were called, in close communion with God.

25 Now, concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord. But I give counsel, as one who has obtained the mercy of the Lord, so as to be faithful.

With regard to unmarried women, I have no command from the Master to give you, but I tell you my opinion, and the Master in his mercy has made me worthy to be trusted.

26 Therefore, I consider this to be good, because of the present necessity: that it is good for a man to be such as I am.

I think, then, that, in view of the time of suffering that has now come upon us, what I have already said is best – that a man should remain as he is.

27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be freed. Are you free of a wife? Do not seek a wife.

Are you married to a wife? Then do not seek to be separated. Are you separated from a wife? Then do not seek for a wife.

28 But if you take a wife, you have not sinned. And if a virgin has married, she has not sinned. Even so, such as these will have the tribulation of the flesh. But I would spare you from this.

Still, if you should marry, that is not wrong; nor, if a young woman marries, is that wrong. But those who marry will have much trouble to bear, and my wish is to spare you.

29 And so, this is what I say, brothers: The time is short. What remains of it is such that: those who have wives should be as if they had none;

What I mean, friends, is this – the time is short. Meanwhile, let those who have wives live as if they had none,

30 and those who weep, as though they were not weeping; and those who rejoice, as if they were not rejoicing; and those who buy, as if they possessed nothing;

those who are weeping as if not weeping, those who are rejoicing as if not rejoicing, those who buy as if not possessing,

31 and those who use the things of this world, as if they were not using them. For the figure of this world is passing away.

and those who use the good things of the world as using them sparingly; for this world as we see it is passing away.

32 But I would prefer you to be without worry. Whoever is without a wife is worried about the things of the Lord, as to how he may please God.

I want you to be free from anxiety. The unmarried man is anxious about the Master’s cause, desiring to please him;

33 But whoever is with a wife is worried about the things of the world, as to how he may please his wife. And so, he is divided.

while the married man is anxious about worldly matters, desiring to please his wife;

34 And the unmarried woman and the virgin think about the things that are of the Lord, so that she may be holy in body and in spirit. But she who is married thinks about the things that are of the world, as to how she may please her husband.

and so his interests are divided. Again, the unmarried woman, whether she is old or young, is anxious about the Master’s cause, striving to be pure both in body and in spirit, while the married woman is anxious about worldly matters, desiring to please her husband.

35 Furthermore, I am saying this for your own benefit, not in order to cast a snare over you, but toward whatever is honest and whatever may provide you with the ability to be without hindrance, so as to worship the Lord.

I say this for your own benefit, not with any intention of putting a halter round your necks, but in order to secure for the Master seemly and constant devotion, free from all distraction.

36 But if any man considers himself to seem dishonorable, concerning a virgin who is of adult age, and so it ought to be, he may do as he wills. If he marries her, he does not sin.

If, however, a father thinks that he is not acting fairly by his unmarried daughter, when she is past her youth, and if under these circumstances her marriage ought to take place, he should act as he thinks right. He is doing nothing wrong – let the marriage take place.

37 But if he has decided firmly in his heart, and he does not have any obligation, but only the power of his free will, and if he has judged this in his heart, to let her remain a virgin, he does well.

On the other hand, a father, who has definitely made up his mind, and is under no compulsion, but is free to carry out his own wishes, and who has come to the decision, in his own mind, to keep his unmarried daughter at home will be doing right.

38 And so, he who joins with his virgin in matrimony does well, and he who does not join with her does better.

In short, the one who consents to his daughter’s marriage is doing right, and yet the other will be doing better.

39 A woman is bound under the law for as long as her husband lives. But if her husband has died, she is free. She may marry whomever she wishes, but only in the Lord.

A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives; but, if the husband should pass to his rest, the widow is free to marry anyone she wishes, provided he is a believer.

40 But she will be more blessed, if she remains in this state, in accord with my counsel. And I think that I, too, have the Spirit of God.

Yet she will be happier if she remains as she is – in my opinion, for I think that I also have the Spirit of God.