Corinthios I 7
1 De quibus autem scripsistis mihi: Bonum est homini mulierem non tangere:
With reference to the subjects about which you wrote to me: It is good for a man to remain single.
2 propter fornicationem autem unusquisque suam uxorem habeat, et unaquæque suum virum habeat.
But, owing to the prevalence of immorality, I advise every man to have his own wife, and every woman her husband.
3 Uxori vir debitum reddat: similiter autem et uxor viro.
A husband should give his wife her due, and a wife her husband.
4 Mulier sui corporis potestatem non habet, sed vir. Similiter autem et vir sui corporis potestatem non habet, sed mulier.
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 Nolite fraudare invicem, nisi forte ex consensu ad tempus, ut vacetis orationi: et iterum revertimini in idipsum, ne tentet vos Satanas propter incontinentiam vestram.
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 Hoc autem dico secundum indulgentiam, non secundum imperium.
I say this, however, as a concession, not as a command.
7 Volo enim omnes vos esse sicut meipsum: sed unusquisque proprium donum habet ex Deo: alius quidem sic, alius vero sic.
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 Dico autem non nuptis, et viduis: bonum est illis si sic permaneant, sicut et ego.
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 Quod si non se continent, nubant. Melius est enim nubere, quam uri.
But, if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to be consumed with passion.
10 Iis autem, qui matrimonio iuncti sunt, præcipio non ego, sed Dominus, uxorem a viro non discedere:
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 quod si discesserit, manere innuptam, aut viro suo reconciliari. Et vir uxorem non dimittat.
(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 Nam ceteris ego dico, non Dominus. Si quis frater uxorem habet infidelem, et hæc consentit habitare cum illo, non dimittat illam.
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 Et si qua mulier fidelis habet virum infidelem, et hic consentit habitare cum illa, non dimittat virum:
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 sanctificatus est enim vir infidelis per mulierem fidelem, et sanctificata est mulier infidelis per virum fidelem: alioquin filii vestri immundi essent, nunc autem sancti sunt.
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 Quod si infidelis discedit, discedat: non enim servituti subiectus est frater, aut soror in huiusmodi: in pace autem vocavit nos Deus.
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 Unde enim scis mulier, si virum salvum facies? Aut unde scis vir, si mulierem salvam facies?
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 Nisi unicuique sicut divisit Dominus, unumquemque sicut vocavit Deus, ita ambulet, et sicut in omnibus Ecclesiis doceo.
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 Circumcisus aliquis vocatus est? Non adducat præputium. In præputio aliquis vocatus est? Non circumcidatur.
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 Circumcisio nihil est, et præputium nihil est: sed observatio mandatorum Dei.
Circumcision is nothing; the want of it is nothing; but to keep the commands of God is everything.
20 Unusquisque in qua vocatione vocatus est, in ea permaneat.
Let everyone remain in that condition of life in which they were when the call came to them.
21 Servus vocatus es? Non sit tibi curæ: sed et si potes fieri liber, magis utere.
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 Qui enim in Domino vocatus est servus, libertus est Domini: similiter qui liber vocatus est, servus est Christi.
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 Pretio empti estis, nolite fieri servi hominum.
You were bought, and the price was paid. Do not let yourselves become slaves to people.
24 Unusquisque in quo vocatus est, fratres, in hoc permaneat apud Deum.
Friends, let everyone remain in the condition in which they were when they were called, in close communion with God.
25 De virginibus autem præceptum Domini non habeo: consilium autem do, tamquam misericordiam consecutus a Domino, ut sim fidelis.
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 Existimo ergo hoc bonum esse propter instantem necessitatem, quoniam bonum est homini sic esse.
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 Alligatus es uxori? Noli quærere solutionem. Solutus es ab uxore? Noli quærere uxorem.
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 Si autem acceperis uxorem: non peccasti. Et si nupserit virgo, non peccavit. Tribulationem tamen carnis habebunt huiusmodi. Ego autem vobis parco.
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 Hoc itaque dico, fratres: Tempus breve est: reliquum est, ut et qui habent uxores, tamquam non habentes sint:
What I mean, friends, is this – the time is short. Meanwhile, let those who have wives live as if they had none,
30 et qui flent, tamquam non flentes: et qui gaudent, tamquam non gaudentes: et qui emunt, tamquam non possidentes:
those who are weeping as if not weeping, those who are rejoicing as if not rejoicing, those who buy as if not possessing,
31 et qui utuntur hoc mundo, tamquam non utantur: præterit enim figura huius mundi.
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 Volo autem vos sine solicitudine esse. Qui sine uxore est, solicitus est quæ Domini sunt, quomodo placeat Deo.
I want you to be free from anxiety. The unmarried man is anxious about the Master’s cause, desiring to please him;
33 Qui autem cum uxore est, solicitus est quæ sunt mundi, quomodo placeat uxori, et divisus est.
while the married man is anxious about worldly matters, desiring to please his wife;
34 Et mulier innupta, et virgo cogitat quæ Domini sunt, ut sit sancta corpore, et spiritu. Quæ autem nupta est, cogitat quæ sunt mundi, quomodo placeat viro.
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 Porro hoc ad utilitatem vestram dico: non ut laqueum vobis iniiciam, sed ad id, quod honestum est, et quod facultatem præbeat sine impedimento Dominum obsecrandi.
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 Si quis autem turpem se videri existimat super virgine sua, quod sit superadulta, et ita oportet fieri: quod vult faciat: non peccat, si nubat.
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 Nam qui statuit in corde suo firmus, non habens necessitatem, potestatem autem habens suæ voluntatis, et hoc iudicavit in corde suo, servare virginem suam, bene facit.
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 Igitur et qui matrimonio iungit virginem suam, bene facit: et qui non iungit, melius facit.
In short, the one who consents to his daughter’s marriage is doing right, and yet the other will be doing better.
39 Mulier alligata est legi quanto tempore vir eius vivit. Quod si dormierit vir eius, liberata est: cui vult nubat: tantum in Domino.
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 Beatior autem erit si sic permanserit secundum meum consilium: puto autem quod et ego Spiritum Dei habeam.
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.
