Principles for Marriage

¹Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: t“It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” ²But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. ³uThe husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴For 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. ⁵vDo not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, wso that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

⁶Now as a concession, xnot a command, I say this.1 ⁷yI wish that all were zas I myself am. But aeach has his own gift from God, bone of one kind and one of another.

⁸To the unmarried and the widows I say that cit is good for them to remain single, das I am. ⁹But if they cannot exercise self-control, ethey should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

¹⁰To the married fI give this charge (not I, but the Lord): gthe wife should not separate from her husband ¹¹(but if she does, hshe should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and gthe husband should not divorce his wife.

¹²To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. ¹³If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. ¹⁴For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. iOtherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. ¹⁵But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you2 jto peace. ¹⁶For how do you know, wife, kwhether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Live as You Are Called

¹⁷Only let each person lead the life3 lthat the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. mThis is my rule in nall the churches. ¹⁸Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? oLet him not seek circumcision. ¹⁹pFor neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but qkeeping the commandments of God. ²⁰rEach one should remain in the condition in which he was called. ²¹Were you a bondservant4 when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) ²²For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is sa freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is ta bondservant of Christ. ²³uYou were bought with a price; vdo not become bondservants of men. ²⁴So, brothers,5 win whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

The Unmarried and the Widowed

²⁵Now concerning6 the betrothed,7 xI have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as yone who by the Lord's mercy is ztrustworthy. ²⁶I think that in view of the present8 distress ait is good for a person to remain as he is. ²⁷Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman9 marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. ²⁹This is what I mean, brothers: bthe appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, ³⁰and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy cas though they had no goods, ³¹and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For dthe present form of this world is passing away.

³²I want you to be efree from anxieties. fThe unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. ³³But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, ³⁴and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. ³⁵I say this for your own benefit, gnot to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

³⁶If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed,10 if his11 passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. ³⁷But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. ³⁸So then he who marries his betrothed hdoes well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.

³⁹iA wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only jin the Lord. ⁴⁰Yet kin my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think lthat I too have the Spirit of God.