1 Corinthians 7

Let Each Remain in the Calling in Which He Was Called

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Marriage

7:1Now concerning the things you wrote: it is good for a man not to touch a woman.

7:2But because of cases of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.

7:3Let the husband fulfill his obligation to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.

7:4The 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.

7:5Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by mutual agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer and then be together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

7:6I say this by way of concession, not by way of command.

7:7I wish that all people were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one in this way and another in that.

The Unmarried and the Widows

7:8Now I say to the unmarried and the widows: it is good for them if they remain as I am.

7:9But if they do not exercise self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn.

7:10To the married I give this instruction—not I, but the Lord: a wife is not to separate from her husband—

7:11but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband—and a husband is not to dismiss his wife.

Marriage to an Unbeliever

7:12To the rest I say—I, not the Lord: if any brother has an unbelieving wife and she agrees to live with him, let him not dismiss her.

7:13And if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he agrees to live with her, let her not dismiss her husband.

7:14For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified in the brother. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy.

7:15But if the unbelieving spouse separates, let that one separate. The brother or sister is not enslaved in such cases; God has called us in peace.

7:16For 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 Walk as the Lord Assigned

7:17Only let each walk as the Lord has allotted to him, as God has called each one. This is what I direct in all the Churches.

7:18Was anyone called when already circumcised? Let him not undo his circumcision. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised.

7:19Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping God’s commandments matters.

7:20Let each remain in the calling in which he was called.

7:21Were you called as a slave? Do not let it trouble you. But if you can indeed become free, make use of the opportunity instead.

7:22For the slave called in the Lord is the Lord’s freedperson; likewise the free person who was called is Christ’s slave.

7:23You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings.

7:24Brothers, let each remain with God in the condition in which he was called.

Virgins

7:25Now concerning virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who has received mercy from the Lord to be faithful.

7:26I therefore think this is good because of the present distress: that it is good for a person to remain as he is.

7:27Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek release. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

7:28But even 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 would spare you.

7:29But I say this, brothers: the time has been shortened. From now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none,

7:30and those who weep as though not weeping, and those who rejoice as though not rejoicing, and those who buy as though not possessing,

7:31and those who use the world as though not making full use of it. For the form of this world is passing away.

Free from Anxiety

7:32I want you to be free from anxiety. The unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s things, how he may please the Lord.

7:33But the married man is concerned about the world’s things, how he may please his wife,

7:34and he is divided. Both the unmarried woman and the virgin are concerned about the Lord’s things, so that she may be holy in both body and spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the world’s things, how she may please her husband.

7:35I say this for your own benefit, not to throw a noose over you, but for good order and undistracted devotion to the Lord.

7:36But if anyone thinks he is behaving improperly toward his virgin, if she is past her prime and it ought to happen in this way, let him do what he wishes; he does not sin. Let them marry.

7:37But the one who stands firm in his heart, having no necessity but having authority over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin, will do well.

7:38So the one who gives his own virgin 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

7:39A wife is bound for as long as her husband lives. But if her husband falls asleep, she is free to marry whomever she wishes, only in the Lord.

7:40But she is happier if she remains as she is, according to my judgment; and I think that I too have God’s Spirit.

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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.