1 Corinthians 7

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

I now deal with the subjects mentioned in your letter. It is well for a man to abstain altogether from marriage.

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

But because there is so much fornication every man should have a wife of his own, and every woman should have a husband.

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

Let a man pay his wife her due, and let a woman also pay her husband his.

4 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.

A married woman is not mistress of her own person: her husband has certain rights. In the same way a married man is not master of his own person: his wife has certain rights.

5 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.

Do not refuse one another, unless perhaps it is just for a time and by mutual consent, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer and may then associate again; lest the Adversary begin to tempt you because of your deficiency in self-control.

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

Thus much in the way of concession, not of command.

7 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.

Yet I would that everybody lived as I do; but each of us has his own special gift from God--one in one direction and one in another.

8 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.

But I tell the unmarried, and women who are widows, that it is well for them to remain as I am.

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

If, however, they cannot maintain self-control, by all means let them marry; for marriage is better than the fever of passion.

10 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

But to those already married my instructions are--yet not mine, but the Lord's--that a wife is not to leave her husband;

11 (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.

or if she has already left him, let her either remain as she is or be reconciled to him; and that a husband is not to send away his wife.

12 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;

To the rest it is I who speak--not the Lord. If a brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, let him not send her away.

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

And a woman who has an unbelieving husband--if he consents to live with her, let her not separate from him.

14 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.

For, in such cases, the unbelieving husband has become--and is--holy through union with a Christian woman, and the unbelieving wife is holy through union with a Christian brother. Otherwise your children would be unholy, but in reality they have a place among God's people.

15 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.

If, however, the unbeliever is determined to leave, let him or her do so. Under such circumstances the Christian man or woman is no slave; God has called us to live lives of peace.

16 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?

For what assurance have you, O woman, as to whether you will save your husband? Or what assurance have you, O man, as to whether you will save your wife?

17 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.

Only, whatever be the condition in life which the Lord has assigned to each individual--and whatever the condition in which he was living when God called him--in that let him continue.

18 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.

This is what I command in all the Churches. Was any one already circumcised when called? Let him not have recourse to the surgeons. Was any one uncircumcised when called? Let him remain uncircumcised.

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

Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing: obedience to God's commandments is everything.

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

Whatever be the condition in life in which a man was, when he was called, in that let him continue.

21 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.

Were you a slave when God called you? Let not that weigh on your mind. And yet if you can get your freedom, take advantage of the opportunity.

22 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.

For a Christian, if he was a slave when called, is the Lord's freed man, and in the same way a free man, if called, becomes the slave of Christ.

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

You have all been redeemed at infinite cost: do not become slaves to men.

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

Where each one stood when he was called, there, brethren, let him still stand--close to God.

25 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.

Concerning unmarried women I have no command to give you from the Lord; but I offer you my opinion, which is that of a man who, through the Lord's mercy, is deserving of your confidence.

26 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.

I think then that, taking into consideration the distress which is now upon us, it is well for a man to remain as he is.

27 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.

Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to get free. Are you free from the marriage bond? Do not seek for a wife.

28 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.

Yet if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a maiden marries, she has not sinned. Such people, however, will have outward trouble. But I am for sparing you.

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

Yet of this I warn you, brethren: the time has been shortened--so that henceforth those who have wives should be as though they had none,

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

those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess,

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

and those who use the world as not using it to the full. For the world as it now exists is passing away.

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

And I would have you free from worldly anxiety. An unmarried man concerns himself with the Lord's business--how he shall please the Lord;

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

but a married man concerns himself with the business of the world--how he shall please his wife.

34 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.

There is a difference too between a married and an unmarried woman. She who is unmarried concerns herself with the Lord's business--that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but the married woman concerns herself with the business of the world--how she shall please her husband.

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

Thus much I say in your own interest; not to lay a trap for you, but to help towards what is becoming, and enable you to wait on the Lord without distraction.

36 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.

If, however, a father thinks he is acting unbecomingly towards his still unmarried daughter if she be past the bloom of her youth, and so the matter is urgent, let him do what she desires; he commits no sin; she and her suitor should be allowed to marry.

37 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.

But if a father stands firm in his resolve, being free from all external constraint and having a legal right to act as he pleases, and in his own mind has come to the decision to keep his daughter unmarried, he will do well.

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

So that he who gives his daughter in marriage does well, and yet he who does not give her in marriage will do better.

39 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.

A woman is bound to her husband during the whole period that he lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to marry whom she will, provided that he is a Christian.

40 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.

But in my judgement, her state is a more enviable one if she remains as she is; and I also think that I have the Spirit of God.