1 Corinthians 7
1 I now deal with the subjects mentioned in your letter. It is well for a man to abstain altogether from marriage.
De quibus autem scripsistis mihi: Bonum est homini mulierem non tangere:
2 But because there is so much fornication every man should have a wife of his own, and every woman should have a husband.
propter fornicationem autem unusquisque suam uxorem habeat, et unaquæque suum virum habeat.
3 Let a man pay his wife her due, and let a woman also pay her husband his.
Uxori vir debitum reddat: similiter autem et uxor viro.
4 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.
Mulier sui corporis potestatem non habet, sed vir. Similiter autem et vir sui corporis potestatem non habet, sed mulier.
5 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.
Nolite fraudare invicem, nisi forte ex consensu ad tempus, ut vacetis orationi: et iterum revertimini in idipsum, ne tentet vos Satanas propter incontinentiam vestram.
6 Thus much in the way of concession, not of command.
Hoc autem dico secundum indulgentiam, non secundum imperium.
7 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.
Volo enim omnes vos esse sicut meipsum: sed unusquisque proprium donum habet ex Deo: alius quidem sic, alius vero sic.
8 But I tell the unmarried, and women who are widows, that it is well for them to remain as I am.
Dico autem non nuptis, et viduis: bonum est illis si sic permaneant, sicut et ego.
9 If, however, they cannot maintain self-control, by all means let them marry; for marriage is better than the fever of passion.
Quod si non se continent, nubant. Melius est enim nubere, quam uri.
10 But to those already married my instructions are--yet not mine, but the Lord's--that a wife is not to leave her husband;
Iis autem qui matrimonio juncti sunt, præcipio non ego, sed Dominus, uxorem a viro non discedere:
11 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.
quod si discesserit, manere innuptam, aut viro suo reconciliari. Et vir uxorem non dimittat.
12 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.
Nam ceteris ego dico, non Dominus. Si quis frater uxorem habet infidelem, et hæc consentit habitare cum illo, non dimittat illam.
13 And a woman who has an unbelieving husband--if he consents to live with her, let her not separate from him.
Et si qua mulier fidelis habet virum infidelem, et hic consentit habitare cum illa, non dimittat virum:
14 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.
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.
15 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.
Quod si infidelis discedit, discedat: non enim servituti subjectus est frater, aut soror in hujusmodi: in pace autem vocavit nos Deus.
16 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?
Unde enim scis mulier, si virum salvum facies? aut unde scis vir, si mulierem salvam facies?
17 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.
Nisi unicuique sicut divisit Dominus, unumquemque sicut vocavit Deus, ita ambulet, et sicut in omnibus ecclesiis doceo.
18 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.
Circumcisus aliquis vocatus est? non adducat præputium. In præputio aliquis vocatus est? non circumcidatur.
19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing: obedience to God's commandments is everything.
Circumcisio nihil est, et præputium nihil est: sed observatio mandatorum Dei.
20 Whatever be the condition in life in which a man was, when he was called, in that let him continue.
Unusquisque in qua vocatione vocatus est, in ea permaneat.
21 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.
Servus vocatus es? non sit tibi curæ: sed et si potes fieri liber, magis utere.
22 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.
Qui enim in Domino vocatus est servus, libertus est Domini: similiter qui liber vocatus est, servus est Christi.
23 You have all been redeemed at infinite cost: do not become slaves to men.
Pretio empti estis: nolite fieri servi hominum.
24 Where each one stood when he was called, there, brethren, let him still stand--close to God.
Unusquisque in quo vocatus est, fratres, in hoc permaneat apud Deum.
25 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.
De virginibus autem præceptum Domini non habeo: consilium autem do, tamquam misericordiam consecutus a Domino, ut sim fidelis.
26 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.
Existimo ergo hoc bonum esse propter instantem necessitatem, quoniam bonum est homini sic esse.
27 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.
Alligatus es uxori? noli quærere solutionem. Solutus es ab uxore? noli quærere uxorem.
28 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.
Si autem acceperis uxorem, non peccasti. Et si nupserit virgo, non peccavit: tribulationem tamen carnis habebunt hujusmodi. Ego autem vobis parco.
29 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,
Hoc itaque dico, fratres: tempus breve est: reliquum est, ut et qui habent uxores, tamquam non habentes sint:
30 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,
et qui flent, tamquam non flentes: et qui gaudent, tamquam non gaudentes: et qui emunt, tamquam non possidentes:
31 and those who use the world as not using it to the full. For the world as it now exists is passing away.
et qui utuntur hoc mundo, tamquam non utantur: præterit enim figura hujus mundi.
32 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;
Volo autem vos sine sollicitudine esse. Qui sine uxore est, sollicitus est quæ Domini sunt, quomodo placeat Deo.
33 but a married man concerns himself with the business of the world--how he shall please his wife.
Qui autem cum uxore est, sollicitus est quæ sunt mundi, quomodo placeat uxori, et divisus est.
34 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.
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.
35 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.
Porro hoc ad utilitatem vestram dico: non ut laqueum vobis injiciam, sed ad id, quod honestum est, et quod facultatem præbeat sine impedimento Dominum obsecrandi.
36 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.
Si quis autem turpem se videri existimat super virgine sua, quod sit superadulta, et ita oportet fieri: quod vult faciat: non peccat, si nubat.
37 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.
Nam qui statuit in corde suo firmus, non habens necessitatem, potestatem autem habens suæ voluntatis, et hoc judicavit in corde suo, servare virginem suam, bene facit.
38 So that he who gives his daughter in marriage does well, and yet he who does not give her in marriage will do better.
Igitur et qui matrimonio jungit virginem suam, bene facit: et qui non jungit, melius facit.
39 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.
Mulier alligata est legi quanto tempore vir ejus vivit, quod si dormierit vir ejus, liberata est: cui vult nubat, tantum in Domino.
40 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.
Beatior autem erit si sic permanserit secundum meum consilium: puto autem quod et ego Spiritum Dei habeam.
