1 Corinthians 7
7
Questions about Marriage
1Now I will answer the questions you asked in your letter. You asked, “Is it best for people not to marry?”#7.1 people not to marry: Or “married couples not to have sex.” 2Well, having your own husband or wife should keep you from doing something immoral. 3Husbands and wives should be fair with each other about having sex. 4A wife belongs to her husband instead of to herself, and a husband belongs to his wife instead of to himself. 5So don't refuse sex to each other, unless you agree not to have sex for a little while, in order to spend time in prayer. Then Satan won't be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6In my opinion that is what should be done, though I don't know of anything the Lord said about this matter. 7I wish all of you were like me, but God has given different gifts to each of us.
8My advice for the unmarried and for widows is that it is acceptable for them to remain single, just as I am. 9But if you don't have enough self-control, then go ahead and get married. After all, it is better to marry than to burn with desire.#7.9 with desire: Or “in the flames of hell.”
10 #
Mt 5.32; 19.9; Mk 10.11,12; Lk 16.18. I instruct married couples to stay together, and this is exactly what the Lord himself taught. A wife who leaves her husband 11should either stay single or go back to her husband. And a husband should not leave his wife.
12I don't know of anything else the Lord said about marriage. All I can do is to give you my own advice. If your wife isn't a follower of the Lord, but is willing to stay with you, don't divorce her. 13If your husband isn't a follower, but is willing to stay with you, don't divorce him. 14Your husband or wife who isn't a follower is made holy by having you as a partner. This also makes your children holy and keeps them from being unclean in God's sight.
15If your husband or wife isn't a follower of the Lord and decides to divorce you, then you should agree to it. You are no longer bound to that person. After all, God chose you and wants you to live at peace. 16And besides, how do you know if you will be able to save your husband or wife who isn't a follower?
Obeying the Lord at All Times
17In every church I tell the people to stay as they were when the Lord Jesus chose them and God called them to be his own. Now I say the same thing to you. 18#1 Macc 1.15. If you are already circumcised, don't try to change it. If you are not circumcised, don't get circumcised. 19Being circumcised or uncircumcised isn't really what matters. The important thing is to obey God's commands. 20So don't try to change what you were when God chose you. 21Are you a slave? Don't let that bother you. But if you can win your freedom, you should. 22When the Lord chooses slaves, they become his free people. And when he chooses free people, they become slaves of Christ. 23God paid a great price for you. So don't become slaves of anyone else. 24Stay what you were when God chose you.
Unmarried People
25I don't know of anything the Lord said about people who have never been married.#7.25 people who have never been married: Or “virgins.” But I will tell you what I think. And you can trust me, because the Lord has treated me with kindness. 26We are now going through hard times, and I think it is best for you to stay as you are. 27If you are married, stay married. If you are not married, don't try to get married. 28It isn't wrong to marry, even if you have never been married before. But those who marry will have a lot of trouble, and I want to protect you from this.
29My friends, what I mean is that the Lord will soon come,#7.29 the Lord will soon come: Or “there's not much time left” or “the time for decision comes quickly.” and it won't matter if you are married or not. 30It will be all the same if you are crying or laughing, or if you are buying or are completely broke. 31It won't make any difference how much good you are getting from this world or how much you like it. This world as we know it is now passing away.
32I want all of you to be free from worry. An unmarried man worries about how to please the Lord. 33But a married man has more worries. He must worry about the things of this world, because he wants to please his wife. 34So he is pulled in two directions. Unmarried women and women who have never been married#7.34 women who have never been married: Or “virgins.” worry only about pleasing the Lord, and they keep their bodies and minds pure. But a married woman worries about the things of this world, because she wants to please her husband. 35What I am saying is for your own good—it isn't to limit your freedom. I want to help you to live right and to love the Lord above all else.
36But suppose you are engaged to someone old enough to be married, and you want her so much that all you can think about is getting married. Then go ahead and marry.#7.36 But suppose you are engaged … go ahead and marry: Verses 36-38 may also be translated: 36 “If you feel that you are not treating your grown daughter right by keeping her from getting married, then let her marry. You won't be doing anything wrong. 37 But it is better to have self-control and make up your mind not to let your daughter get married. 38 It is all right for you to let her marry. But it is better if you don't let her marry at all.” There is nothing wrong with that. 37But it is better to have self-control and to make up your mind not to marry. 38It is perfectly all right to marry, but it is better not to get married at all.
39A wife should stay married to her husband until he dies. Then she is free to marry again, but only to a man who is a follower of the Lord. 40However, I think I am obeying God's Spirit when I say she would be happier to stay single.
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1 Corinthians 7: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
1 Corinthians 7
7
Concerning Marriage
1Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.” # 1Co 7:8 2Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. # 1Co 7:9 3Let the husband render to the wife due affection, # Ex 21:10; 1Pe 3:7 and likewise the wife to the husband. 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. 5Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer. # Ex 19:15; 1Sa 21:4–5 Then come together again, so that Satan does not tempt you for lack of self-control. 6I speak this as a concession and not as a command. # 1Co 7:12; 2Co 8:8 7For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But every man has his proper gift from God, one after this manner and another after that. # Mt 19:11–12; 1Co 9:5
8I say to the unmarried and widows that it is good for them if they live even as I am. # 1Co 7:1 9But if they cannot restrain themselves, let them marry. # 1Co 7:2; 1Ti 5:14 For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
10Now to the married I command, not I, but the Lord, do not let the wife depart from her husband. # Mal 2:14–16; Mt 5:32; Lk 16:18 11But if she departs, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And do not let the husband divorce his wife.
12To the rest I speak, not the Lord: # 1Co 7:6; 2Co 11:17 If any brother has an unbelieving wife who consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13And if the woman has an unbelieving husband who consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. 14For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean. But now they are holy.
15But if the unbeliever departs, let that one depart. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called us to peace. # Ro 14:19; 1Co 14:33 16For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife? # Ro 11:14
Living in the Calling of God
17But as God has given to every man and as the Lord has called every man, so let him walk. This I command in all churches. # 1Co 4:17; 2Co 11:28 18Is any man called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Is any man called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised. # Ac 15:5, 19 19Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God is everything. # Gal 5:6; 6:15 20Let each man remain in the same condition in which he was called.
21Were you called while a servant? Do not worry about it. But if you may become free, do so. 22For he who is called in the Lord while a servant is the Lord’s freeman. # Phm 16 Likewise, he who is called while free is Christ’s servant. # 1Pe 2:16 23You were bought at a price. Do not be the servants of men. # Lev 25:42; 1Co 6:20 24Brothers, let every man, in whatever condition he is called, remain there with God. # 1Co 7:20
The Unmarried and Widows
25Now concerning those not having married, # 7:25 Gk virgins. I have no command from the Lord. # 1Co 7:6 Yet I will give my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be faithful. # 1Co 4:2 26I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. # 1Co 7:1, 8 27Are you committed to a wife? Do not seek to be uncommitted. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28But if you marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless they will have trouble in this life, but I would spare you that.
29But this I say, brothers, the time is short. # Ro 13:11–12 It remains that those who have wives should be as though they had none; 30those who weep, as though they did not weep; those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; those who buy, as though they possessed nothing; 31and those who use this world, as though they did not make full use of it. # 1Co 9:18 For the form of this world is passing away. # Ps 39:6; 1Jn 2:17
32But I prefer that you have no concern. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. # 1Ti 5:5 33But he who is married cares for the things of the world, how he may please his wife. 34There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. 35I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.
36If any man thinks that he is behaving improperly toward his unmarried woman, # 7:36 Or virgin daughter and if she is past the bloom of her youth, and passions so require, let him do what he will. He does not sin. Let them marry. 37Nevertheless he who stands steadfast in his heart without necessity, and has power over his own will, and has so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, does well. 38So then he who gives her in marriage does well, but he who gives her not in marriage does better. # Heb 13:4
39The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives. But if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will, # Ro 7:2–3; 1Co 7:15 but only in the Lord. 40But in my judgment she is happier if she so remains as she is. And I think that I have the Spirit of God.
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The Holy Bible, Modern English Version
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