1 Corinthians 7:1-24 - Concerning Christian Marriage

¹ I now deal with the subjects mentioned in your letter. It is well for a man to abstain altogether from marriage. ² But because there is so much fornication every man should have a wife of his own, and every woman should have a husband. ³ Let a man pay his wife her due, and let a woman also pay her husband his. 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. 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. ⁶ Thus much in the way of concession, not of command. 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.

⁸ But I tell the unmarried, and women who are widows, that it is well for them to remain as I am. ⁹ If, however, they cannot maintain self-control, by all means let them marry; for marriage is better than the fever of passion.

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; 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. 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. ¹³ And a woman who has an unbelieving husband--if he consents to live with her, let her not separate from him. 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. 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. 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?

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. 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. ¹⁹ Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing: obedience to God's commandments is everything. ²⁰ 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 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 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 have all been redeemed at infinite cost: do not become slaves to men. ²⁴ Where each one stood when he was called, there, brethren, let him still stand--close to God.