Questions about Marriage
1 Now I will answer the questions you asked in your letter. You asked, “Is it best for people not to marry?” 2 Well, having your own husband or wife should keep you from doing something immoral. 3 Husbands and wives should be fair with each other about having sex. 4 A wife belongs to her husband instead of to herself, and a husband belongs to his wife instead of to himself. 5 So 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. 6 In my opinion that is what should be done, though I don't know of anything the Lord said about this matter. 7 I wish all of you were like me, but God has given different gifts to each of us.
8 My advice for the unmarried and for widows is that it is acceptable for them to remain single, just as I am. 9 But 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.
10 I instruct married couples to stay together, and this is exactly what the Lord himself taught. A wife who leaves her husband 11 should either stay single or go back to her husband. And a husband should not leave his wife.
12 I 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. 13 If your husband isn't a follower, but is willing to stay with you, don't divorce him. 14 Your 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.
15 If 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. 16 And 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
17 In 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 If you are already circumcised, don't try to change it. If you are not circumcised, don't get circumcised. 19 Being circumcised or uncircumcised isn't really what matters. The important thing is to obey God's commands. 20 So don't try to change what you were when God chose you. 21 Are you a slave? Don't let that bother you. But if you can win your freedom, you should. 22 When the Lord chooses slaves, they become his free people. And when he chooses free people, they become slaves of Christ. 23 God paid a great price for you. So don't become slaves of anyone else. 24 Stay what you were when God chose you.
Unmarried People
25 I don't know of anything the Lord said about people who have never been married. But I will tell you what I think. And you can trust me, because the Lord has treated me with kindness. 26 We are now going through hard times, and I think it is best for you to stay as you are. 27 If you are married, stay married. If you are not married, don't try to get married. 28 It 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.
29 My friends, what I mean is that the Lord will soon come, and it won't matter if you are married or not. 30 It will be all the same if you are crying or laughing, or if you are buying or are completely broke. 31 It 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.
32 I want all of you to be free from worry. An unmarried man worries about how to please the Lord. 33 But a married man has more worries. He must worry about the things of this world, because he wants to please his wife. 34 So he is pulled in two directions. Unmarried women and women who have never been married 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. 35 What 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.
36 But 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. There is nothing wrong with that. 37 But it is better to have self-control and to make up your mind not to marry. 38 It is perfectly all right to marry, but it is better not to get married at all.
39 A 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. 40 However, I think I am obeying God's Spirit when I say she would be happier to stay single.
1 Nowe concerning the thinges whereof ye wrote vnto mee, It were good for a man not to touche a woman. 2 Neuertheles, to auoide fornication, let euery man haue his wife, and let euery woman haue her owne husband. 3 Let the husband giue vnto the wife due beneuolence, and likewise also the wife vnto the husband. 4 The wife hath not the power of her owne bodie, but ye husband: and likewise also the husband hath not ye power of his own body, but the wife. 5 Defraude not one another, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may giue your selues to fasting and praier, and againe come together that Satan tempt you not for your incontinecie. 6 But I speake this by permission, not by commandement. 7 For I woulde that all men were euen as I my selfe am: but euery man hath his proper gift of God, one after this maner, and another after that. 8 Therefore I say vnto the vnmaried, and vnto the widowes, It is good for them if they abide euen as I doe. 9 But if they cannot abstaine, let them marrie: for it is better to marrie then to burne. 10 And vnto ye maried I comand, not I, but ye Lord, Let not ye wife depart from her husband. 11 But and if shee depart, let her remaine vnmaried, or be reconciled vnto her husband, and let not the husband put away his wife. 12 But to ye remnant I speake, and not ye Lord, If any brother haue a wife, ye beleeueth not, if she be content to dwell with him, let him not forsake her. 13 And the woman which hath an husband that beleeueth not, if he be content to dwell with her, let her not forsake him. 14 For the vnbeleeuing husband is sanctified to the wife, and the vnbeleeuing wife is sanctified to the husband, els were your children vncleane: but nowe are they holie. 15 But if the vnbeleeuing depart, let him depart: a brother or a sister is not in subiection in such things: but God hath called vs in peace. 16 For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt saue thine husband? Or what knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt saue thy wife? 17 But as God hath distributed to euery man, as the Lord hath called euery one, so let him walke: and so ordaine I, in all Churches. 18 Is any man called being circumcised? let him not gather his vncircumcision: is any called vncircumcised? let him not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing, and vncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandements of God. 20 Let euery man abide in the same vocation wherein he was called. 21 Art thou called being a seruant? care not for it: but if yet thou maiest be free, vse it rather. 22 For he that is called in the Lord, being. a seruant, is the Lords freeman: likewise also he that is called being free, is Christes seruant. 23 Yee are bought with a price: be not the seruants of men. 24 Brethren, let euery man, wherein hee was called, therein abide with God. 25 Nowe concerning virgines, I haue no commandement of the Lord: but I giue mine aduise, as one that hath obtained mercie of the Lord to be faithfull. 26 I suppose then this to bee good for the present necessitie: I meane that it is good for a man so to be. 27 Art thou bounde vnto a wife? seeke not to be loosed: art thou loosed from a wife? seeke not a wife. 28 But if thou takest a wife, thou sinnest not: and if a virgine marrie, shee sinneth not: neuerthelesse, such shall haue trouble in the flesh: but I spare you. 29 And this I say, brethren, because the time is short, hereafter that both they which haue wiues, be as though they had none: 30 And they that weepe, as though they wept not: and they that reioyce, as though they reioyced not: and they that bye, as though they possessed not: 31 And they that vse this worlde, as though they vsed it not: for the fashion of this worlde goeth away. 32 And I would haue you without care. The vnmaried careth for the things of the Lord, howe he may please the Lord. 33 But hee that is maried, careth for the things of the world, how he may please his wife. 34 There is difference also betweene a virgine and a wife: the vnmaried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy, both in body and in spirite: but shee that is maried, careth for the things of the worlde, howe shee may please her husband. 35 And this I speake for your owne commoditie, not to tangle you in a snare, but that yee follow that, which is honest, and that yee may cleaue fast vnto the Lord without separation. 36 But if any man thinke that it is vncomely for his virgine, if shee passe the flower of her age, and neede so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not: let them be maried. 37 Neuerthelesse, hee that standeth firme in his heart, that hee hath no neede, but hath power ouer his owne will, and hath so decreed in his heart, that hee will keepe his virgine, hee doeth well. 38 So then hee that giueth her to mariage, doeth well, but he that giueth her not to mariage, doeth better. 39 The wife is bounde by the Lawe, as long as her husband liueth: but if her husband bee dead, shee is at libertie to marie with whome she will, onely in the Lord. 40 But shee is more blessed, if she so abide, in my iudgement: and I thinke that I haue also the Spirite of God.