1 Corinthians 7

7 ¹Now, about what you wrote: "It's good for a man not to touch a woman." ²But to avoid sexual sin, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. ³The husband should give his wife what he owes her, and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴The wife has no authority over her own body—the husband does; likewise the husband has no authority over his own body—the wife does. ⁵Do not deprive each other, except by mutual agreement for a set time, to give yourselves to prayer; then come together again, so Satan doesn't tempt you through your lack of self-control. ⁶I say this as a concession, not as a command. ⁷I wish everyone were as I am. But each has his own gift from our Father—one this way, one that way. ⁸I tell the unmarried and widows: staying as I am is good for them. ⁹But if they can't control themselves, they should marry—better to marry than burn with passion. ¹⁰To the married I command—not I, but the Lord—a wife must not leave her husband. ¹¹But if she separates, she must stay unmarried or be reconciled to her husband—and a husband must not divorce his wife.

¹²To the rest I say (I, not the Lord): if a brother has an unbelieving wife willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. ¹³If a woman has an unbelieving husband willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. ¹⁴For the unbelieving husband is made holy through the wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through the brother. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they're holy. ¹⁵If the unbelieving partner leaves, let them leave; the brother or sister is not bound in such cases. Our Father has called you to peace. ¹⁶How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

¹⁷Only let each live as the Lord assigned him, as our Father called him. This is my rule in all the churches. ¹⁸Was someone circumcised when called? He must not undo it. Was someone uncircumcised when called? He must not be circumcised. ¹⁹Circumcision is nothing, uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping our Father's commands matters. ²⁰Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. ²¹Were you called as a slave? Don't let it trouble you. But if you can gain freedom, take it. ²²The slave called in the Lord is the Lord's freed person; likewise, the free person called is Christ's slave. ²³You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. ²⁴Brothers, whatever condition each was in when called, there let him remain with our Father.

²⁵About the unmarried, I lack a command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one the Lord's mercy made trustworthy. ²⁶I think it's good, given the present crisis, for a person to stay as he is. ²⁷Bound to a wife? Don't seek release. Free from a wife? Don't seek a wife. ²⁸But if you marry, you haven't sinned; if a virgin marries, she hasn't sinned. But such people will face distress in the flesh, and I want to spare you that. ²⁹I say this, brothers: the appointed time has grown short. From now, let those with wives live as if they had none, ³⁰and those who weep as if not weeping, and those who rejoice as if not rejoicing, and those who buy as if owning nothing, ³¹and those who use the world as if not absorbed by it—for this world's present form is passing away.

³²I want you free of worries. The unmarried man cares about the Lord's affairs, how to please the Lord. ³³But the married man is concerned about the things of the world, how to please his wife, ³⁴and he is divided. The unmarried woman or virgin cares about the Lord's concerns, to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman cares about the world's concerns, how to please her husband. ³⁵I say this for your benefit, not to restrict you, but for proper conduct and undivided devotion to the Lord.

³⁶If anyone thinks he's acting improperly toward his fiancée, and his passions run strong and it must happen, let him do as he wishes—let them marry; it's no sin. ³⁷But whoever stands firm in his heart, not compelled, but in control of his own will, and has decided in his heart to keep his fiancée, does well. ³⁸So the one who marries his fiancée does well; the one who doesn't marry her does better.

³⁹A wife is bound to her husband while he lives; if he dies, she's free to marry anyone she wants, only in the Lord. ⁴⁰But she's happier, in my view, if she stays as she is. And I think I too have our Father's Spirit.