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1 Corinthians 7

1Now concerning the things you wrote: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.” 2But because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. 3Let the husband give his wife what is owed to her, and likewise the wife to her 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 by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer and then be together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7I wish all people were as I myself am; but each has a gift of his own from God, one this way and another that way.

8To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain as I am. 9But if they are not exercising self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn. 10To the married I give this command—not I, but the Lord: a wife must not separate from her husband—11but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband—and a husband must not send away his wife. 12To the rest I say—I, not the Lord: if any brother has an unbelieving wife and she agrees to live with him, he must not send her away. 13And if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he agrees to live with her, she must not send away her husband. 14For the unbelieving husband has been made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been made holy through the brother; otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy. 15But if the unbeliever separates, let that person separate. The brother or sister is not enslaved in such circumstances; God has called us in peace. 16For how 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 person walk as the Lord has assigned to him, as God has called each one. This is what I direct in all the assemblies. 18Was someone called when already circumcised? Let him not undo his circumcision. Has someone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised. 19Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping God's commandments matters. 20Let each remain in the calling in which he was called. 21Were you called as a slave? Do not let it trouble you. But if you can indeed become free, take the opportunity instead. 22For the slave called in the Lord is the Lord's freedperson; likewise the free person who was called is Christ's slave. 23You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of people. 24Brothers, let each remain with God in the condition in which he was called.

25Now concerning virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who has received the Lord's mercy to be faithful. 26I therefore think this is good because of the present distress: it is good for a person to remain as he is. 27Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek release. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28But even if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such people will have affliction in the flesh, and I am trying to spare you. 29This is what I say, brothers: the time has been shortened. From now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, 30and those who weep as though not weeping, and those who rejoice as though not rejoicing, and those who buy as though not possessing, 31and those who use the world as though not making full use of it. For the form of this world is passing away.

32I want you to be free from concerns. The unmarried man is concerned with the Lord's affairs, how to please the Lord. 33But the married man is concerned with the world's affairs, how to please his wife, 34and is divided. The unmarried woman and the virgin are concerned with the Lord's affairs, so as to be holy in both body and spirit; but the married woman is concerned with the world's affairs, how to please her husband. 35I say this for your own benefit, not to throw a noose around you, but for good order and undistracted devotion to the Lord.

36But if someone thinks he is behaving improperly toward his virgin daughter, if she is past her prime and it ought to happen this way, let him do what he wishes; he does not sin. Let them marry. 37But whoever stands firm in his heart, under no necessity but having authority over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin daughter unmarried, will do well. 38So the one who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does well, and the one who does not give her in marriage will do better. 39A wife is bound as long as her husband lives. But if her husband falls asleep, she is free to marry whomever she wishes, only in the Lord. 40Yet she is happier if she remains as she is, according to my judgment; and I think that I too have God's Spirit.

Translation notes 8

7:1–7 — Touch, mutual obligation, and concession. “Touch a woman” is an expression for sexual relations, not a ban on ordinary physical contact. Quotation marks mark a probable statement from the Corinthians' letter; it could instead be Paul's own opening statement. The bodily authority and obligation are expressed reciprocally, and the temporary abstinence requires agreement. The base mentions prayer without the fasting added in some texts. The precise scope of “this” in verse 6 is uncertain: the temporary abstinence or the preceding marital advice may be in view.

7:8–11 — Burning and separation. “Burn” most naturally concerns sexual desire here; some have understood judgment instead. “Unmarried” can include widowers but does not explicitly say widowers. Paul distinguishes a command from the Lord from his own advice; the translation does not harmonize it with one Gospel's wording. Separating and sending away can both concern divorce in this setting.

7:12–16 — Mixed marriages. “I, not the Lord” distinguishes Paul's instruction for a situation not covered by a cited command of Jesus; it is not automatically a claim that the advice has no authority. Made holy, unclean, and holy describe the family relation to God without explaining its full effect. “Not enslaved” keeps the slavery term; whether it also authorizes remarriage is debated and is not explicitly stated. Verse 16's questions can express hope for a spouse's salvation or uncertainty about it. The base says God called “us”; other texts say “you.”

7:17–24 — Calling, slavery, and freedom. “Walk” pictures the way of life. “Undo his circumcision” refers to attempting to conceal or reverse its outward sign. At verse 21 the Greek leaves the object of “make use” unstated. The reading takes it as an opportunity for freedom; a substantial alternative is “even if you can become free, make use of your condition as a slave instead.” “Freedperson” describes someone released from slavery, distinct from someone freeborn, while “Christ's slave” retains the ownership image. “Brothers” includes women.

7:25–31 — Distress and a shortened time. The present distress is not identified precisely. “Virgins” retains the specific term, rather than making it identical with everyone unmarried. “Released from a wife” may describe being no longer married or simply being free of the marriage bond; it is not expanded into a separate divorce rule. Flesh, binding and release, and the world's passing form remain visible. The comparisons in verses 29–31 relativize ordinary circumstances under the shortened time; the text does not here repeat the marital duties of verses 3–5.

7:32–35 — Concerns and the noose. “Concerned” repeats the same verb for both unmarried and married people; it is not translated as noble devotion in one case and sinful anxiety in the other. The base attaches “is divided” to the married man; another textual form speaks of a difference between the married woman and the virgin. “Throw a noose” retains the image of imposing a constraint.

7:36–38 — A virgin daughter or a fiancée. The Greek says “his virgin,” without daughter or fiancée. This draft provisionally reads the man as a father or guardian deciding about the young woman's marriage, partly because the verb in verse 38 normally means give in marriage. Daughter and unmarried are supplied to make that reading intelligible. A substantial alternative concerns a man and his fiancée: he may marry her, but does better to refrain. On that reading, “past her prime” can instead be understood of his strong sexual desire. “Let them marry” is plural in either reading. The passage's wording and situation remain disputed.

7:39–40 — Widowhood and the Lord. “Falls asleep” is the death metaphor. “Only in the Lord” limits the marriage but does not spell out its full application; marrying another believer is the natural contextual reading. Paul's judgment that remaining unmarried is happier is kept as his stated assessment, alongside his claim to have God's Spirit.