Chapter 7

¹And concerning the things of which ye wrote to me: good [it is] for a man not to touch a woman, ²and because of the whoredom let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her proper husband; ³to the wife let the husband the due benevolence render, and in like manner also the wife to the husband; ⁴the wife over her own body hath not authority, but the husband; and, in like manner also, the husband over his own body hath not authority, but the wife. ⁵Defraud not one another, except by consent for a time, that ye may be free for fasting and prayer, and again may come together, that the Adversary may not tempt you because of your incontinence; ⁶and this I say by way of concurrence -- not of command, ⁷for I wish all men to be even as I myself [am]; but each his own gift hath of God, one indeed thus, and one thus. ⁸And I say to the unmarried and to the widows: it is good for them if they may remain even as I [am]; ⁹and if they have not continence -- let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn; ¹⁰and to the married I announce -- not I, but the Lord -- let not a wife separate from a husband: ¹¹but and if she may separate, let her remain unmarried, or to the husband let her be reconciled, and let not a husband send away a wife. ¹²And to the rest I speak -- not the Lord -- if any brother hath a wife unbelieving, and she is pleased to dwell with him, let him not send her away; ¹³and a woman who hath a husband unbelieving, and he is pleased to dwell with her, let her not send him away; ¹⁴for the unbelieving husband hath been sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife hath been sanctified in the husband; otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. ¹⁵And, if the unbelieving doth separate himself -- let him separate himself: the brother or the sister is not under servitude in such [cases], and in peace hath God called us; ¹⁶for what, hast thou known, O wife, whether the husband thou shalt save? or what, hast thou known, O husband, whether the wife thou shalt save? ¹⁷if not, as God did distribute to each, as the Lord hath called each -- so let him walk; and thus in all the assemblies do I direct: ¹⁸being circumcised -- was any one called? let him not become uncircumcised; in uncircumcision was any one called? let him not be circumcised; ¹⁹the circumcision is nothing, and the uncircumcision is nothing -- but a keeping of the commands of God. ²⁰Each in the calling in which he was called -- in this let him remain; ²¹a servant -- wast thou called? be not anxious; but if also thou art able to become free -- use [it] rather; ²²for he who [is] in the Lord -- having been called a servant -- is the Lord`s freedman: in like manner also he the freeman, having been called, is servant of Christ: ²³with a price ye were bought, become not servants of men; ²⁴each, in that in which he was called, brethren, in this let him remain with God. ²⁵And concerning the virgins, a command of the Lord I have not; and I give judgment as having obtained kindness from the Lord to be faithful: ²⁶I suppose, therefore, this to be good because of the present necessity, that [it is] good for a man that the matter be thus: -- ²⁷Hast thou been bound to a wife? seek not to be loosed; hast thou been loosed from a wife? seek not a wife. ²⁸But and if thou mayest marry, thou didst not sin; and if the virgin may marry, she did not sin; and such shall have tribulation in the flesh: and I spare you. ²⁹And this I say, brethren, the time henceforth is having been shortened -- that both those having wives may be as not having; ³⁰and those weeping, as not weeping; and those rejoicing, as not rejoicing; and those buying, as not possessing; ³¹and those using this world, as not using [it] up; for passing away is the fashion of this world. ³²And I wish you to be without anxiety; the unmarried is anxious for the things of the Lord, how he shall please the Lord; ³³and the married is anxious for the things of the world, how he shall please the wife. ³⁴The wife and the virgin have been distinguished: the unmarried is anxious for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit, and the married is anxious for the things of the world, how she shall please the husband. ³⁵And this for your own profit I say: not that I may cast a noose upon you, but for the seemliness and devotedness to the Lord, undistractedly, ³⁶and if any one doth think [it] to be unseemly to his virgin, if she may be beyond the bloom of age, and it ought so to be, what he willeth let him do; he doth not sin -- let him marry. ³⁷And he who hath stood stedfast in the heart -- not having necessity -- and hath authority over his own will, and this he hath determined in his heart -- to keep his own virgin -- doth well; ³⁸so that both he who is giving in marriage doth well, and he who is not giving in marriage doth better. ³⁹A wife hath been bound by law as long time as her husband may live, and if her husband may sleep, she is free to be married to whom she will -- only in the Lord; ⁴⁰and she is happier if she may so remain -- according to my judgment; and I think I also have the Spirit of God.