1 Corinthians 7
7
Paul answered their questions about marriage
1You wrote a letter to me and asked me some questions, and now I will answer one of those questions. You asked me, “Is it good for a man to stay single and never marry a woman?” My answer is, “Yes, but only if he can stay single without going wrong.” 2You see, a lot of people can’t do that. They try to stay single, but then they go wrong, and they end up sleeping with somebody, as if they are married to each other. So, I reckon, every man has to have his own wife and only ever sleep with her, and every woman has to have her own husband and only ever sleep with him.
3If a wife needs her husband to sleep with her and do what married people do together, he has to agree to it, to make her happy. And if a husband needs his wife to sleep with him and do what married people do together, she has to agree to it, to make him happy. 4You see, the wife’s body does not only belong to her, it also belongs to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body doesn’t only belong to him, it also belongs to his wife.
5So, if your husband or wife wants to sleep with you, to do what married people do together, you can’t say, “No.” But both of you can agree to wait for a while without sleeping together, so you can use the time to pray. Then, soon after that, you have to sleep together again. If you don’t, Satan might trick you. He knows you can’t control yourselves very well. If you go too long without sleeping together, then he will try to get one of you to sleep with somebody else. 6I’m not saying that you have to stop sleeping together. I’m saying that if you both agree to stop for a while, so you can pray more, that’s all right. 7You know, I reckon it is good for everyone to stay single, like me. But God helps people in different ways. He helps some people be a good husband or wife, and he helps other people stay single without going wrong.
8Now I will talk to you people that are not married. Maybe your wife or husband has died, or maybe you never married anyone. This is what I reckon. Stay single, like me. 9But you have to control yourself properly. If that is too hard for you, then marry somebody. If you are always wanting to sleep with somebody and do what married people do together, don’t try to stay single.
10Now I will talk to you Christians that are married, and your partner is another Christian. Don’t get divorced. This rule comes from our leader, Jesus, not just from me. A wife can’t leave her husband. 11But if she does leave him, she has to stay single. Or she can go back to her husband. And it is the same for a husband. He can’t leave his wife.#Matthew 5:32; 19:9; Mark 10:11-12; Luke 16:18
12Now I will talk to you people that are married, but your partner is not a Christian. This is not a rule that comes from our leader, Jesus, but this is what I reckon. If a Christian man has a wife, and if she doesn’t believe in Jesus, but she agrees to stay with him, that man can’t split up the marriage, he can’t divorce her. 13If a Christian woman has a husband, and if he doesn’t believe in Jesus, but he agrees to stay with her, that woman can’t split up the marriage, she can’t divorce him. 14You see, if a woman believes in Jesus, but her husband doesn’t, God says it’s good for them to stay married. And in the same way, if a man believes in Jesus, but his wife doesn’t, God says it’s good for them to stay married. And I’ll tell you about their kids too. If their mother or father believes in Jesus, God reckons those kids are special. They are not just like the kids of people who don’t believe in him.
15So if you have a husband or wife that isn’t Christian, and they want to leave you, then you can let them go. Christians don’t have to try to make their partners stay with them if their partners are not Christians. God wants us to be quiet and happy. He doesn’t want us to be arguing and fighting with each other. But if your husband or wife isn’t Christian, but they agree to stay with you, then don’t leave them. 16Listen, Christian wife, maybe you can help your husband turn around and let God save him. And listen, Christian husband, maybe you can help your wife turn around and let God save her.
Stay the same as you were when you first believed
17You know, I’ve been talking to you about marriage, and I said that married people have to stay married. Well, our leader Jesus gives us all different lives. Some people are married, some people are not married. Some men have had a young man operation, some men haven’t. Some people are workers with no pay, some people are free. But this is the rule that I tell Christians in all the churches, everywhere I go. I tell them, “You don’t have to try to change those things. You can just stay the same as you were when God picked you to be in his family.” 18It’s like this. Some of you were born Jews, so your Jewish family did a young man operation on you. After that, God picked you to be in his family. All right, don’t try to get another operation to change it back again. And some of you are not born Jews, but God has picked you to be in his family. All right, don’t try to be Jewish now. Don’t get a young man operation. 19It doesn’t matter if you get that Jewish operation, or not. This is what’s important, you have to do what God tells us all to do.
20You see, God picked each of you to be in his family, so don’t try to change everything. Stay the same as you were at that time when God picked you. 21Sometimes bosses own their workers. Those workers belong to their bosses and their bosses control them. They have to do what their bosses say, and they don’t get any pay. If God picked you while you were a worker like that, don’t worry. Don’t try to run away and get free. (But if your boss says you can go free, then do that.) 22Some of you are that sort of worker. Your boss owns you and controls you. But think about this. God picked you to join up with Jesus, and you are in his family, so now you are properly free. You are free from the bad things you used to do. They don’t control you any more.
In the same way, some of you are free people, nobody owns you. But think about this. God picked you, and you are in Jesus’s family, so now Jesus owns you and you work all the time for him. 23You see, God bought you and he paid a lot for you. So don’t let anyone else control you and get you to go wrong. 24You see, my Christian friends, I’m telling you that each one of you has to live for God, and stay the same as you were when God picked you.
25I’m going to talk now about young people that are not married, and I will try to answer your question. Our leader Jesus didn’t tell me what to say about this, but I will tell you what I think. God is good to me and he helps me think properly, so I reckon you can believe me. This is what I think. 26People everywhere are making trouble for God’s people these days, so I reckon it is best for you to stay the way you are. 27This is what I reckon, if you are married, don’t try to leave your partner. But if you are not married, don’t look for a partner. 28The bad people in this world will make a lot of trouble for God’s people, and married people will find it hard to live with that trouble. I want to save you from getting too much trouble, so I’m telling you to stay single. But if you do marry somebody, you are not doing wrong.
29-31My Christian friends, listen to what I’m saying. There is not much time left before Jesus will come back, and he will change this world. So don’t just think about the things of this world. That is the reason why I’m telling you married men that after Jesus comes back, it will not matter if people are married or single. And I’m telling you people that are sad, don’t worry, the trouble that makes you sad will go away when Jesus comes back. And I’m telling you people that are happy, the things that make you happy will go away when Jesus comes back. And I’m telling you people that buy things for yourselves, you will not own those things after Jesus comes back. You see, we do those things in this world now, but soon, when Jesus comes back, all those things will finish up. So don’t just live for those things now.
32You see, I don’t want you to be worried about the things in this world. A single man thinks a lot about Jesus, and he only wants to make Jesus happy. 33But a married man wants to make his wife happy too, so he also thinks a lot about the things in this world. 34So he has a lot to think about. He doesn’t just think about God, but he thinks about his family too. And it is like that for women too. A single woman thinks a lot about God, and she wants both her body and her spirit to belong to him. But a married woman wants to make her husband happy too, so she also thinks a lot about the things in this world. 35I’m saying this to help you. I’m not making rules for you, but I want you to listen properly to God, and think about him, and work properly for him. Don’t let anything get in your way and stop you from doing that.
36Maybe a young woman was promised to a man, but those 2 think it is better to work for God, and they agree not to get married yet. And maybe that woman is getting older now, and soon she will not be a good age to marry, so that man thinks that it is best for him to marry her now. That’s all right. He has to do what he thinks is good. It’s all right for them to get married. He will not be doing anything wrong.
37But maybe another young woman was promised to a man, and those 2 agreed to work for God and not to get married, but this man still wants to stay single, and he can control himself. Well, he can stay single if he wants to. If he doesn’t get married, that is good. 38This is what I reckon. The man that marries his promise does something good. But the man that stays single does something better.
39And now I will tell you about widows. A married woman has to stay with her husband while he is alive. She can’t leave him and go away and marry another man. But if her husband dies, then she can marry again. But a Christian widow has to marry a Christian man. 40But I reckon she will be more happy if she stays single, and I think God’s spirit is telling me what to say to you.
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1 Corinthians 7
7
Teaching on Marriage
1Now as to the matters of which you wrote: It is good (beneficial, advantageous) for a man not to touch a woman [outside marriage]. 2But because of [the temptation to participate in] sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. 3The husband must fulfill his [marital] duty to his wife [with good will and kindness], and likewise the wife to her husband. 4The wife does not have [exclusive] authority over her own body, but the husband shares with her; and likewise the husband does not have [exclusive] authority over his body, but the wife shares with him. 5Do not deprive each other [of marital rights], except perhaps by mutual consent for a time, so that you may devote yourselves [unhindered] to prayer, but come together again so that Satan will not tempt you [to sin] because of your lack of self-control. 6But I am saying this as a concession, not as a command. 7I wish that all the people were as I am; but each person has his own gift from God, one of this kind and one of that.
8But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, [that as a practical matter] it is good if they remain [single and entirely devoted to the Lord] #Some scholars believe Paul may have been a widower.as I am. 9But if they do not have [sufficient] self-control, they should marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
10But to the #Couples who are both believers.married [believers] I give instructions—not I, but the Lord—that the wife is not to separate from her husband, 11(but even if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be #In reference to married Christians, Paul teaches that reconciliation is always preferable to separation or divorce and should be actively sought.reconciled to her husband) and that the husband should not leave his wife.
12To the #Christians married to non-believers. It is evident that some of the married couples in Corinth had wed before either of them had become Christians, and subsequently the believing spouses probably wondered whether their marriage was legitimate in the eyes of God.rest I declare—I, not the Lord [since Jesus did not discuss this]—that if any [believing] brother has a wife who does not believe [in Christ], and she consents to live with him, he must not leave her. 13And if any [believing] woman has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not leave him. 14For the unbelieving husband is #The unbeliever is not saved by marriage to a Christian. Each person, whether spouse or child, must make a personal decision to accept and follow Christ to receive salvation and God’s promises.sanctified [that is, he receives the blessings granted] through his [Christian] wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be [ceremonially] #The word used here seems to be borrowed from the language of OT ritual. There were many things that could render a person ceremonially unclean. All these things would disqualify a person from participating in worship, and required cleansing rituals to correct.unclean, but as it is they are holy. 15But if the unbelieving partner leaves, let him leave. In such cases the [remaining] brother or sister is not [spiritually or morally] bound. But God has called us to #Probably peace between the spouses, hopefully leading to restoration and salvation (v 16).peace. 16For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband [by leading him to Christ]? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife [by leading her to Christ]?
17Only, let each one live the life which the Lord has assigned him, and to which God has called him [for each person is unique and is accountable for his choices and conduct, let him walk in this way]. This is the rule I make in all the churches. 18Was anyone at the time of his calling [from God already] circumcised? He is not to #Paul may be speaking figuratively of abandoning all of one’s Jewish heritage and culture; however, there was a procedure in ancient medicine for reversing circumcision.become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called while uncircumcised? #A faction of Jewish Christians (often called “Judaizers”) hounded Paul and insisted that Gentile believers must be circumcised.He is not to be circumcised. 19Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is keeping the commandments of God. 20Each one should remain in the condition in which he was [when he was] called.
21Were you a slave when you were called? Do not worry about that [since your status as a believer is #In practice, even if both a slave and his master became Christians, the slave would remain so unless he were freed (cf Onesimus and Philemon); he could not claim that his freedom in Christ applied to his civil status as a slave. But it would have been wrong for others to treat a slave differently from anyone else in church services.equal to that of a freeborn believer]; but if you are able to gain your freedom, #This essentially is an exception to the rule of v 20.do that. 22For he who was a slave when he was called in the Lord is a freedman of the Lord, likewise he who was free when he was called is a slave of Christ. 23You were bought with a price [a precious price paid by Christ]; do not become slaves to men [but to Christ]. 24Brothers, let each one remain with God in that condition in which he was [when he was] called.
25Now concerning the virgins [of marriageable age] I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26I think then that because of the impending distress [that is, the pressure of the current trouble], it is good for a man to remain as he is. 27Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you #Lit released from a wife.unmarried? Do not seek a wife. 28But if you do marry, you have not sinned [in doing so]; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned [in doing so]. Yet those [who marry] will have troubles (special challenges) in this life, and I am trying to spare you that. 29But I say this, believers: the #Paul may be referring to the appointed time of the return of Christ, or he may have been focusing on the briefness of human life, or both of these.time has been shortened, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they did not; 30and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess [anything]; 31and those who use the world [taking advantage of its opportunities], as though they did not make full use of it. For the outward form of this world [its present social and material nature] is passing away.
32But I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; 33but the married man is concerned about worldly things, how he may please his wife, 34and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or the virgin is concerned about the matters of the Lord, how to be holy and set apart both in body and in spirit; but a married woman is concerned about worldly things, how she may please her husband. 35Now I say this for your own benefit; not to restrict you, but to promote what is appropriate and secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.
36But if any man thinks that he is not acting properly and honorably toward his virgin daughter, [#In ancient times marriages were usually arranged by a girl’s father or the head of the family.by not permitting her to marry], if she is #I.e. has reached her child-bearing years.past her youth, and it must be so, let him do as he wishes, he does not sin; let her marry. 37But the man who stands firmly committed in his heart, having no compulsion [to yield to his daughter’s request], and has authority over his own will, and has decided in his own heart to keep his own virgin [daughter from being married], he will do well. 38So then both the father who gives his virgin daughter in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage will do better.
39A wife is bound [to her husband by law] as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry whomever she wishes, only [provided that he too is] in the Lord. 40But in my opinion a widow is happier if she stays as she is. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God [in this matter].
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