| 1 | Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me : [It is] good for a man not to touch a woman . |
| 2 | Nevertheless , [to avoid] fornication , let every man have his own wife , and let every woman have her own husband . |
| 3 | Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence : and likewise also the wife unto the husband . |
| 4 | The wife hath not power of her own body , but the husband : and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body , but the wife . |
| 5 | Defraud ye not one the other , except [it be] with consent for a time , that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer ; and come together again , that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency . |
| 6 | But I speak this by permission , [and] not of commandment . |
| 7 | For I would that all men were even as I myself . But every man hath his proper gift of God , one after this manner , and another after that . |
| 8 | I say therefore to the unmarried and widows , It is good for them if they abide even as I . |
| 9 | But if they cannot contain , let them marry : for it is better to marry than to burn . |
| 10 | And unto the married I command , [yet] not I , but the Lord , Let not the wife depart from [her] husband : |
| 11 | But and if she depart , let her remain unmarried , or be reconciled to [her] husband : and let not the husband put away [his] wife . |
| 12 | But to the rest speak I , not the Lord : If any brother hath a wife that believeth not , and she be pleased to dwell with him , let him not put her away . |
| 13 | And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not , and if he be pleased to dwell with her , let her not leave him . |
| 14 | For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife , and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband : else were your children unclean ; but now are they holy . |
| 15 | But if the unbelieving depart , let him depart . A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such [cases]: but God hath called us to peace . |
| 16 | For what knowest thou , O wife , whether thou shalt save [thy] husband ? or how knowest thou , O man , whether thou shalt save [thy] wife ? |
| 17 | But as God hath distributed to every man , as the Lord hath called every one , so let him walk . And so ordain I in all churches . |
| 18 | Is any man called being circumcised ? let him not become uncircumcised . Is any called in uncircumcision ? let him not be circumcised . |
| 19 | Circumcision is nothing , and uncircumcision is nothing , but the keeping of the commandments of God . |
| 20 | Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called . |
| 21 | Art thou called [being] a servant ? care not for it : but if thou mayest be made free , use [it] rather . |
| 22 | For he that is called in the Lord , [being] a servant , is the Lord's freeman : likewise also he that is called , [being] free , is Christ's servant . |
| 23 | Ye are bought with a price ; be not ye the servants of men . |
| 24 | Brethren , let every man , wherein he is called , therein abide with God . |
| 25 | Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord : yet I give my judgment , as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful . |
| 26 | I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress , [I say], that [it is] good for a man so to be . |
| 27 | Art thou bound unto a wife ? seek not to be loosed . Art thou loosed from a wife ? seek not a wife . |
| 28 | But and if thou marry , thou hast not sinned ; and if a virgin marry , she hath not sinned . Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh : but I spare you . |
| 29 | But this I say , brethren , the time [is] short : it remaineth , that both they that have wives be as though they had none ; |
| 30 | And they that weep , as though they wept not ; and they that rejoice , as though they rejoiced not ; and they that buy , as though they possessed not ; |
| 31 | And they that use this world , as not abusing [it]: for the fashion of this world passeth away . |
| 32 | But I would have you without carefulness . He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord , how he may please the Lord : |
| 33 | But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world , how he may please [his] wife . |
| 34 | There is difference [also] between a wife and a virgin . The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord , that she may be holy both in body and in spirit : but she that is married careth for the things of the world , how she may please [her] husband . |
| 35 | And this I speak for your own profit ; not that I may cast a snare upon you , but for that which is comely , and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction . |
| 36 | But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin , if she pass the flower of [her] age , and need so require , let him do what he will , he sinneth not : let them marry . |
| 37 | Nevertheless he that standeth stedfast in his heart , having no necessity , but hath power over his own will , and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin , doeth well . |
| 38 | So then he that giveth [her] in marriage doeth well ; but he that giveth [her] not in marriage doeth better . |
| 39 | The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth ; but if her husband be dead , she is at liberty to be married to whom she will ; only in the Lord . |
| 40 | But she is happier if she so abide , after my judgment : and I think also that I have the Spirit of God . |
