1 Corinthians 7-9

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Directions concerning Marriage

7 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.” ² But because of cases of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. ³ The husband should give to his wife what is due her and likewise the wife to her husband.^{(A) 4} For the 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. ⁵ Do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a set time, to devote yourselves to prayer,^[a] and then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.^{(B) 6} This I say by way of concession, not of command.^{(C) 7} I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has a particular gift from God, one having one kind and another a different kind.^(D)

⁸ To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain unmarried as I am.^{(E) 9} But if they are not practicing self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.^(F)

¹⁰ To the married I give this command—not I but the Lord—that the wife should not separate from her husband^{(G) 11} (but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband) and that the husband should not divorce his wife.

¹² To the rest I say—I and not the Lord—that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.^{(H) 13} And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce the husband. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through the brother.^[b] Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.^{(I) 15} But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister is not bound. It is to peace that God has called us.^{[c](J) 16} Wife, for all you know, you might save your husband. Husband, for all you know, you might save your wife.^(K)

The Life that the Lord Has Assigned

¹⁷ However that may be, let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you. This is my rule in all the churches.^{(L) 18} Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision.^{(M) 19} Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but obeying the commandments of God is everything.^{(N) 20} Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called.^(O)

²¹ Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. Even if you can gain your freedom, make the most of it.^{[d] 22} For whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave belonging to Christ.^{(P) 23} You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of humans.^{(Q) 24} In whatever condition you were called, brothers and sisters, there remain with God.

The Unmarried and the Widows

²⁵ Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.^{(R) 26} I think that, in view of the impending^[e] crisis,^[f] it is good for you to remain as you are.^{(S) 27} Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸ But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in the flesh, and I would spare you that. ²⁹ I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none,^{(T) 30} and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, ³¹ and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.^(U)

³² I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord,^{(V) 33} but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife, ³⁴ and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the Lord, so that they may be holy in body and spirit, but the married woman is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband.^{(W) 35} I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.

³⁶ If anyone thinks that he is behaving indecently toward his fiancée,^[g] if his passions are strong and so it has to be, let him marry as he wishes; it is no sin. Let them marry. ³⁷ But if someone stands firm in his resolve, being under no necessity but having his own desire under control, and has determined in his own mind to keep her as his fiancée,^[h] he will do well. ³⁸ So then, he who marries his fiancée^[i] does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do better.

³⁹ A wife is bound as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies,^[j] she is free to marry anyone she wishes, only in the Lord.^{(X) 40} But in my opinion she is more blessed if she remains as she is. And I think that I, too, have the Spirit of God.

Food Offered to Idols

8 Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.^{(Y) 2} Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge,^{(Z) 3} but anyone who loves God is known by him.^(AA)

⁴ Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists” and that “there is no God but one.”^{(AB) 5} Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— ⁶ yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.^(AC)

⁷ It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.^{(AD) 8} “Food will not bring us close to God.”^[k] We are no worse off if we do not eat and no better off if we do.^{(AE) 9} But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.^{(AF) 10} For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? ¹¹ So by your knowledge the weak brother or sister for whom Christ died is destroyed.^{(AG) 12} But when you thus sin against brothers and sisters and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never again eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.^(AH)

The Rights of an Apostle

9 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?^{(AI) 2} If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.^(AJ)

³ This is my defense to those who would examine me. ⁴ Do we not have the right to our food and drink?^{(AK) 5} Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife,^[l] as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?^{(AL) 6} Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?^{(AM) 7} Who at any time pays the expenses for doing military service? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not get any of its milk?^(AN)

⁸ Do I say this on human authority? Does not the law also say the same? ⁹ For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned?^{(AO) 10} Or does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was indeed written for our sake, for whoever plows should plow in hope and whoever threshes should thresh in hope of a share in the crop. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we harvest material^[m] things?^{(AP) 12} If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we still more?

Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.^{(AQ) 13} Do you not know that those who work in the temple service get their food from the temple and those who serve at the altar share in what is sacrificed on the altar?^{(AR) 14} In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.^(AS)

¹⁵ But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this so that they may be applied in my case. Indeed, I would rather die than that—no one will deprive me of my ground for boasting! ¹⁶ If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! ¹⁷ For if I do this of my own will, I have a wage, but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission.^{(AT) 18} What then is my wage? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.

¹⁹ For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might gain all the more.^{(AU) 20} To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to gain Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might gain those under the law. ²¹ To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not outside God’s law but am within Christ’s law) so that I might gain those outside the law.^{(AV) 22} To the weak I became weak, so that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. ²³ I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I might become a partner in it.

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it.^{(AW) 25} Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one.^{(AX) 26} So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air, ²⁷ but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.^(AY)