1 Corinthians 7:12-16

Expanded Bible

¹² For ·all the others [the rest] I say this (I am saying this, not the Lord [^CJesus gave no instruction on this, but Paul still speaks with authority as an apostle]): If a ·Christian man [^Lbrother] has a wife who is not a believer, and she is ·happy [content; willing] to live with him, he must not ·divorce [or leave] her. ¹³ And if a Christian woman has a husband who is not a believer, and he is ·happy [content; willing] to live with her, she must not ·divorce [or leave] him. ¹⁴ The husband who is not a believer is ·made holy [sanctified; touched by holiness] through his believing wife. And the wife who is not a believer is ·made holy [sanctified; touched by holiness] through her believing husband. If this were not true, your children would ·not be clean [be spiritually impure; or be without spiritual influence], but now your children are holy [^Csome Corinthians said an unbeliever defiled a Christian marriage; Paul reverses this and says believers “sanctify” the marriage].

¹⁵ But if those who are not believers decide to ·leave [or divorce], let them ·leave [or divorce]. When this happens, the ·Christian man [^Lbrother] or ·woman [^Lsister] is ·free [^Lnot bound; ^Cto the marriage covenant]. But God called us^[a] to ·live in peace [^Lpeace]. ¹⁶ Wife, you don’t know; maybe you will save your husband. And husband, you don’t know; maybe you will save your wife.