Book of Common Prayer

¹⁰ And here is what I say to those who are married. (And yet it is not what I say. It is what the Lord has said.) The wife may not leave her husband.

¹¹ But if she does leave him, she must not marry again, or she must come back to her husband again. And the husband may not send away his wife.

¹² Here is what I say to other people. (This is my word, not the Lord's.) Perhaps a Christian brother has a wife who is not a Christian. If she wants to stay with him, then he should not send her away.

¹³ Perhaps a woman has a husband who is not a Christian. If he wants to stay with her, then the woman should not leave him.

¹⁴ The husband who is not a Christian is made holy by the wife. And the wife who is not a Christian is made holy by the husband. If this were not so, then your children would not be holy. But they are holy.

¹⁵ If the one who is not a Christian really wants to leave, let him go. The Christian husband or wife is free then. God has called us to live in peace.

¹⁶ Wife, you do not know. Perhaps you will win your husband to the Lord. Husband, you do not know. Perhaps you will win your wife to the Lord.

¹⁷ Only let me say this. Every man should go on living in the way which the Lord chooses for him. He should go on as he was when God called him to be a Christian. I say this to people in all the churches.

¹⁸ If a man was already circumcised when God called him, he should not try to change the marks of it. If a man was not circumcised when God called him, he should not be circumcised.

¹⁹ It does not matter whether one is circumcised or not. The thing that matters is doing what God says we must do.

²⁰ Everyone should stay the way he was when God called him.

²¹ If you were a slave when God called you, do not let that trouble you. But if there is some way for you to get free, then do so.

²² If a man was a slave when the Lord called him, he is the Lord's free man. So also if a man was free when he was called, he is Christ's slave.

²³ You were bought and paid for. Do not become slaves of men!

²⁴ So, Christian brothers, everyone should go on living as he was when God called him. But now he lives with God.

¹⁹ `Do not keep many things for yourself on earth. Insects and rust will spoil them. People will get in and steal them.

²⁰ But keep things for yourself in heaven. Insects and rust will not spoil them there. People will not get in and steal them.

²¹ The place where you keep things is where your heart will be also.'

²² `The body gets its light through the eyes. If you have good eyes, all your body will have light.

²³ But if your eyes are bad, all your body will be in darkness. If the light in you is dark, it will be very dark for you.'

²⁴ `No man can work for two masters. He will hate one and love the other. Or he will obey one and despise the other. You cannot work for both God and money.