New Testament in a Year

Marriage and Celibacy among Christians^[a]

Chapter 7

Christian Marriage.^{[b] 1} Now I will move on to the matters about which you wrote. Yes, it is a good thing for a man to refrain from touching a woman. ² However, to avoid the temptation to immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. ³ A husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise a wife should fulfill her conjugal obligations to her husband. ⁴ For a wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, a husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

⁵ Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by mutual consent for a specified time so as to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan may not tempt you by taking advantage of your lack of self-control. ⁶ I suggest this not as a command but by way of concession. ⁷ I wish that all of you would be as I myself am. However, each person has a particular gift from God, one having one kind and another a different kind.

⁸ To the unmarried and to widows, I say that it is a good thing for them to remain as they are, as I do. ⁹ However, if they are unable to exercise self-control, they should marry, for it is better to be married than to burn with passion.

¹⁰ To those who are married, I give this command, which is not mine but the Lord’s: a wife should not separate from her husband— ¹¹ and if she does separate, she must either remain unmarried or become reconciled to her husband—and a husband should not divorce his wife.

¹² Living at Peace with an Unbelieving Spouse.^[c] To the rest, I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she is willing to remain with him, he should not divorce her. ¹³ And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he is willing to remain with her, she should not divorce him. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, whereas in fact they are holy.

¹⁵ However, if the unbelieving partner chooses to separate, let that person go. The brother or sister is no longer bound in this case. God has called you to live in peace. ¹⁶ As a wife, how can you be certain that you will save your husband? As a husband, how can you be certain that you will save your wife?

¹⁷ Living Where Christ Calls Us. Everyone should accept the role in life assigned to each one by the Lord, continuing as he was when the Lord called him. This is the rule that I give to all the Churches. ¹⁸ Was a man called after he had been circumcised? Then he must remain circumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should remain uncircumcised. ¹⁹ To be circumcised is of no importance, and to be uncircumcised is of no importance. What matters is keeping God’s commandments.