Sept. 11
1 Corinthians 7
1Co 7:1 Now concerning
the things about which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to
touch a woman.
1Co 7:2 But, because of
sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each
woman have her own husband.
1Co 7:3 Let the husband
render to his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife
to her husband.
1Co 7:4 The wife
doesn't have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise
also the husband doesn't have authority over his own body, but the
wife.
1Co 7:5 Don't deprive
one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give
yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that
Satan doesn't tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
1Co 7:6 But this I say
by way of concession, not of commandment.
1Co 7:7 Yet I wish that
all men were like me. However each man has his own gift from God, one
of this kind, and another of that kind.
1Co 7:8 But I say to
the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even
as I am.
1Co 7:9 But if they
don't have self-control, let them marry. For it's better to marry
than to burn.
1Co 7:10 But to the
married I command--not I, but the Lord--that the wife not leave her
husband
1Co 7:11 (but if she
departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her
husband), and that the husband not leave his wife.
1Co 7:12 But to the
rest I--not the Lord--say, if any brother has an unbelieving wife,
and she is content to live with him, let him not leave her.
1Co 7:13 The woman who
has an unbelieving husband, and he is content to live with her, let
her not leave her husband.
1Co 7:14 For the
unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving
wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise your children would be
unclean, but now they are holy.
1Co 7:15 Yet if the
unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the
sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in
peace.
1Co 7:16 For how do you
know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know,
husband, whether you will save your wife?
1Co 7:17 Only, as the
Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him
walk. So I command in all the assemblies.
1Co 7:18 Was anyone
called having been circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Has
anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised.
1Co 7:19 Circumcision
is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the
commandments of God.
1Co 7:20 Let each man
stay in that calling in which he was called.
1Co 7:21 Were you
called being a bondservant? Don't let that bother you, but if you get
an opportunity to become free, use it.
1Co 7:22 For he who was
called in the Lord being a bondservant is the Lord's free man.
Likewise he who was called being free is Christ's bondservant.
1Co 7:23 You were
bought with a price. Don't become bondservants of men.
1Co 7:24 Brothers, let
each man, in whatever condition he was called, stay in that condition
with God.
1Co 7:25 Now concerning
virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my judgment
as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be trustworthy.
1Co 7:26 I think that
it is good therefore, because of the distress that is on us, that it
is good for a man to be as he is.
1Co 7:27 Are you bound
to a wife? Don't seek to be freed. Are you free from a wife? Don't
seek a wife.
1Co 7:28 But if you
marry, you have not sinned. If a virgin marries, she has not sinned.
Yet such will have oppression in the flesh, and I want to spare you.
1Co 7:29 But I say
this, brothers: the time is short, that from now on, both those who
have wives may be as though they had none;
1Co 7:30 and those who
weep, as though they didn't weep; and those who rejoice, as though
they didn't rejoice; and those who buy, as though they didn't
possess;
1Co 7:31 and those who
use the world, as not using it to the fullest. For the mode of this
world passes away.
1Co 7:32 But I desire
to have you to be free from cares. He who is unmarried is concerned
for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
1Co 7:33 but he who is
married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please
his wife.
1Co 7:34 There is also
a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares
about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and
in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the
world--how she may please her husband.
1Co 7:35 This I say for
your own profit; not that I may ensnare you, but for that which is
appropriate, and that you may attend to the Lord without distraction.
1Co 7:36 But if any man
thinks that he is behaving inappropriately toward his virgin, if she
is past the flower of her age, and if need so requires, let him do
what he desires. He doesn't sin. Let them marry.
1Co 7:37 But he who
stands steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but has power
over his own heart, to keep his own virgin, does well.
1Co 7:38 So then both
he who gives his own virgin in marriage does well, and he who doesn't
give her in marriage does better.
1Co 7:39 A wife is
bound by law for as long as her husband lives; but if the husband is
dead, she is free to be married to whoever she desires, only in the
Lord.
1Co 7:40 But she is
happier if she stays as she is, in my judgment, and I think that I
also have God's Spirit.