Good News Translation GNT
Revised Standard Version RSV
1 Now, to deal with the matters you wrote about. A man does well not to marry.
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Now concerning the matters about which you wrote. It is well for a man not to touch a woman.
2 But because there is so much immorality, every man should have his own wife, and every woman should have her own husband.
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But because of the temptation to immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.
3 A man should fulfill his duty as a husband, and a woman should fulfill her duty as a wife, and each should satisfy the other's needs.
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The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband.
4 A wife is not the master of her own body, but her husband is; in the same way a husband is not the master of his own body, but his wife is.
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For the wife does not rule over her own body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not rule over his own body, but the wife does.
5 Do not deny yourselves to each other, unless you first agree to do so for a while in order to spend your time in prayer; but then resume normal marital relations. In this way you will be kept from giving in to Satan's temptation because of your lack of self-control.
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Do not refuse one another except perhaps by agreement for a season, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, lest Satan tempt you through lack of self-control.
6 I tell you this not as an order, but simply as a permission.
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I say this by way of concession, not of command.
7 Actually I would prefer that all of you were as I am; but each one has a special gift from God, one person this gift, another one that gift.
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I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own special gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.
8 Now, to the unmarried and to the widows I say that it would be better for you to continue to live alone as I do.
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To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain single as I do.
9 But if you cannot restrain your desires, go ahead and marry - it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
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But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.
10 For married people I have a command which is not my own but the Lord's: a wife must not leave her husband;
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To the married I give charge, not I but the Lord, that the wife should not separate from her husband
11 but if she does, she must remain single or else be reconciled to her husband; and a husband must not divorce his wife.
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(but if she does, let her remain single or else be reconciled to her husband) --and that the husband should not divorce his wife.
12 To the others I say (I, myself, not the Lord): if a Christian man has a wife who is an unbeliever and she agrees to go on living with him, he must not divorce her.
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To the rest I say, 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.
13 And if a Christian woman is married to a man who is an unbeliever and he agrees to go on living with her, she must not divorce him.
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If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him.
14 For the unbelieving husband is made acceptable to God by being united to his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made acceptable to God by being united to her Christian husband. If this were not so, their children would be like pagan children; but as it is, they are acceptable to God.
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For the unbelieving husband is consecrated through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is consecrated through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy.
15 However, if the one who is not a believer wishes to leave the Christian partner, let it be so. In such cases the Christian partner, whether husband or wife, is free to act. God has called you to live in peace.
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But if the unbelieving partner desires to separate, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister is not bound. For God has called us to peace.
16 How can you be sure, Christian wife, that you will not save your husband? Or how can you be sure, Christian husband, that you will not save your wife?
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Wife, how do you know whether you will save your husband? Husband, how do you know whether you will save your wife?
17 Each of you should go on living according to the Lord's gift to you, and as you were when God called you. This is the rule I teach in all the churches.
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Only, let every one lead the life which the Lord has assigned to him, and in which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.
18 If a circumcised man has accepted God's call, he should not try to remove the marks of circumcision; if an uncircumcised man has accepted God's call, he should not get circumcised.
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Was any one at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was any one at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision.
19 For whether or not a man is circumcised means nothing; what matters is to obey God's commandments.
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For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.
20 Each of you should remain as you were when you accepted God's call.
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Every one should remain in the state in which he was called.
21 Were you a slave when God called you? Well, never mind; but if you have a chance to become free, use it.
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Were you a slave when called? Never mind. But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.
22 For a slave who has been called by the Lord is the Lord's free person; in the same way a free person who has been called by Christ is his slave.
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For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ.
23 God bought you for a price; so do not become slaves of people.
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You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.
24 My friends, each of you should remain in fellowship with God in the same condition that you were when you were called.
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So, brethren, in whatever state each was called, there let him remain with God.
25 Now, concerning what you wrote about unmarried people: I do not have a command from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is worthy of trust.
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Now concerning the unmarried, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.
26 Considering the present distress, I think it is better for a man to stay as he is.
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I think that in view of the present distress it is well for a person to remain as he is.
27 Do you have a wife? Then don't try to get rid of her. Are you unmarried? Then don't look for a wife.
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Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek marriage.
28 But if you do marry, you haven't committed a sin; and if an unmarried woman marries, she hasn't committed a sin. But I would rather spare you the everyday troubles that married people will have.
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But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a girl marries she does not sin. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that.
29 What I mean, my friends, is this: there is not much time left, and from now on married people should live as though they were not married;
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I mean, brethren, the appointed time has grown very short; from now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none,
30 those who weep, as though they were not sad; those who laugh, as though they were not happy; those who buy, as though they did not own what they bought;
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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 goods,
31 those who deal in material goods, as though they were not fully occupied with them. For this world, as it is now, will not last much longer.
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and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the form of this world is passing away.
32 I would like you to be free from worry. An unmarried man concerns himself with the Lord's work, because he is trying to please the Lord.
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I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord;
33 But a married man concerns himself with worldly matters, because he wants to please his wife;
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but the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife,
34 and so he is pulled in two directions. An unmarried woman or a virgin concerns herself with the Lord's work, because she wants to be dedicated both in body and spirit; but a married woman concerns herself with worldly matters, because she wants to please her husband.
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and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman or girl is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please her husband.
35 I am saying this because I want to help you. I am not trying to put restrictions on you. Instead, I want you to do what is right and proper, and to give yourselves completely to the Lord's service without any reservation.
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I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.
36 In the case of an engaged couple who have decided not to marry: if the man feels that he is not acting properly toward the young woman and if his passions are too strong and he feels that they ought to marry, then they should get married, as he wants to. There is no sin in this.
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If any one thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry--it is no sin.
37 But if a man, without being forced to do so, has firmly made up his mind not to marry, and if he has his will under complete control and has already decided in his own mind what to do - then he does well not to marry the young woman.
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But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well.
38 So the man who marries does well, but the one who doesn't marry does even better.
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So that he who marries his betrothed does well; and he who refrains from marriage will do better.
39 A married woman is not free as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, then she is free to be married to any man she wishes, but only if he is a Christian.
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A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If the husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
40 She will be happier, however, if she stays as she is. That is my opinion, and I think that I too have God's Spirit.
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But in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I have the Spirit of God.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.