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1 Corinthians 7

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1 Περὶ δὲ ὧν ἐγράψατε, καλὸν ἀνθρώπῳ γυναικὸς μὴ ἅπτεσθαι: 2 διὰ δὲ τὰς πορνείας ἕκαστος τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γυναῖκα ἐχέτω, καὶ ἑκάστη τὸν ἴδιον ἄνδρα ἐχέτω. 3 τῇ γυναικὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ τὴν ὀφειλὴν ἀποδιδότω, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἡ γυνὴ τῷ ἀνδρί. 4 ἡ γυνὴ τοῦ ἰδίου σώματος οὐκ ἐξουσιάζει ἀλλὰ ὁ ἀνήρ: ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ τοῦ ἰδίου σώματος οὐκ ἐξουσιάζει ἀλλὰ ἡ γυνή. 5 μὴ ἀποστερεῖτε ἀλλήλους, εἰ μήτι ἂν ἐκ συμφώνου πρὸς καιρὸν ἵνα σχολάσητε τῇ προσευχῇ καὶ πάλιν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἦτε, ἵνα μὴ πειράζῃ ὑμᾶς ὁ Σατανᾶς διὰ τὴν ἀκρασίαν ὑμῶν. 6 τοῦτο δὲ λέγω κατὰ συγγνώμην, οὐ κατ' ἐπιταγήν. 7 θέλω δὲ πάντας ἀνθρώπους εἶναι ὡς καὶ ἐμαυτόν: ἀλλὰ ἕκαστος ἴδιον ἔχει χάρισμα ἐκ θεοῦ, ὁ μὲν οὕτως, ὁ δὲ οὕτως. 8 Λέγω δὲ τοῖς ἀγάμοις καὶ ταῖς χήραις, καλὸν αὐτοῖς ἐὰν μείνωσιν ὡς κἀγώ: 9 εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἐγκρατεύονται γαμησάτωσαν: κρεῖττον γάρ ἐστιν γαμῆσαι ἢ πυροῦσθαι. 10 τοῖς δὲ γεγαμηκόσιν παραγγέλλω, οὐκ ἐγὼ ἀλλὰ ὁ κύριος, γυναῖκα ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς μὴ χωρισθῆναι, 11 ἐὰν δὲ καὶ χωρισθῇ, μενέτω ἄγαμος ἢ τῷ ἀνδρὶ καταλλαγήτω, καὶ ἄνδρα γυναῖκα μὴ ἀφιέναι.

1 As for the questions raised in your letter; a man does well to abstain from all commerce with women. 2 But, to avoid the danger of fornication, let every man keep his own wife, and every woman her own husband. 3 Let every man give his wife what is her due, and every woman do the same by her husband; 4 he, not she, claims the right over her body, as she, not he, claims the right over his. 5 Do not starve one another, unless perhaps you do so for a time, by mutual consent, to have more freedom for prayer; come together again, or Satan will tempt you, weak as you are. 6 I say this by way of concession; I am not imposing a rule on you. 7 I wish you were all in the same state as myself; but each of us has his own endowment from God, one to live in this way, another in that. 8 To the unmarried, and to the widows, I would say that they will do well to remain in the same state as myself, 9 but if they have not the gift of continence, let them marry; better to marry than to feel the heat of passion. 10 For those who have married already, the precept holds which is the Lord’s precept, not mine; the wife is not to leave her husband,[1] 11 (if she has left him, she must either remain unmarried, or go back to her own husband again), and the husband is not to put away his wife.

1 De quibus autem scripsistis mihi: Bonum est homini mulierem non tangere: 2 propter fornicationem autem unusquisque suam uxorem habeat, et unaquæque suum virum habeat. 3 Uxori vir debitum reddat: similiter autem et uxor viro. 4 Mulier sui corporis potestatem non habet, sed vir. Similiter autem et vir sui corporis potestatem non habet, sed mulier. 5 Nolite fraudare invicem, nisi forte ex consensu ad tempus, ut vacetis orationi: et iterum revertimini in idipsum, ne tentet vos Satanas propter incontinentiam vestram. 6 Hoc autem dico secundum indulgentiam, non secundum imperium. 7 Volo enim omnes vos esse sicut meipsum: sed unusquisque proprium donum habet ex Deo: alius quidem sic, alius vero sic. 8 Dico autem non nuptis, et viduis: bonum est illis si sic permaneant, sicut et ego. 9 Quod si non se continent, nubant. Melius est enim nubere, quam uri. 10 Iis autem qui matrimonio juncti sunt, præcipio non ego, sed Dominus, uxorem a viro non discedere: 11 quod si discesserit, manere innuptam, aut viro suo reconciliari. Et vir uxorem non dimittat.

12 τοῖς δὲ λοιποῖς λέγω ἐγώ, οὐχ ὁ κύριος: εἴ τις ἀδελφὸς γυναῖκα ἔχει ἄπιστον, καὶ αὕτη συνευδοκεῖ οἰκεῖν μετ' αὐτοῦ, μὴ ἀφιέτω αὐτήν: 13 καὶ γυνὴ εἴ τις ἔχει ἄνδρα ἄπιστον καὶ οὗτος συνευδοκεῖ οἰκεῖν μετ' αὐτῆς, μὴ ἀφιέτω τὸν ἄνδρα. 14 ἡγίασται γὰρ ὁ ἀνὴρ ὁ ἄπιστος ἐν τῇ γυναικί, καὶ ἡγίασται ἡ γυνὴ ἡ ἄπιστος ἐν τῷ ἀδελφῷ: ἐπεὶ ἄρα τὰ τέκνα ὑμῶν ἀκάθαρτά ἐστιν, νῦν δὲ ἅγιά ἐστιν. 15 εἰ δὲ ὁ ἄπιστος χωρίζεται, χωριζέσθω: οὐ δεδούλωται ὁ ἀδελφὸς ἢ ἡ ἀδελφὴ ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις: ἐν δὲ εἰρήνῃ κέκληκεν ὑμᾶς ὁ θεός. 16 τί γὰρ οἶδας, γύναι, εἰ τὸν ἄνδρα σώσεις; ἢ τί οἶδας, ἄνερ, εἰ τὴν γυναῖκα σώσεις; 17 εἰ μὴ ἑκάστῳ ὡς ἐμέρισεν ὁ κύριος, ἕκαστον ὡς κέκληκεν ὁ θεός, οὕτως περιπατείτω: καὶ οὕτως ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις πάσαις διατάσσομαι. 18 περιτετμημένος τις ἐκλήθη; μὴ ἐπισπάσθω. ἐν ἀκροβυστίᾳ κέκληταί τις; μὴ περιτεμνέσθω. 19 ἡ περιτομὴ οὐδέν ἐστιν, καὶ ἡ ἀκροβυστία οὐδέν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ τήρησις ἐντολῶν θεοῦ. 20 ἕκαστος ἐν τῇ κλήσει ᾗ ἐκλήθη ἐν ταύτῃ μενέτω. 21 δοῦλος ἐκλήθης; μή σοι μελέτω: ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ δύνασαι ἐλεύθερος γενέσθαι, μᾶλλον χρῆσαι. 22 ὁ γὰρ ἐν κυρίῳ κληθεὶς δοῦλος ἀπελεύθερος κυρίου ἐστίν: ὁμοίως ὁ ἐλεύθερος κληθεὶς δοῦλός ἐστιν Χριστοῦ. 23 τιμῆς ἠγοράσθητε: μὴ γίνεσθε δοῦλοι ἀνθρώπων. 24 ἕκαστος ἐν ᾧ ἐκλήθη, ἀδελφοί, ἐν τούτῳ μενέτω παρὰ θεῷ.

12 To those others, I give my own instructions, not the Lord’s. If any of the brethren has a wife, not a believer, who is well content to live with him, there is no reason why he should put her away, 13 nor is there any reason for a woman to part with her husband, not a believer, if he is content to live with her. 14 The unbelieving husband has shared in his wife’s consecration, and the unbelieving wife has shared in the consecration of one who is a brother. Were it otherwise, their offspring would be born under a stain, whereas in fact it is holy.[2] 15 On the other hand, if the unbelieving partner is for separating, let them separate; in such a case, the brother or the sister is under no compulsion. It is in a spirit of peace that God’s call has come to us.[3] 16 There is no knowing whether thou, the wife, wilt save thy husband, whether thou, the husband, wilt save thy wife.[4] 17 No, the part which God has assigned, the vocation which God has bestowed, is to be the rule in each case. That is the direction which I am giving all through the churches. 18 If a man is already circumcised when he is called, he is not to disguise it; if he is uncircumcised, he is not to undergo circumcision. 19 There is no virtue either in circumcision or in the want of it; it is keeping the commandments of God that signifies. 20 Everyone has his own vocation, in which he has been called; let him keep to it. 21 Hast thou been called as a slave? Do not let it trouble thee; and if thou hast the means to become free, make all the more use of thy opportunity.[5] 22 If a slave is called to enter Christ’s service, he is Christ’s freedman; just as the free man, when he is called, becomes the slave of Christ.[6] 23 A price was paid to redeem you; do not enslave yourselves to human masters. 24 Each of you is to remain, brethren, in the condition in which he was called.

12 Nam ceteris ego dico, non Dominus. Si quis frater uxorem habet infidelem, et hæc consentit habitare cum illo, non dimittat illam. 13 Et si qua mulier fidelis habet virum infidelem, et hic consentit habitare cum illa, non dimittat virum: 14 sanctificatus est enim vir infidelis per mulierem fidelem, et sanctificata est mulier infidelis per virum fidelem: alioquin filii vestri immundi essent, nunc autem sancti sunt. 15 Quod si infidelis discedit, discedat: non enim servituti subjectus est frater, aut soror in hujusmodi: in pace autem vocavit nos Deus. 16 Unde enim scis mulier, si virum salvum facies? aut unde scis vir, si mulierem salvam facies? 17 Nisi unicuique sicut divisit Dominus, unumquemque sicut vocavit Deus, ita ambulet, et sicut in omnibus ecclesiis doceo. 18 Circumcisus aliquis vocatus est? non adducat præputium. In præputio aliquis vocatus est? non circumcidatur. 19 Circumcisio nihil est, et præputium nihil est: sed observatio mandatorum Dei. 20 Unusquisque in qua vocatione vocatus est, in ea permaneat. 21 Servus vocatus es? non sit tibi curæ: sed et si potes fieri liber, magis utere. 22 Qui enim in Domino vocatus est servus, libertus est Domini: similiter qui liber vocatus est, servus est Christi. 23 Pretio empti estis: nolite fieri servi hominum. 24 Unusquisque in quo vocatus est, fratres, in hoc permaneat apud Deum.

25 Περὶ δὲ τῶν παρθένων ἐπιταγὴν κυρίου οὐκ ἔχω, γνώμην δὲ δίδωμι ὡς ἠλεημένος ὑπὸ κυρίου πιστὸς εἶναι. 26 νομίζω οὖν τοῦτο καλὸν ὑπάρχειν διὰ τὴν ἐνεστῶσαν ἀνάγκην, ὅτι καλὸν ἀνθρώπῳ τὸ οὕτως εἶναι. 27 δέδεσαι γυναικί; μὴ ζήτει λύσιν: λέλυσαι ἀπὸ γυναικός; μὴ ζήτει γυναῖκα. 28 ἐὰν δὲ καὶ γαμήσῃς, οὐχ ἥμαρτες: καὶ ἐὰν γήμῃ ἡ παρθένος, οὐχ ἥμαρτεν. θλῖψιν δὲ τῇ σαρκὶ ἕξουσιν οἱ τοιοῦτοι, ἐγὼ δὲ ὑμῶν φείδομαι. 29 τοῦτο δέ φημι, ἀδελφοί, ὁ καιρὸς συνεσταλμένος ἐστίν: τὸ λοιπὸν ἵνα καὶ οἱ ἔχοντες γυναῖκας ὡς μὴ ἔχοντες ὦσιν, 30 καὶ οἱ κλαίοντες ὡς μὴ κλαίοντες, καὶ οἱ χαίροντες ὡς μὴ χαίροντες, καὶ οἱ ἀγοράζοντες ὡς μὴ κατέχοντες, 31 καὶ οἱ χρώμενοι τὸν κόσμον ὡς μὴ καταχρώμενοι: παράγει γὰρ τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου. 32 θέλω δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀμερίμνους εἶναι. ὁ ἄγαμος μεριμνᾷ τὰ τοῦ κυρίου, πῶς ἀρέσῃ τῷ κυρίῳ: 33 ὁ δὲ γαμήσας μεριμνᾷ τὰ τοῦ κόσμου, πῶς ἀρέσῃ τῇ γυναικί, 34 καὶ μεμέρισται. καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἡ ἄγαμος καὶ ἡ παρθένος μεριμνᾷ τὰ τοῦ κυρίου, ἵνα ᾖ ἁγία καὶ τῷ σώματι καὶ τῷ πνεύματι: ἡ δὲ γαμήσασα μεριμνᾷ τὰ τοῦ κόσμου, πῶς ἀρέσῃ τῷ ἀνδρί.

25 About virgins, I have no command from the Lord; but I give you my opinion, as one who is, under the Lord’s mercy, a true counsellor. 26 This, then, I hold to be the best counsel in such times of stress, that this is the best condition for man to be in.[7] 27 Art thou yoked to a wife? Then, do not go about to free thyself. Art thou free of wedlock? Then do not go about to find a wife. 28 Not that thou dost commit sin if thou marriest; nor, if she marries, has the virgin committed sin. It is only that those who do so will meet with outward distress. But I leave you your freedom.[8] 29 Only, brethren, I would say this; the time is drawing to an end; nothing remains, but for those who have wives to behave as though they had none; 30 those who weep must forget their tears, and those who rejoice their rejoicing, and those who buy must renounce possession; 31 and those who take advantage of what the world offers must not take full advantage of it; the fashion of this world is soon to pass away. 32 And I would have you free from concern. He who is unmarried is concerned with God’s claim, asking how he is to please God; 33 whereas the married man is concerned with the world’s claim, asking how he is to please his wife; and thus he is at issue with himself. 34 So a woman who is free of wedlock, or a virgin, is concerned with the Lord’s claim, intent on holiness, bodily and spiritual; whereas the married woman is concerned with the world’s claim, asking how she is to please her husband.

25 De virginibus autem præceptum Domini non habeo: consilium autem do, tamquam misericordiam consecutus a Domino, ut sim fidelis. 26 Existimo ergo hoc bonum esse propter instantem necessitatem, quoniam bonum est homini sic esse. 27 Alligatus es uxori? noli quærere solutionem. Solutus es ab uxore? noli quærere uxorem. 28 Si autem acceperis uxorem, non peccasti. Et si nupserit virgo, non peccavit: tribulationem tamen carnis habebunt hujusmodi. Ego autem vobis parco. 29 Hoc itaque dico, fratres: tempus breve est: reliquum est, ut et qui habent uxores, tamquam non habentes sint: 30 et qui flent, tamquam non flentes: et qui gaudent, tamquam non gaudentes: et qui emunt, tamquam non possidentes: 31 et qui utuntur hoc mundo, tamquam non utantur: præterit enim figura hujus mundi. 32 Volo autem vos sine sollicitudine esse. Qui sine uxore est, sollicitus est quæ Domini sunt, quomodo placeat Deo. 33 Qui autem cum uxore est, sollicitus est quæ sunt mundi, quomodo placeat uxori, et divisus est. 34 Et mulier innupta, et virgo, cogitat quæ Domini sunt, ut sit sancta corpore, et spiritu. Quæ autem nupta est, cogitat quæ sunt mundi, quomodo placeat viro.

35 τοῦτο δὲ πρὸς τὸ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν σύμφορον λέγω, οὐχ ἵνα βρόχον ὑμῖν ἐπιβάλω, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ εὔσχημον καὶ εὐπάρεδρον τῷ κυρίῳ ἀπερισπάστως. 36 εἰ δέ τις ἀσχημονεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν παρθένον αὐτοῦ νομίζει ἐὰν ᾖ ὑπέρακμος, καὶ οὕτως ὀφείλει γίνεσθαι, ὃ θέλει ποιείτω: οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει: γαμείτωσαν. 37 ὃς δὲ ἕστηκεν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ ἑδραῖος, μὴ ἔχων ἀνάγκην, ἐξουσίαν δὲ ἔχει περὶ τοῦ ἰδίου θελήματος, καὶ τοῦτο κέκρικεν ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ καρδίᾳ, τηρεῖν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ παρθένον, καλῶς ποιήσει: 38 ὥστε καὶ ὁ γαμίζων τὴν ἑαυτοῦ παρθένον καλῶς ποιεῖ, καὶ ὁ μὴ γαμίζων κρεῖσσον ποιήσει. 39 γυνὴ δέδεται ἐφ' ὅσον χρόνον ζῇ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς: ἐὰν δὲ κοιμηθῇ ὁ ἀνήρ, ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν ᾧ θέλει γαμηθῆναι, μόνον ἐν κυρίῳ. 40 μακαριωτέρα δέ ἐστιν ἐὰν οὕτως μείνῃ, κατὰ τὴν ἐμὴν γνώμην, δοκῶ δὲ κἀγὼ πνεῦμα θεοῦ ἔχειν.

35 I am thinking of your own interest when I say this. It is not that I would hold you in a leash; I am thinking of what is suitable for you, and how you may best attend on the Lord without distraction. 36 And if anyone considers that he is behaving unsuitably towards the girl who is in his charge, on the ground that she is now past her prime, and there is no way of avoiding it, why, let him please himself; there is nothing sinful in it; let her marry.[9] 37 Whereas, if a man remains fixed in his resolution, and makes up his mind to keep the girl who is in his charge unwed, although there is no necessity for it, and he is free to choose for himself, such a man is well advised. 38 Thus, a man is well advised to give his ward in marriage, and still better advised not to give her in marriage. 39 As for a wife, she is yoked to her husband as long as he lives; if her husband is dead, she is free to marry anyone she will, so long as she marries in the Lord. 40 But more blessed is she, if she remains as she is, in my judgement; and I, too, claim to have the Spirit of God.

35 Porro hoc ad utilitatem vestram dico: non ut laqueum vobis injiciam, sed ad id, quod honestum est, et quod facultatem præbeat sine impedimento Dominum obsecrandi. 36 Si quis autem turpem se videri existimat super virgine sua, quod sit superadulta, et ita oportet fieri: quod vult faciat: non peccat, si nubat. 37 Nam qui statuit in corde suo firmus, non habens necessitatem, potestatem autem habens suæ voluntatis, et hoc judicavit in corde suo, servare virginem suam, bene facit. 38 Igitur et qui matrimonio jungit virginem suam, bene facit: et qui non jungit, melius facit. 39 Mulier alligata est legi quanto tempore vir ejus vivit, quod si dormierit vir ejus, liberata est: cui vult nubat, tantum in Domino. 40 Beatior autem erit si sic permanserit secundum meum consilium: puto autem quod et ego Spiritum Dei habeam.

[1] Mt. 5.32; 19.9; Mk. 10.11; Lk. 16.18.

[2] The baptism of wife or husband is here conceived as doing away with whatever defilement a heathen marriage brings with it. It is not to be understood that either the heathen partner or the children receive sanctifying grace as the result of the union.

[3] ‘In a spirit of peace’; so that the Christian partner is not bound to live in the restless atmosphere of a divided household.

[4] Commentators are not agreed, whether St Paul means that the Christian partner is free to go away, as having little chance of winning the other’s conversion, or that the Christian partner is justified in going on as before, as having some hope of winning the other’s conversion.

[5] ‘All the more use of thy opportunity’; that is, according to some, the opportunity of gaining freedom. Others understand it of the opportunity to shew patience in a servile condition, although the opportunity of gaining freedom is present; this view perhaps fits in better with the preceding verse, and with the general context.

[6] This direction is probably meant in the general sense, that we should think of Christ’s service as having a higher claim on us than any human obligation.

[7] ‘This is the best condition’; that is, virginity. Others have thought the phrase means ‘Your present condition is the best’ (whichever it is).

[8] ‘I leave you your freedom’; literally, ‘I spare you’. The idea is probably that the Corinthians are to be ridden with a light rein, as in II Cor. 1.23; 13.2.Others think St Paul means, ‘I omit any further discussion of this point, to spare your feelings’; but it is hardly a probable rendering.

[9] vv. 36 and following: The man who has the virgin in his charge is generally understood to be her father or guardian. Some, however, have suggested that the words refer to an affianced (but not yet married) husband, like St Joseph in Mt. 1.18. The Greek text in verse 36, which reads ‘Let them marry’, gives some colour to this interpretation, which would, indeed, make the whole passage run more naturally. But there seems to be no authority for translating the verb in verse 38 ‘to marry’; it always means ‘to give in marriage’; cf. Lk. 17.27, a context which St Paul may have had in mind.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd