Principles of Marriage 1 UDB You wrote to me some questions about how married believers should live. Here is my answer. There may be times in which it is good to abstain from sleeping together in marriage. BSB BSB: Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good to abstain from sexual relations.
2 UDB But people are tempted very often to be sexually immoral. So each husband should have his own wife, and each wife should have her own husband. BSB BSB: But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
3 UDB And each married believer should have the right to sleep with his or her spouse. BSB BSB: The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.
4 UDB For the husband gives control of his body to his wife. And the wife gives control of her body to her husband. BSB BSB: The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife.
5 UDB So do not deprive one another of sleeping together, unless you both agree to abstain from it for a short period of time, so that you may pray. But after that time is over, come together again. Do not allow Satan to tempt you because you cannot control yourself. BSB BSB: Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack of self-control.
6 UDB I am not commanding you to get married, but I will compromise because I know that many of you are married or will wish to marry. BSB BSB: I say this as a concession, not as a command.
8 UDB To those of you who have never married and those whose husbands have died, I say that it would be good if you continue to be single, like me. BSB BSB: Now to the unmarried and widows I say this: It is good for them to remain unmarried, as I am.
9 UDB But if it is hard for you to control yourself, you should get married. It is better for you to marry than to suffer from strong sexual desires. BSB BSB: But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
10 UDB The Lord gives his own commands to you who are married: "The wife should not separate from her husband." BSB BSB: To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.
11 UDB (But if she separates from her husband, she should not marry again, or else she should make peace with her husband.) And, "The husband should not divorce his wife." BSB BSB: But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
12 UDB And I have this to say—and this is my advice, not the Lord's command—to you who have a wife who is not a believer: If she is content to stay with you, do not divorce her. BSB BSB: To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.
13 UDB And if you are a woman with a husband who does not believe, and if he is content to stay with you, do not divorce him. BSB BSB: And if a woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.
14 UDB The unbelieving husband is set apart in a special way because the wife trusts in God. It is the same for an unbelieving woman with a husband who trusts in God. It is the same for your children: They are set apart in a special way to God because one parent believes in Christ. BSB BSB: For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
15 UDB However, if the unbelieving spouse wants to leave you, you should let that person go. In this situation, the vow you took when you married is no longer binding on you. God has called us to peace. BSB BSB: But if the unbeliever leaves, let him go. The believing brother or sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace.
16 UDB You do not know how God may work through the life you live before your unbelieving spouse. And you do not know whether your life may become a means by which God might save your husband or your wife. BSB BSB: How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
Live Your Calling 17 UDB We must live the life the Lord has assigned us to live and obey the call God gave us. This is the principle in all the churches. BSB BSB: Regardless, each one should lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is what I prescribe in all the churches.
18 UDB If you were circumcised before you became a Christian, you should not try to remove the marks of that circumcision. If you were not circumcised when God saved you, you should not let anyone circumcise you. BSB BSB: Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when called? He should not be circumcised.
20 UDB So continue to live and work as you did when God called you to trust in Christ. BSB BSB: Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called.
21 UDB If you were a slave when God saved you, do not worry about it. Of course, if you have the chance to gain your freedom, take advantage of the opportunity. BSB BSB: Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let it concern you—but if you can gain your freedom, take the opportunity.
22 UDB This is because anyone who the Lord calls a slave is a free person because of the Lord. In the same way, you become God's slave when he calls you, even if you were never a slave to anyone. BSB BSB: For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman. Conversely, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.
23 UDB God bought you with the price of his Son; your freedom is precious. So do not become slaves of humans. BSB BSB: You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
24 UDB Brothers and sisters in Christ, whatever you were when God called you, whether you were slave or free, remain in that same position. BSB BSB: Brothers, each one should remain in the situation he was in when God called him.
The Unmarried and Widowed 25 UDB Regarding the question about those who have never married, I will give my views, but I have no specific commandment from the Lord on this question. But you can have confidence in my reply because God has been kind to me and enabled me to be someone whom people can trust. BSB BSB: Now about virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.
26 UDB Therefore, because of the difficult times that seem to be coming upon us all, I think it is good for you to remain as you were when God called you. BSB BSB: Because of the present crisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is.
27 UDB To you who are married, I say this: Do not seek to be freed from your vow. As for you who are not married, do not try to find a wife. BSB BSB: Are you committed to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you free of commitment? Do not look for a wife.
28 UDB But to the men who are single, I say, if you marry, you have committed no sin. I give the same advice to the single women: If you get married, you have committed no sin. However, if you marry, you will have many worldly troubles, and I would spare you those kind of troubles. BSB BSB: But if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
29 UDB This is what I mean about the time in which we are living, brothers and sisters: We have a short amount of time left. From now on those who are married will have to live as though they were not married, because of all the trouble that is coming. BSB BSB: What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;
30 UDB Those who are filled with grief should not cry. Those who are rejoicing over some wonderful event should have no joy on their faces. Those who have spent money to buy something should take no delight in it; they should live as if they owned nothing. BSB BSB: those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing;
31 UDB And those who deal with the things of the world should not involve themselves completely with them. For this world system is about to crumble into nothing. BSB BSB: and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
32 UDB I want you to be free from things to worry about. As you see, the unmarried man is concerned about the matters that are important to the Lord. He wants to serve the Lord and do what he wants. BSB BSB: I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord.
33 UDB But the man who is married must also concern himself for the ordinary matters of the world as well as serving and pleasing his wife. BSB BSB: But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife,
34 UDB So married men can only do some of the things they want to do. It is the same with widows and young ladies who have not married: As believing women, they are concerned to spend their time serving the Lord with their entire selves, with their physical abilities and with their spirit. But married women are concerned about the day-to-day matters of the world—such as how to please their husbands. BSB BSB: and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the work of the Lord, how she can be holy in both body and spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, how she can please her husband.
35 UDB I tell you this to help you. I am not trying to control you. If you follow my advice, you will find it easier to serve the Lord without worrying about things that married people worry about. BSB BSB: I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but in order to promote proper decorum and undivided devotion to the Lord.
36 UDB If a man has promised to marry a woman but finds he is not treating her with respect because she is becoming too old to marry, he should get married. This is not a sin. BSB BSB: However, if someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward his betrothed, and if she is beyond her youth and they ought to marry, let him do as he wishes; he is not sinning; they should get married.
37 UDB But if he has decided that he does not desire to marry at the present time, and if he is in control of the situation, he makes a good decision not to marry. BSB BSB: But the man who is firmly established in his heart and under no constraint, with control over his will and resolve in his heart not to marry the virgin, he will do well.
38 UDB So the one who marries his fiancée does a good thing and does not sin, and the one who chooses not to marry also chooses something even better. BSB BSB: So then, he who marries the virgin does well, but he who does not marry her does even better.
39 UDB A woman must remain with her husband as long as he lives; if her husband dies, she is free to marry whomever she wishes, but she must marry only someone who has faith in the Lord. BSB BSB: A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord.
40 UDB However, it is my judgment that a widow will be happier if she does not marry again. And I think that I, too, have the Spirit of God. BSB BSB: In my judgment, however, she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.