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1 Corinthians 7

Paul weighs marriage and singleness under God’s call, seeking faithfulness in existing commitments and undivided devotion to the Lord.

Paul answers questions the Corinthians have sent about marriage and sexual relations. He addresses spouses, including those married to unbelievers, and considers the choices facing unmarried people and widows. He also discusses circumcision and slavery as he explains how God’s call bears on a person’s circumstances. His counsel distinguishes commands received from the Lord from his own trustworthy judgment. An unspecified distress and the passing order of the world shape his preference for remaining unmarried.

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1Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman.
2But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
3Let the husband give his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife her husband.
4The wife doesn’t have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise also the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
5Don’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.
6But this I say by way of concession, not of commandment.
7Yet 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.
8But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am.
9But if they don’t have self-control, let them marry. For it’s better to marry than to burn with passion.
10But to the married I command—not I, but the Lord—that the wife not leave her husband
11(but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband not leave his wife.
12But 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.
14For 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.
15Yet 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.
16For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
17Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk. So I command in all the assemblies.
18Was anyone called having been circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised.
19Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is keeping God’s commandments.
20Let each man stay in that calling in which he was called.
21Were you called being a bondservant? Don’t let that bother you, but if you get an opportunity to become free, use it.
22For 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.
23You were bought with a price. Don’t become bondservants of men.
24Brothers, let each man, in whatever condition he was called, stay in that condition with God.
25Now 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.
26Therefore I think that because of the distress that is on us, it’s good for a man to remain as he is.
28But 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.
29But I say this, brothers: the time is short. From now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none;
30and 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;
31and those who use the world, as not using it to the fullest. For the mode of this world passes away.
32But 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;
33but he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife.
34There 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.
35This I say for your own benefit, not that I may ensnare you, but for that which is appropriate, and that you may attend to the Lord without distraction.
36But 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.
37But he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no urgency, but has power over his own will, and has determined in his own heart to keep his own virgin, does well.
38So then both he who gives his own virgin in marriage does well, and he who doesn’t give her in marriage does better.
39A 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 whomever she desires, only in the Lord.
40But she is happier if she stays as she is, in my judgment, and I think that I also have God’s Spirit.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
1 Corinthians 7:2Paul answers the problem of sexual immorality by affirming marriage, then describes the mutual obligations of husband and wife.
1 Corinthians 7:10Paul grounds his instruction against marital separation in the Lord’s command before addressing marriages involving an unbeliever.
1 Corinthians 7:32Freedom from competing cares explains Paul’s preference for singleness, while his wider counsel affirms that marriage is no sin.
Where this chapter reaches

Matthew and Luke share the teaching against divorce that Paul attributes to the Lord, while Romans shares the principle that death ends the marriage bond. Galatians shares Paul’s insistence that circumcision does not determine a person’s standing before God, placing outward status beneath allegiance to him.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does Paul’s concern for devotion to the Lord challenge the way you weigh marriage or singleness?

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What tension do you notice between remaining in your circumstances and taking an opportunity for freedom?

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Questions people ask about 1 Corinthians 7

Does 1 Corinthians 7 say being single is better than being married?

Paul prefers singleness because of the distress facing his readers and the freedom it can offer for attending to the Lord. He also recognizes different gifts from God and states that marrying is no sin. His preference does not establish that unmarried Christians are more holy than married Christians.

What does 1 Corinthians 7 say about divorce?

Paul commands spouses to preserve their marriage and addresses separation with remaining unmarried or reconciliation. A believer should not leave an unbelieving spouse who is willing to stay; if the unbeliever departs, Paul permits separation. Christians differ over whether verse 15 permits remarriage. These instructions provide no warrant for abuse or forced exposure to harm.

Why does Paul distinguish his own instruction from the Lord’s in 1 Corinthians 7?

Paul distinguishes a command from the Lord concerning marriage from his apostolic instruction for situations that command does not address. Later, he identifies his counsel about virgins as judgment shaped by the present distress. He presents himself as trustworthy through the Lord’s mercy and affirms that he has God’s Spirit.

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What the Bible says about marriage →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).