Principles of Marriage

1Nowe as concernyng the thinges wherof ye wrote vnto me, it is good for a man not to touche a woman. 2Neuerthelesse, to auoyde fornication, let euery man haue his owne wyfe, and let euery woman haue her owne husband. 3Let the husbande geue vnto the wyfe due beneuolence: Lykewyse also the wyfe vnto the husbande. 4The wyfe hath not the power of her owne body, but the husbande: And likewyse also the husbande hath not the power of his owne body, but the wife. 5Defraude you not the one the other, except it be with both your consentes for a time, that ye may geue your selues to fasting and prayer: and afterward come together againe, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinencie. 6This I say of fauour, & not of commaundement. 7For I woulde that all men were as I my selfe am: but euery man hath his proper gift of God, one after this maner, another after that.

8I say therefore vnto them that be vnmaryed and wyddowes, it is good for them if they abyde euen as I. 9But if they can not abstayne, let them marrie: For it is better to marrie then to burne.

10Unto the maryed commaunde, not I, but the Lord, Let not the wyfe depart from the husbande: 11But and if she depart, let her remayne vnmarried, or be reconciled vnto her husbande againe: And let not the husbande put away his wyfe.

12But to the renmaunt speake I, not the Lorde: If any brother haue a wife that beleueth not, if she be content to dwell with him, let him not put her away. 13And the woman which hath to her husbande an infidell, and he consent to dwel with her, let her not put him away. 14For the vnbeleuing husbande is sanctified by the wyfe, and the vnbeleuyng wyfe is sanctified by the husbande: els were your children vncleane, but nowe are they holy. 15But if the vnbeleuing depart, let hym depart: A brother or a sister is not in subiection in such thinges: But God hath called vs in peace. 16For howe knowest thou O woman, whether thou shalt saue thy husbande? or how knowest thou O man, whether thou shalt saue thy wyfe?

Live Your Calling

17But as God hath distributed to euery man, as the Lorde hath called euery one, so let hym walke, and so ordeyne I in all Churches. 18Is any man called beyng circumcised? let him not adde vncircumcision: Is any called vncircumcised? let him not be circumcised. 19Circumcision is nothing, and vncircumcision is nothing, but the keping of the commaundementes of God. 20Let euery man abyde in the same calling, wherein he was called.

21Art thou called a seruaunt? care not for it: Neuerthelesse, if thou mayest be free, vse it rather. 22For he that is called in the Lord being a seruaunt, is the Lordes free man: Lykewyse also he that is called beyng free, is Christes seruaunt. 23Ye are dearely bought, be not ye the seruauntes of men. 24Brethren, let euery man wherin he is called, therin abyde with God.

The Unmarried and Widowed

25Nowe concerning virgins I haue no commaundement of the Lord: yet geue I counsell, as one that hath obtayned mercy in the Lorde to be faythfull. 26I suppose therfore that it is good for the present necessitie: for I say it is good for a man so to be. 27Art thou bounde vnto a wife? seke not to be loosed: Art thou loosed from a wyfe? seke not a wyfe. 28But and if thou marrie a wyfe, thou sinnest not, and if a virgin marrie, she hath not sinned: Neuerthelesse, such shall haue trouble in their fleshe, but I beare with you. 29But this say I brethren, the tyme is short: It remayneth, that they which haue wyues, be as though they had none: 30And they that wepe, as though they wept not: & they that reioyce, as though they reioyced not: and they that bye, as though they possessed not: 31And they that vse this worlde, as though they vsed it not: For the fashion of this worlde goeth away.

32I woulde haue you without care: He that is vnmaryed, careth for the thinges that belong to the Lorde, how he may please the Lorde: 33But he that hath maryed awyfe, careth for the thinges that are of the worlde, how he may please his wyfe. 34There is difference betweene a virgin and a wyfe: The vnmaryed woman careth for the thinges that are of the Lorde, that she may be holy both in body and in spirite: Againe she that is maryed careth for the thinges that pertayne to the world, how she may please her husbande. 35This speake I for your profite, not to tangle you in a snare: but that ye may folowe that which is honest and comely, and that ye may cleaue fast vnto the Lorde without separation.

36But if any man thinke that it is vncomely for his virgin if she passe the time of mariage, and neede so require, let him do what he wyll, he sinneth not: let them be maryed. 37Neuerthelesse, he that purposeth surely in his heart hauing no neede, but hath power ouer his owne wyll, and hath so decreed in his heart that he wyl kepe his virgin, doth well. 38So then he that ioyneth his virgin in maryage, doth well: but he that ioyneth not his virgin in mariage, doth better.

39The wyfe is bounde to the lawe as long as her husbande lyueth: but if her husband be dead, she is at libertie to marry with whom she wil, onely in the Lorde. 40But she is happier if she so abide, after my iudgement: And I thinke veryly that I haue the spirite of God.