1 Corinthians 7:1–9

Questions about Marriage

7Now, to deal with the matters you wrote about. A man does well not to marry.^{e 2}But because there is so much immorality, every man should have his own wife, and every woman should have her own husband. ³A man should fulfil his duty as a husband, and a woman should fulfil her duty as a wife, and each should satisfy the other’s needs. ⁴A 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. ⁵Do 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. ⁶I tell you this not as an order, but simply as a concession. ⁷Actually 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.

⁸Now, to the unmarried and to the widows I say that it would be better for you to continue to live alone as I do. ⁹But if you cannot restrain your desires, go ahead and marry—it is better to marry than to burn with passion.