1 Corinthians 7:1-14
New Catholic Bible
Marriage and Celibacy among Christians[a]
Chapter 7
Christian Marriage.[b] 1 Now I will move on to the matters about which you wrote. Yes, it is a good thing for a man to refrain from touching a woman. 2 However, to avoid the temptation to immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3 A husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise a wife should fulfill her conjugal obligations to her husband. 4 For a wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, a husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
5 Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by mutual consent for a specified time so as to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan may not tempt you by taking advantage of your lack of self-control. 6 I suggest this not as a command but by way of concession. 7 I wish that all of you would be as I myself am. However, each person has a particular gift from God, one having one kind and another a different kind.
8 To the unmarried and to widows, I say that it is a good thing for them to remain as they are, as I do. 9 However, if they are unable to exercise self-control, they should marry, for it is better to be married than to burn with passion.
10 To those who are married, I give this command, which is not mine but the Lord’s: a wife should not separate from her husband— 11 and if she does separate, she must either remain unmarried or become reconciled to her husband—and a husband should not divorce his wife.
12 Living at Peace with an Unbelieving Spouse.[c] To the rest, I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she is willing to remain with him, he should not divorce her. 13 And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he is willing to remain with her, she should not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, whereas in fact they are holy.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Corinthians 7:1 The Apostle here expounds some basic ideas about marriage; elsewhere he will develop some deeper aspects of it (Eph 5:4-33). His reply is formulated in response to concrete situations. When he speaks of celibacy, he manifests something of his personal conviction resulting from his experience of a life devoted entirely to Christ. This chapter remains one of the major Christian documents for understanding consecrated virginity, but also for keeping alive in the Church the discussion of marriage and celibacy as choices of ways of life.
- 1 Corinthians 7:1 The call to celibacy is an excellent gift, but conjugal life is also a gift of the Lord and continues to be the normal condition. In speaking of couples, Paul emphasizes their life in common, their mutual belonging, and the reciprocal gift of self. He reminds his readers of the clear Gospel message: the conjugal community is an indissoluble one (see Mt 5:32; 19:9; Mk 10:11-12; Lk 16:18). Spouses may follow calls to a more intense spiritual life, but let them first safeguard the essential realities of their union.
- 1 Corinthians 7:12 What is to be done if one of the spouses is a pagan? The pagan spouse has the right to be free, and if he or she wants to leave the household, the Christian spouse (“the believing partner”: v. 15) regains his or her own freedom. This is the so-called Pauline Privilege.
