1Corinthians:7
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WITH reference to the matters you wrote of :
It is an excellent thing for a man not to touch a woman .
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But because of the prevailing unchastity ,
let each man have his own wife and each woman her own husband .
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Let the husband pay his wife conjugal dues and the wife her husband .
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The wife has not power over her own body ,
but her husband has .
In the same way the husband has not power over his own body ,
but his wife has .
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Do not deprive one another ,
unless by agreement for a time ,
that you may have freedom for prayer ,
and again come together .
You must not let Satan tempt you through your lack of self-control .
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I say this by way of indulgence ,
not by way of command .
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I wish that every one were just as I am .
But each has his own gift from God ,
one in one way and one in another .
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I say to the unmarried and the widows ,
it is excellent for them to remain as I do .
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But if they lack self-control ,
let them marry .
It is better to marry than to burn .
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To the married I command \'
97 yet not I ,
but the Lord \'
97 that the wife is not to leave her husband
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To the rest I say \'
97 not the Lord :
If any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she is pleased to live with him ,
let him not put her away .
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And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he is pleased to live with her ,
let her not put him away .
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For the unbelieving husband has been made holy by the wife and the unbelieving wife has been made holy by the husband .
Otherwise your children would be impure ,
but now they are holy .
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But if the unbelieving one actually leaves ,
let him leave .
The brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases ;
but God has called you to peace .
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For how do you know ,
O wife ,
whether you will save your husband ?
Or how do you know ,
O husband ,
whether you will save your wife ?
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But ,
as the Lord has allotted to each ,
let each go on living as when God called him .
So I prescribe in all the churches .
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Was any one already circumcised when called ?
Let him not efface it .
Was any one called when uncircumcised ?
Let him not become circumcised .
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Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing ,
but the keeping of the commandments of God is all .
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Let each stay in that condition in which he was called .
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Were you called when a slave ?
Let it not trouble you .
On the contrary ,
even if you can become free ,
take it in preference .
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For the slave who has been called in the Lord is the Lord '
s freedman .
Just so the free man ,
when called ,
is the slave of Christ .
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You were bought with a price .
Do not become slaves of men .
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Let each one ,
brethren ,
stay in that condition in which he was called ,
close to God .
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In regard to unmarried women I have no command of the Lord ,
but I give my opinion as one who through the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy .
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I think then that this is an excellent thing on account of the present distress \'
97 that it is an excellent thing for a person to be unmarried .
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Have you been bound to a wife ?
Seek not release .
Have you been freed from a wife ?
Do not seek a wife .
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But even if you marry ,
you have not sinned .
Even if a maiden marries ,
she has not sinned .
But such will have trouble in the flesh ,
and I would spare you .
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But this I say ,
brethren :
The time is shortened .
For what remains let those who have wives be as if they had none ,
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and those who weep as if they wept not ,
and those who rejoice as if they rejoiced not ,
and those who buy as if they possessed nothing ,
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and those who use the world as if not overusing it .
For the present order of this world is passing away .
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I wish you to be free from worry .
The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord \'
97 how be may please the Lord .
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The married man is anxious about the things of the world \'
97 how he may please his wife ,
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and his interest is divided .
So the unmarried woman or the maiden is anxious about the things of the Lord ,
that she may be holy in body and spirit .
But the married woman is anxious about the things of the world \'
97 how she may please her husband .
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This I say for your benefit ,
not to throw a noose over you ,
but to promote decorum and constant devotion to the Lord without distraction .
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If any one thinks that he is acting unbecomingly toward his virgin ,
if she is ripe for marriage and there is need ,
let him do what he will .
He does not sin .
Let them marry .
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He who stands firm in his heart ,
having no necessity ,
and has power over his own will and has decided in his heart to keep his virgin ,
will do well .
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So he who marries his virgin does well ,
and he who does not marry her will do better .
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A woman is bound as long as her husband is living .
But if her husband falls asleep ,
she is free to marry whom she will ,
though only in the Lord .
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But in my opinion she is happier if she stays as she is .
And I think that I have the Spirit of God .