World English Bible · Under Rome
1 Corinthians 7
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Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman. But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband give his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife her husband. The wife doesn't have over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise also the husband doesn't have over his own body, but the wife does. Don't deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to and , and may be together again, that doesn't you because of your lack of self-control. But this I say by way of concession, not of . Yet I wish that all men were like me. However, each man has his own gift from , one of this kind, and another of that kind. But I say to the unmarried and to , it is good for them if they even as I am. But if they don't have self-control, let them marry. For it's better to marry than to burn with passion. But to the married I command—not I, but —that the wife not leave her husband (but if she departs, let her unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband not leave his wife. But to the rest I—not —say, if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is content to live with him, let him not leave her. 13The woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he is content to live with her, let her not leave her husband. For the unbelieving husband is in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is in the husband. Otherwise your children would be , but now they are . Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but has called us in peace. For how do you know, wife, whether you will your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will your wife? Only, as has distributed to each man, as has called each, so let him walk. So I command in all the assemblies. Was anyone called having been ? Let him not become . Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not be . is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is keeping . Let each man stay in that calling in which he was called. Were you called being a ? Don't let that bother you, but if you get an opportunity to become free, use it. For he who was called in being a is free man. Likewise he who was called being free is Christ's . You were bought with a price. Don't become of men. Brothers, let each man, in whatever condition he was called, stay in that condition with . Now concerning virgins, I have no from , but I give my as one who has obtained mercy from to be trustworthy. Therefore I think that because of the distress that is on us, it's good for a man to as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Don't seek to be freed. Are you free from a wife? Don't seek a wife. But if you marry, you have not . If a virgin marries, she has not . Yet such will have in , and I want to spare you. But I say this, brothers: the time is short. From now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none; and 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; and those who use the world, as not using it to the fullest. For the mode of this world passes away. But I to have you to be free from cares. He who is unmarried is concerned for the things of , how he may please ; but he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife. There is also a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of , that she may be both in body and in . But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. This I say for your own benefit, not that I may ensnare you, but for that which is appropriate, and that you may attend to without distraction. But 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 . He doesn't . Let them marry. 37But he who stands steadfast in , having no urgency, but has over his own will, and has determined in his own to keep his own virgin, does well. So then both he who gives his own virgin in marriage does well, and he who doesn't give her in marriage does better. A wife is bound by law for as long as her husband lives; but if the husband is , she is free to be married to whomever she , only in . But she is happier if she stays as she is, in my , and I think that I also have .
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.