1 Now concerning the things of which ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. 3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence, and likewise also the wife unto the husband. 4 The wife does not have authority of her own body, but the husband; and likewise also the husband does not have authority of his own body, but the wife. 5 Do not defraud one another, except it be with mutual consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer and come together again, that Satan not tempt you for your incontinency.
6 But I speak this by permission, and not by commandment. 7 For I would that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one after this manner and another after that.
8 I say, therefore, to the unmarried men and widowers, It is good for them if they abide even as I. 9 But if they do not have the gift of continence, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn.
10 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife separate from her husband; 11 and if she separates, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband, and let not the husband put away his wife.
12 But to the rest I speak, not the Lord: If any brother has a wife that does not believe, and she consents to dwell with him, let him not put her away. 13 And the woman who has a husband that does not believe and if he consents to dwell with her, let her not leave him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. 15 But if the unbelieving spouse separates, let them separate. The brother or the sister is not under slavery in such cases, but God has called us to peace. 16 For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or what knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?