1 Corinthians 7:10-17

Principles for Marriage

¹⁰ To the married _f I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): _g the wife should not separate from her husband ¹¹ (but if she does, _h she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and _g the husband should not divorce his wife.

¹² To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. ¹³ If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. _i Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. ¹⁵ But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you _{1 j} to peace. ¹⁶ For how do you know, wife, _k whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Live as You Are Called

¹⁷ Only let each person lead the life _l that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. _m This is my rule in _n all the churches.

1. Cross References
   1 Corinthians 7:6
   Now as a concession, not a command, I say this.
   
2. Cross References
   Malachi 2:16
   "For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless."
   Matthew 5:32
   But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
   
3. Cross References
   Mark 10:12
   And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.
   
4. Cross References
   1 Corinthians 7:10
   To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband
   
5. Cross References
   Ezra 9:2
   For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.
   Malachi 2:15
   Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.
   
6. Cross References
   Colossians 3:15
   And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
   Romans 14:19
   So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
   
7. Cross References
   1 Peter 3:1
   Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives.
   Romans 11:14
   In order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.
   
8. Cross References
   Romans 12:3
   For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
   
9. Cross References
   1 Corinthians 4:17
   That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.
   
10. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 8:18
    With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel.
    2 Corinthians 11:28
    And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.