To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.
Parallel translations
- WEB But to the rest I — not the Lord — say, if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is content to live with him, let him not leave her.
- KJV But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.
- NKJV But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her.
- NASB But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her.
- NLT Now, I will speak to the rest of you, though I do not have a direct command from the Lord. If a fellow believer has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul now gives his own apostolic counsel: a believer with a willing unbelieving spouse should not divorce them. It matters because the Christian should preserve the marriage even when only one partner believes.
Overview
Addressing situations Jesus did not directly speak to, Paul (with apostolic authority) advises that a believer married to a content unbeliever should remain. The marriage covenant is not nullified by differing faith. This pastoral instruction promotes stability and opens the door for the unbeliever to encounter the gospel through the home.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 1 Cor 7:6I say this as a concession, not as a command.
- 2 Cor 11:17In this confident boasting of mine, I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as a fool.
- 1 Cor 7:25Now about virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.
- Ezra 10:11–19Now, therefore, make a confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do His will. Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from your foreign wives.”
- Ezra 10:2–3Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite, said to Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of the land, yet in spite of this, there is hope for Israel.
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Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 7:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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