Let each man stay in that calling in which he was called.
Parallel translations
- KJV Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.
- BSB Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called.
- NKJV Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called.
- NASB Each person is to remain in that state in which he was called.
- NLT Yes, each of you should remain as you were when God called you.
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
Restating the chapter's rule: each person should remain in the calling or station they were in when God called them to faith. Conversion is not a summons to abandon one's place in life.
Overview
This is the central refrain of the section (vv. 17-24). "Calling" here means one's life-situation or station, not merely a vocation. Paul's concern is contentment and faithful service in present circumstances rather than restless self-reinvention. The principle is general and qualified, as the next verse shows, but its thrust is that the gospel sanctifies ordinary life where one finds it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 1 Cor 7:17Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk. So I command in all the assemblies.
- 1 Th 4:11and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you;
- 2 Th 3:12Now those who are that way, we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
- 1 Cor 7:21–24Were you called being a bondservant? Don’t let that bother you, but if you get an opportunity to become free, use it.
- Prov 27:8As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.
- Luke 3:10–14The multitudes asked him, “What then must we do?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
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 7:20 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.