Are you committed to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you free of commitment? Do not look for a wife.
Parallel translations
- WEB Are you bound to a wife? Don’t seek to be freed. Are you free from a wife? Don’t seek a wife.
- KJV Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.
- NKJV Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
- NASB Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
- NLT If you have a wife, do not seek to end the marriage. If you do not have a wife, do not seek to get married.
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
If you are married, don't seek to be released; if you are single, don't anxiously seek a spouse. Whatever your present marital state, rest content in it.
Overview
Paul applies the "remain as you are" principle to marriage. The married should not pursue divorce, and the unmarried need not feel pressured to marry. This is counsel toward contentment amid the present distress, not a prohibition (the next verse explicitly allows marriage). The aim is freedom from restless striving so one can serve the Lord wholeheartedly.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- 1 Cor 7:12–14To 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.
- 1 Cor 7:20Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called.
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 7:27 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.