But because of sexual immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.
Parallel translations
- WEB But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
- KJV Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
- BSB But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
- NKJV Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
- NLT But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.
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
Because of the temptation to immorality, each man and woman should have their own spouse. It matters because marriage is God's honorable provision for sexual fulfillment and faithfulness.
Overview
In a city rife with sexual sin, Paul commends marriage as the proper, God-given context for sexual relations. Rather than viewing marriage as a concession to weakness only, he affirms it as the normal and good means of expressing sexuality faithfully. This balances the previous verse, honoring marriage alongside celibacy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Eph 5:28Even so husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.
- Eph 5:33Nevertheless each of you must also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
- 1 Cor 7:9But if they don’t have self-control, let them marry. For it’s better to marry than to burn.
- Prov 18:22Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of Yahweh.
- Prov 5:18–19Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
- 1 Cor 6:18Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
- Mal 2:14Yet you say, ‘Why?’ Because Yahweh has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion, and the wife of your covenant.
- Prov 19:14House and riches are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from Yahweh.
- 1 Tim 4:3forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
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 7:2 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.