Bible verses about "celibacy" | Riverside

¹ WITH reference to the matters you wrote of: It is an excellent thing for a man not to touch a woman.

¹³ No trial has taken you but what belongs to human nature. God is faithful and he will not let you be tried beyond your power, but will make, with the trial, a way of escape so that you can endure it.

¹ THE Spirit says distinctly that in later times some will desert from the faith, giving attention to deceiving spirits and teachings of demons, ² through the hypocrisy of men who teach falsely, branded in their own consciences, ³ forbidding marriage, and insisting on abstinence from certain kinds of food which God made to be partaken of with thanksgiving by those who are faithful and know the truth.

² A bishop, then, should be above reproach, true to one woman, temperate, self-controlled, dignified, hospitable, with a gift for teaching,

¹ THEN I looked and there was a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and the name of his Father written on their fore-heads. ² I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of many waters, like the sound of loud thunder. The sound that I heard was as of harpers playing on their harps. ³ They sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been ransomed from the earth. ⁴ These are they who were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were ransomed from among men as first-fruits for God and the Lamb. ⁵ No lie was found in their mouths. They are stainless.

⁹ But we know this: that law is not laid down for a righteous man, but for the lawless and the insubordinate, the ungodly and sinners, the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, ¹⁰ for the unchaste, for those who practice unnatural vices, for slave-dealers, liars, perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to wholesome teaching

²⁶ I think then that this is an excellent thing on account of the present distress — that it is an excellent thing for a person to be unmarried.

² But because of the prevailing unchastity, let each man have his own wife and each woman her own husband.

⁹ Do you not know that unrighteous people will not inherit the kingdom of God? Make no mistake, neither the unchaste, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who practice unnatural vices,

¹⁰ His disciples said to him, "If this is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry." ¹¹ He said to them, "Not all can receive this word; but only those to whom it is granted. ¹² For there are eunuchs so born from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs so made by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let him who is able to receive it receive it."

⁷ I wish that every one were just as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one in one way and one in another. ⁸ I say to the unmarried and the widows, it is excellent for them to remain as I do. ⁹ But if they lack self-control, let them marry. It is better to marry than to burn.

¹ WITH reference to the matters you wrote of: It is an excellent thing for a man not to touch a woman. ² But because of the prevailing unchastity, let each man have his own wife and each woman her own husband. ³ Let the husband pay his wife conjugal dues and the wife her husband. ⁴ The wife has not power over her own body, but her husband has. In the same way the husband has not power over his own body, but his wife has. ⁵ Do not deprive one another, unless by agreement for a time, that you may have freedom for prayer, and again come together. You must not let Satan tempt you through your lack of self-control. ⁶ I say this by way of indulgence, not by way of command. ⁷ I wish that every one were just as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one in one way and one in another. ⁸ I say to the unmarried and the widows, it is excellent for them to remain as I do. ⁹ But if they lack self-control, let them marry. It is better to marry than to burn. ¹⁰ To the married I command — yet not I, but the Lord — that the wife is not to leave her husband ¹¹ (if she leaves him let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband) and the husband is not to put away his wife. ¹² To the rest I say — not the Lord: If any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she is pleased to live with him, let him not put her away. ¹³ And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he is pleased to live with her, let her not put him away. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband has been made holy by the wife and the unbelieving wife has been made holy by the husband. Otherwise your children would be impure, but now they are holy. ¹⁵ But if the unbelieving one actually leaves, let him leave. The brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases; but God has called you to peace. ¹⁶ For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife? ¹⁷ But, as the Lord has allotted to each, let each go on living as when God called him. So I prescribe in all the churches. ¹⁸ Was any one already circumcised when called? Let him not efface it. Was any one called when uncircumcised? Let him not become circumcised. ¹⁹ Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God is all. ²⁰ Let each stay in that condition in which he was called. ²¹ Were you called when a slave? Let it not trouble you. On the contrary, even if you can become free, take it in preference. ²² For the slave who has been called in the Lord is the Lord's freedman. Just so the free man, when called, is the slave of Christ. ²³ You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men. ²⁴ Let each one, brethren, stay in that condition in which he was called, close to God. ²⁵ In regard to unmarried women I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who through the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. ²⁶ I think then that this is an excellent thing on account of the present distress — that it is an excellent thing for a person to be unmarried. ²⁷ Have you been bound to a wife? Seek not release. Have you been freed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸ But even if you marry, you have not sinned. Even if a maiden marries, she has not sinned. But such will have trouble in the flesh, and I would spare you. ²⁹ But this I say, brethren: The time is shortened. For what remains let those who have wives be as if they had none, ³⁰ and those who weep as if they wept not, and those who rejoice as if they rejoiced not, and those who buy as if they possessed nothing, ³¹ and those who use the world as if not overusing it. For the present order of this world is passing away. ³² I wish you to be free from worry. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord — how be may please the Lord. ³³ The married man is anxious about the things of the world — how he may please his wife, ³⁴ and his interest is divided. So the unmarried woman or the maiden is anxious about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about the things of the world — how she may please her husband. ³⁵ This I say for your benefit, not to throw a noose over you, but to promote decorum and constant devotion to the Lord without distraction. ³⁶ If any one thinks that he is acting unbecomingly toward his virgin, if she is ripe for marriage and there is need, let him do what he will. He does not sin. Let them marry. ³⁷ He who stands firm in his heart, having no necessity, and has power over his own will and has decided in his heart to keep his virgin, will do well. ³⁸ So he who marries his virgin does well, and he who does not marry her will do better. ³⁹ A woman is bound as long as her husband is living. But if her husband falls asleep, she is free to marry whom she will, though only in the Lord. ⁴⁰ But in my opinion she is happier if she stays as she is. And I think that I have the Spirit of God.

¹⁸ Shun unchastity. Every other sin that a man does is apart from the body, but the unchaste sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought with a price. Glorify God then in your bodies.

³² I wish you to be free from worry. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord — how be may please the Lord. ³³ The married man is anxious about the things of the world — how he may please his wife, ³⁴ and his interest is divided. So the unmarried woman or the maiden is anxious about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about the things of the world — how she may please her husband. ³⁵ This I say for your benefit, not to throw a noose over you, but to promote decorum and constant devotion to the Lord without distraction. ³⁶ If any one thinks that he is acting unbecomingly toward his virgin, if she is ripe for marriage and there is need, let him do what he will. He does not sin. Let them marry. ³⁷ He who stands firm in his heart, having no necessity, and has power over his own will and has decided in his heart to keep his virgin, will do well. ³⁸ So he who marries his virgin does well, and he who does not marry her will do better. ³⁹ A woman is bound as long as her husband is living. But if her husband falls asleep, she is free to marry whom she will, though only in the Lord. ⁴⁰ But in my opinion she is happier if she stays as she is. And I think that I have the Spirit of God.