Bible verses about "celibacy" | WNT

¹ I now deal with the subjects mentioned in your letter. It is well for a man to abstain altogether from marriage.

¹³ No temptation has you in its power but such as is common to human nature; and God is faithful and will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength. But, when the temptation comes, He will also provide the way of escape; so that you may be able to bear it.

¹ Now the Spirit expressly declares that in later times some will fall away from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and the teachings of demons; ² through the hypocrisy of men who teach falsely and have their own consciences seared as with a hot iron; ³ forbidding people to marry, and insisting on abstinence from foods which God has created to be partaken of, with thankfulness, by those who believe and have a clear knowledge of the truth.

² A minister then must be a man of irreproachable character, true to his one wife, temperate, sober-minded, well-behaved, hospitable to strangers, and with a gift for teaching;

⁹ and remembers that a law is not enacted to control a righteous man, but for the lawless and rebellious, the irreligious and sinful, the godless and profane--for those who strike their fathers or their mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰ fornicators, sodomites, slave-dealers, liars and false witnesses; and for whatever else is opposed to wholesome teaching

¹ Then I looked, and I saw the Lamb standing upon Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 people, having His name and His Father's name written on their foreheads. ² And I heard music from Heaven which resembled the sound of many waters and the roar of loud thunder; and the music which I heard was like that of harpists playing upon their harps. ³ And they were singing what seemed to be a new song, in front of the throne and in the presence of the four living creatures and the Elders; and no one was able to learn that song except the 144,000 people who had been redeemed out of the world. ⁴ These are those who had not defiled themselves with women: they are as pure as virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They have been redeemed from among men, as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. ⁵ And no lie has ever been found upon their lips: they are faultless.

²⁶ I think then that, taking into consideration the distress which is now upon us, it is well for a man to remain as he is.

² But because there is so much fornication every man should have a wife of his own, and every woman should have a husband.

⁹ Do you not know that unrighteous men will not inherit God's Kingdom? Cherish no delusion here. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor any who are guilty of unnatural crime,

¹⁰ "If this is the case with a man in relation to his wife," said the disciples to Him, "it is better not to marry." ¹¹ "It is not every man," He replied, "who can receive this teaching, but only those on whom the grace has been bestowed. ¹² There are men who from their birth have been disabled from marriage, others who have been so disabled by men, and others who have disabled themselves for the sake of the Kingdom of the Heavens. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it."

⁷ Yet I would that everybody lived as I do; but each of us has his own special gift from God--one in one direction and one in another. ⁸ But I tell the unmarried, and women who are widows, that it is well for them to remain as I am. ⁹ If, however, they cannot maintain self-control, by all means let them marry; for marriage is better than the fever of passion.

¹ I now deal with the subjects mentioned in your letter. It is well for a man to abstain altogether from marriage. ² But because there is so much fornication every man should have a wife of his own, and every woman should have a husband. ³ Let a man pay his wife her due, and let a woman also pay her husband his. ⁴ A married woman is not mistress of her own person: her husband has certain rights. In the same way a married man is not master of his own person: his wife has certain rights. ⁵ Do not refuse one another, unless perhaps it is just for a time and by mutual consent, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer and may then associate again; lest the Adversary begin to tempt you because of your deficiency in self-control. ⁶ Thus much in the way of concession, not of command. ⁷ Yet I would that everybody lived as I do; but each of us has his own special gift from God--one in one direction and one in another. ⁸ But I tell the unmarried, and women who are widows, that it is well for them to remain as I am. ⁹ If, however, they cannot maintain self-control, by all means let them marry; for marriage is better than the fever of passion. ¹⁰ But to those already married my instructions are--yet not mine, but the Lord's--that a wife is not to leave her husband; ¹¹ or if she has already left him, let her either remain as she is or be reconciled to him; and that a husband is not to send away his wife. ¹² To the rest it is I who speak--not the Lord. If a brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, let him not send her away. ¹³ And a woman who has an unbelieving husband--if he consents to live with her, let her not separate from him. ¹⁴ For, in such cases, the unbelieving husband has become--and is--holy through union with a Christian woman, and the unbelieving wife is holy through union with a Christian brother. Otherwise your children would be unholy, but in reality they have a place among God's people. ¹⁵ If, however, the unbeliever is determined to leave, let him or her do so. Under such circumstances the Christian man or woman is no slave; God has called us to live lives of peace. ¹⁶ For what assurance have you, O woman, as to whether you will save your husband? Or what assurance have you, O man, as to whether you will save your wife? ¹⁷ Only, whatever be the condition in life which the Lord has assigned to each individual--and whatever the condition in which he was living when God called him--in that let him continue. ¹⁸ This is what I command in all the Churches. Was any one already circumcised when called? Let him not have recourse to the surgeons. Was any one uncircumcised when called? Let him remain uncircumcised. ¹⁹ Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing: obedience to God's commandments is everything. ²⁰ Whatever be the condition in life in which a man was, when he was called, in that let him continue. ²¹ Were you a slave when God called you? Let not that weigh on your mind. And yet if you can get your freedom, take advantage of the opportunity. ²² For a Christian, if he was a slave when called, is the Lord's freed man, and in the same way a free man, if called, becomes the slave of Christ. ²³ You have all been redeemed at infinite cost: do not become slaves to men. ²⁴ Where each one stood when he was called, there, brethren, let him still stand--close to God. ²⁵ Concerning unmarried women I have no command to give you from the Lord; but I offer you my opinion, which is that of a man who, through the Lord's mercy, is deserving of your confidence. ²⁶ I think then that, taking into consideration the distress which is now upon us, it is well for a man to remain as he is. ²⁷ Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to get free. Are you free from the marriage bond? Do not seek for a wife. ²⁸ Yet if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a maiden marries, she has not sinned. Such people, however, will have outward trouble. But I am for sparing you. ²⁹ Yet of this I warn you, brethren: the time has been shortened--so that henceforth those who have wives should be as though they had none, ³⁰ those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, ³¹ and those who use the world as not using it to the full. For the world as it now exists is passing away. ³² And I would have you free from worldly anxiety. An unmarried man concerns himself with the Lord's business--how he shall please the Lord; ³³ but a married man concerns himself with the business of the world--how he shall please his wife. ³⁴ There is a difference too between a married and an unmarried woman. She who is unmarried concerns herself with the Lord's business--that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but the married woman concerns herself with the business of the world--how she shall please her husband. ³⁵ Thus much I say in your own interest; not to lay a trap for you, but to help towards what is becoming, and enable you to wait on the Lord without distraction. ³⁶ If, however, a father thinks he is acting unbecomingly towards his still unmarried daughter if she be past the bloom of her youth, and so the matter is urgent, let him do what she desires; he commits no sin; she and her suitor should be allowed to marry. ³⁷ But if a father stands firm in his resolve, being free from all external constraint and having a legal right to act as he pleases, and in his own mind has come to the decision to keep his daughter unmarried, he will do well. ³⁸ So that he who gives his daughter in marriage does well, and yet he who does not give her in marriage will do better. ³⁹ A woman is bound to her husband during the whole period that he lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to marry whom she will, provided that he is a Christian. ⁴⁰ But in my judgement, her state is a more enviable one if she remains as she is; and I also think that I have the Spirit of God.

¹⁸ Flee from fornication. Any other sin that a human being commits lies outside the body; but he who commits fornication sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your bodies are a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is within you--the Spirit whom you have from God? ²⁰ And you are not your own, for you have been redeemed at infinite cost. Therefore glorify God in your bodies.

³² And I would have you free from worldly anxiety. An unmarried man concerns himself with the Lord's business--how he shall please the Lord; ³³ but a married man concerns himself with the business of the world--how he shall please his wife. ³⁴ There is a difference too between a married and an unmarried woman. She who is unmarried concerns herself with the Lord's business--that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but the married woman concerns herself with the business of the world--how she shall please her husband. ³⁵ Thus much I say in your own interest; not to lay a trap for you, but to help towards what is becoming, and enable you to wait on the Lord without distraction. ³⁶ If, however, a father thinks he is acting unbecomingly towards his still unmarried daughter if she be past the bloom of her youth, and so the matter is urgent, let him do what she desires; he commits no sin; she and her suitor should be allowed to marry. ³⁷ But if a father stands firm in his resolve, being free from all external constraint and having a legal right to act as he pleases, and in his own mind has come to the decision to keep his daughter unmarried, he will do well. ³⁸ So that he who gives his daughter in marriage does well, and yet he who does not give her in marriage will do better. ³⁹ A woman is bound to her husband during the whole period that he lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to marry whom she will, provided that he is a Christian. ⁴⁰ But in my judgement, her state is a more enviable one if she remains as she is; and I also think that I have the Spirit of God.