Bible verses about "surrogacy" | CAB

¹ And Rachel, having perceived that she bore Jacob no children, was jealous of her sister; and said to Jacob, Give me children; and if not, I shall die. ² And Jacob was angry with Rachel, and said to her, Am I in the place of God, who has deprived you of the fruit of the womb? ³ And Rachel said to Jacob, Behold my handmaid Bilhah, go in to her, and she shall bear upon my knees, and I also shall have children by her. ⁴ And she gave him Bilhah her maid, for a wife to him; and Jacob went in to her. ⁵ And Bilhah, Rachel's maid, conceived, and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ And Rachel said, God has given judgment for me, and heard my voice, and has given me a son; therefore she called his name Dan. ⁷ And Bilhah, Rachel's maid, conceived yet again, and bore a second son to Jacob. ⁸ And Rachel said, God has helped me, and I contended with my sister and prevailed; and she called his name Naphtali. ⁹ And Leah saw that she ceased from bearing, and she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her to Jacob for a wife; and he went in to her. ¹⁰ And Zilpah Leah's maid conceived, and bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ And Leah said, It is happily: and she called his name Gad. ¹² And Zilpah Leah's maid conceived yet again, and bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ And Leah said, I am blessed, for the women will pronounce me blessed; and she called his name Asher. ¹⁴ And Reuben went in the day of barley harvest, and found apples of mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah; and Rachel said to Leah her sister, Give me some of your son's mandrakes. ¹⁵ And Leah said, Is it not enough for you that you have taken my husband, will you also take my son's mandrakes? And Rachel said, Not so: let him lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes. ¹⁶ And Jacob came in out of the field in the evening; and Leah went forth to meet him, and said, You shall come in to me this day, for I have hired you for my son's mandrakes; and he lay with her that night. ¹⁷ And God listened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ And Leah said, God has given me my reward, because I gave my maid to my husband; and she called his name Issachar, which is, Reward. ¹⁹ And Leah conceived again, and bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ And Leah said, God has given me a good gift in this time; my husband will choose me, for I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun. ²¹ And after this she bore a daughter; and she called her name Dinah. ²² And God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and He opened her womb. ²³ And she conceived, and bore Jacob a son; and Rachel said, God has taken away my reproach. ²⁴ And she called his name Joseph, saying, Let God add to me another son.

¹ Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. ² Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. ³ Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. ⁴ The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. ⁵ Do not deprive one another, except by mutual agreement, and that for a season, so that you may devote yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶ But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment. ⁷ For I wish that all men would be as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this way and another in that. ⁸ But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they should remain as I also remain; ⁹ but if they are not exercising self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. ¹⁰ Now to those who have married I command, yet not I, but the Lord: A wife is not to be separated from her husband-- ¹¹ and even if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband--and a husband is not to divorce his wife. ¹² But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to live with him, let him not divorce her. ¹³ And a wife who has an unbelieving husband, if he consents to live with her, let her not divorce him. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. ¹⁵ But if the unbelieving spouse separates, let him or her separate; the brother or the sister has not been bound in such cases; but God has called us 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 Otherwise as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And so I command in all the churches. ¹⁸ Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised. ¹⁹ Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God. ²⁰ Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. ²¹ Were you called as a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather make use of it. ²² For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's free man. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ's slave. ²³ You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. ²⁴ Brothers, let each one remain with God in the state in which he was called. ²⁵ Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord; but I give judgment, as having received mercy by the Lord to be faithful. ²⁶ Therefore I consider this to be good because of the present distress, that it is good for a man to be as he is: ²⁷ Have you been bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Have you been released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸ But even if you should marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin should marry, she has not sinned. But such will have trouble in the flesh, and I would spare you. ²⁹ But this I say, brothers, the time has been shortened; so that from now on even those having wives should be as though they had none, ³⁰ and those weeping as though not weeping, and those rejoicing as though not rejoicing, and those buying as though not possessing, ³¹ and those using this world as not using it up. For the form of this world is passing away. ³² But I want you to be without anxiety. The unmarried man cares about the things of the Lord--about how he may please the Lord. ³³ But the man having married cares about the things of the world--about how he may please his wife. ³⁴ And the wife and the virgin are different. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But the woman having married cares about the things of the world--about how she may please her husband. ³⁵ And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a snare upon you, but for that which is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction. ³⁶ But if any man thinks he is behaving improperly toward his virgin, if she is past her prime, and thus it must be, let him do what he desires. He does not sin; let them marry. ³⁷ But he who stands in his heart, not having necessity, but has power over his own desire, and has decided this in his heart that he will keep his virgin, does well. ³⁸ So then he who gives her in marriage does well, but he who does not give her in marriage does better. ³⁹ A wife has been bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband also dies, she is free to be married to whom she desires, only in the Lord. ⁴⁰ But she is more blessed if she remains as she is, in my opinion--and I think I also have the Spirit of God.

¹ Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children; and she had an Egyptian maid, whose name was Hagar. ² And Sarai said to Abram, Behold, the Lord has restrained me from bearing, go therefore in to my maid, that I may get children for myself through her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. ³ So Sarai, Abram's wife, having taken Hagar the Egyptian her handmaid, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, gave her to Abram her husband as a wife to him. ⁴ And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived, and saw that she was with child, and her mistress was dishonored before her. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, I am injured by you; I gave my handmaid into your bosom, and when I saw that she was with child, I was dishonored before her. The Lord judge between me and you. ⁶ And Abram said to Sarai, Behold your handmaid is in your hands, use her as it may seem good to you. And Sarai afflicted her, and she fled from her face. ⁷ And the Angel of the Lord found her by the fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. ⁸ And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Hagar, Sarai's maid, from where do you come, and where are you going? And she said, I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai. ⁹ And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands. ¹⁰ And the Angel of the Lord said to her, I will surely multiply your seed, so that they shall not be numbered for multitude. ¹¹ And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Behold you are with child, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Ishmael, for the Lord has hearkened to your humiliation. ¹² He shall be a wild man, his hands against all, and the hands of all against him, and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. ¹³ And she called the name of the Lord God who spoke to her, You are the God who sees; for she said, For I have openly seen Him that appeared to me. ¹⁴ Therefore she called the well, The well of Him whom I have openly seen; behold it is between Kadesh and Bered. ¹⁵ And Hagar bore a son to Abram; and Abram called the name of his son which Hagar bore to him, Ishmael. ¹⁶ And Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.