1. And concerning the things of which ye wrote to me: good [it is] for a man not to touch a woman,
2. and because of the whoredom let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her proper husband;
3. to the wife let the husband the due benevolence render, and in like manner also the wife to the husband;
4. the wife over her own body hath not authority, but the husband; and, in like manner also, the husband over his own body hath not authority, but the wife.
5. Defraud not one another, except by consent for a time, that ye may be free for fasting and prayer, and again may come together, that the Adversary may not tempt you because of your incontinence;
6. and this I say by way of concurrence--not of command,
7. for I wish all men to be even as I myself [am]; but each his own gift hath of God, one indeed thus, and one thus.
8. And I say to the unmarried and to the widows: it is good for them if they may remain even as I [am];
9. and if they have not continence--let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn;
10. and to the married I announce--not I, but the Lord--let not a wife separate from a husband:
11. but and if she may separate, let her remain unmarried, or to the husband let her be reconciled, and let not a husband send away a wife.
12. And to the rest I speak--not the Lord--if any brother hath a wife unbelieving, and she is pleased to dwell with him, let him not send her away;
13. and a woman who hath a husband unbelieving, and he is pleased to dwell with her, let her not send him away;
14. for the unbelieving husband hath been sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife hath been sanctified in the husband; otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.
15. And, if the unbelieving doth separate himself--let him separate himself: the brother or the sister is not under servitude in such [cases], and in peace hath God called us;
16. for what, hast thou known, O wife, whether the husband thou shalt save? or what, hast thou known, O husband, whether the wife thou shalt save?