2. But because there is so much immorality, every man should have his own wife, and every woman should have her own husband.
3. A man should fulfil his duty as a husband, and a woman should fulfil her duty as a wife, and each should satisfy the other's needs.
4. A wife is not the master of her own body, but her husband is; in the same way a husband is not the master of his own body, but his wife is.
5. Do not deny yourselves to each other, unless you first agree to do so for a while in order to spend your time in prayer; but then resume normal marital relations. In this way you will be kept from giving in to Satan's temptation because of your lack of self-control.
6. I tell you this not as an order, but simply as a concession.
7. Actually I would prefer that all of you were as I am; but each one has a special gift from God, one person this gift, another one that gift.
8. Now, to the unmarried and to the widows I say that it would be better for you to continue to live alone as I do.
9. But if you cannot restrain your desires, go ahead and marry — it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
10. For married people I have a command which is not my own but the Lord's: a wife must not leave her husband;
11. but if she does, she must remain single or else be reconciled to her husband; and a husband must not divorce his wife.
12. To the others I say (I, myself, not the Lord): if a Christian man has a wife who is an unbeliever and she agrees to go on living with him, he must not divorce her.
13. And if a Christian woman is married to a man who is an unbeliever and he agrees to go on living with her, she must not divorce him.