1 Corinthians 7:2

An Understandable Version (2005 edition)

But, because of so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.

Cross References

Matthew 5:32

But I say to you, every person who divorces his wife makes her become sexually unfaithful to him [i.e., since she will probably marry someone else], unless the reason for the divorce is that she had [already] become sexually unfaithful to him. And whoever marries a woman who has been divorced commits sexual sin with her [i.e., because she is still rightfully married to her first husband].

1 Corinthians 6:18

Stay away from [any involvement in] sexual immorality. Every sin a person commits is outside [the realm] of his body; but the one who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. [Note: Possibly this means that sex, because it requires the deepest and most complete commitment of human involvement, becomes a unique sin when its true purpose and expression are violated].

1 Corinthians 7:1

I now want to reply to the matters you people wrote me about. It is [a] good [idea] for a man not to get married. [Note: The words “to get married” here are “to touch” in the Greek and probably refer to sexual relations within marriage. This advice, not a prohibition, is further explained in verses 26-35].

1 Corinthians 7:3

The husband should fulfill his [marital] duty to his wife, and the wife should do the same thing for her husband.

1 Corinthians 7:9

But if they cannot control their [sexual] desires, they should get married, for it is better [for them] to marry than to burn [i.e., with sexual lust which cannot be legitimately gratified].

Ephesians 5:28

In the same way also, husbands should love their own wives as they love their own bodies. The man who loves his own wife [actually] loves himself.

Ephesians 5:33

However, each of you men individually should also love his own wife the way he loves himself. And the wife should respect her husband.

1 Thessalonians 4:4

Each of you should know how to control his own body in a dedicated and honorable way,

1 Timothy 4:3

They forbid people to get married and require them to avoid [eating] certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and [fully] know the truth.