Biblia the Byble, that is, the holy Scrypture of the Olde and New Testament, faithfully translated in to Englyshe.

[ A] The VII. Chapter.

AS concernynge the thinges wherof ye wrote vnto me, I answere: It is good for a man not to touche a woman. Ne¦uertheles to avoyde whordome, let euery man haue his awne wife, and let euery wo∣man haue hir awne huszbande. Let the mā geue vnto the wife due beneuolence: likewy∣se also the wife vnto y^e man. The wife hath not power ouer hir awne body, but the husz∣bande: & likewyse the man hath not power ouer his awne body, but the wife. * 1.1 With∣drawe not yo selues one frō another, excep∣te it be with the consent of both for a tyme, that ye maye geue youre selues vnto fastin∣ge and prayer, and thē come together agay∣ne, lest Sathan tempte you for yo incontynē¦cye. But this I saye of fauoure, and not of commaundemēt. Howbeit I wolde rather y^t all mē were as I am. Neuertheles euery one hath his proper gifte of God: one thus, another so. To them verely y^t are vnmaried and to wedowes I saye: It is good for thē that they abyde also as I do. * 1.2 But yf they cannot absteyne, let them mary. For it is bet¦ter to mary, then to burne.

But vnto them that are maried, com∣maunde [ B] not I, but the LORDE, * 1.3 that the wife separate not her selfe from the huszban¦de: but yf she separate her selfe, y^t she remay∣ne vnmaried, or be reconcyled to hir huszban¦de: and let not the huszbande put awaye his wife from him.

As for the other, vnto thē saye I, not y^e LORDE: Yf eny brother haue an vnbeleuyn¦ge wife, and she is content to dwell with him, let him not put hir awaye. And yf a wo¦man haue an vnbeleuynge huszbande, and he is content to dwell with her, let her not put him awaye. For the vnbeleuynge husz∣bande is sanctified by the wife, and the vn∣beleuynge wife is sanctified by the huszban∣de: or els were youre children vncleane, but now are they holy. But yf the vnbeleuynge departe, let him departe. A brother or a sis∣ter is not boūde in soch cases, but God hath called vs in peace. * 1.4 For what knowest thou O womā, whether thou shalt saue y^e mā? Or what knowest thou O man, whether thou shalt saue the woman? But euen as God hath distributed vnto euery one * 1.5 and as the LORDE hath called euery man, so let him walke: and so orden I in all congregacions.

Yf eny man be called beynge circumcysed [ C] let him take no Heythenshippe vpon him. Yf eny man be called in the Heythenshippe, let him not be circumcysed. Circumcision is nothinge, and vncircumcision is nothinge, but the kepynge of the commaundementes of God. Let euery one abyde in the callyn∣ge

wherin he is called. * 1.6 Art thou called a seruaūt, care not for it: neuertheles yf thou mayest be fre, vse it rather. For he that is cal¦led in the LORDE beynge a seruaūte, is a fre¦man of the LORDE. Likewyse he that is cal¦led beynge fre, is a seruaūt of Christ.* 1.7 Ye are dearly boughte, be not ye the seruauntes of men. Brethren let euery one wherin he is cal¦led, therin abyde with God.

As concernynge virgins, I haue no com¦maundement of the LORDE, neuertheles I saye my goodmeanynge, as I haue optay∣ned mercy of the LORDE to be faithfull. I suppose it is good for y^e present necessite: for it is good for a man so to be. Art thou boun¦de vnto a wife, seke not to be lowsed: Art thou lowsed frō a wife, seke not a wife. But yf thou take a wife, thou synnest not. And yf a virgin mary, she synneth not. Neuerthe¦les soch shal haue trouble in the fleszhe. But I fauoure you.

[ D] Howbeit this I saye brethren:* 1.8 the tyme is shorte. Farthermore this is the meanyn∣ge, y^t they which haue wyues, be as though they had none: and they that wepe, be as though they wepte not: and they that re∣ioyse, be as though they reioysed not: & they that bye, be as though they possessed not: & they that vse this worlde, be as though they vsed it not. For the faszhion off this worlde passeth awaye.* 1.9 But I wolde that ye shulde be without care. * 1.10 He that is syngle, careth for the thinges of the LORDE, how he maye please the LORDE. But he that is maried, careth for the thinges of the worl∣de, how he maye please his wife, and is deuy¦ded. A woman and a virgin that is syngle, careth for the thinges of the LORDE, that she maye be holy both in body & also in spre¦te. But she that is maried, careth for y^e thin¦ges of the worlde, how she maye please hir huszbande.

This I saye for youre profit, not that I [ E] wil tangle you in a snare, but for that which is honest and comly vnto you, that ye maye cōtynually cleue vnto the LORDE without hynderaunce. But yf eny man thinke that it is vncomly for his virgin yf she passe the tyme of mariage, and yf nede so requyre, let him do what he lyst, he synneth not, let thē be coupled in mariage. Neuertheles he that purposeth surely in his hert, hauynge no ne¦de, but hath power of his awne wyll, and determeth so in his hert to kepe his virgin, doth well. Fynally, he that ioyneth his vir∣gin in mariage, doth well: but he that ioy∣neth not his virgin in mariage, doth bet∣ter. * 1.11 The wife is bounde to the lawe, as lon∣ge as hir huszbande lyueth. But yf hir husz¦bande slepe, she is at liberty to mary vnto whom she wil, onely that it be done in the LORDE. But she is happier yf she so abyde after my iudgment. I thinke verely that I also haue the sprete of God.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Tob 6. d and 8. a Ioel 2. c
• * 1.2

  1. Tim. 5. b
• * 1.3

  Mat. 5. d
• * 1.4

  1. Pet. ••. a
• * 1.5

  Ephe. 4. ••
• * 1.6

  1. Tim. 6. a
• * 1.7

  1. Cor. 6. c 1. Pet. 1. c
• * 1.8

  Psal. 89. a 2. Pet. 3. b
• * 1.9

  Mat. 6. a Luc ••2. c
• * 1.10

  1. Tim. 5. a
• * 1.11

  Rom. ••