1 Corinthians 7:27

Good News Translation

Do you have a wife? Then don't try to get rid of her. Are you unmarried? Then don't look for a wife.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

King James Version (1611)
Art thou bound vnto a wife? seeke not to bee loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seeke not a wife.

King James Version
Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.

English Standard Version
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

New American Standard Bible
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

New Century Version
If you have a wife, do not try to become free from her. If you are not married, do not try to find a wife.

Amplified Bible
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you unmarried? Do not seek a wife.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

Legacy Standard Bible
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

Berean Standard Bible
Are you committed to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you free of commitment? Do not look for a wife.

Contemporary English Version
If you are married, stay married. If you are not married, don't try to get married.

Complete Jewish Bible
That means that if a man has a wife, he should not seek to be free of her; and if he is unmarried, he should not look for a wife.

Darby Translation
Art thou bound to a wife? seek not to be loosed; art thou free from a wife? do not seek a wife.

Easy-to-Read Version
If you have a wife, don't try to get free from her. If you are not married, don't try to find a wife.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Art thou bounde vnto a wife? seeke not to be loosed: art thou loosed from a wife? seeke not a wife.

George Lamsa Translation
If you are married, do not seek divorce. If you are divorced from a wife, do not seek a wife.

Lexham English Bible
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek release. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

Literal Translation
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.

American Standard Version
Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.

Bible in Basic English
If you are married to a wife, make no attempt to get free from her: if you are free from a wife, do not take a wife.

Hebrew Names Version
Are you bound to a wife? Don't seek to be freed. Are you free from a wife? Don't seek a wife.

International Standard Version
Have you been bound to a wife? Stop trying to get free. Have you been freed from a wife? Stop looking for a wife.

Etheridge Translation
Art thou bound to a wife ? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife ? seek not a wife.

Murdock Translation
Art thou bound to a wife? Seek not a release. Art thou free from a wife? Seek not a wife.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Art thou bounde vnto a wife? seke not to be loosed: Art thou loosed from a wyfe? seke not a wyfe.

English Revised Version
Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.

World English Bible
Are you bound to a wife? Don't seek to be freed. Are you free from a wife? Don't seek a wife.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Art thou bound to a wife? seek not to be loosed: art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.

Weymouth's New Testament
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to get free. Are you free from the marriage bond? Do not seek for a wife.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thou art boundun to a wijf, nyle thou seke vnbyndyng; thou art vnboundun fro a wijf, nyle thou seke a wijf.

Update Bible Version
Are you bound to a wife? Don't seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Don't seek a wife.

Webster's Bible Translation
Art thou bound to a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.

New English Translation
The one bound to a wife should not seek divorce. The one released from a wife should not seek marriage.

New King James Version
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

New Living Translation
If you have a wife, do not seek to end the marriage. If you do not have a wife, do not seek to get married.

New Life Bible
Are you married to a wife? Do not try to get a divorce. If you are not married, do not look for a wife.

New Revised Standard
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Hast thou become bound to a wife? do not seek to be loosed; hast thou become loosed from a wife? do not seek a wife.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Art thou bound to a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife.

Revised Standard Version
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek marriage.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Arte thou bounde vnto a wyfe? seke not to be lowsed. Arte thou lowsed from a wyfe? seke not a wyfe.

Young's Literal Translation
Hast thou been bound to a wife? seek not to be loosed; hast thou been loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Art thou bounde vnto a wife, seke not to be lowsed: Art thou lowsed fro a wife, seke not a wife.

Mace New Testament (1729)
are you contracted to a wife? seek not to be disengag'd. are you disengag'd from your wife? don't look out for another;

Simplified Cowboy Version
If you have a wife, don't try to get a divorce. If you don't have a wife, don't go looking for one.

Contextual Overview

²⁵ Now, concerning what you wrote about unmarried people: I do not have a command from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is worthy of trust. ²⁶ Considering the present distress, I think it is better for a man to stay as he is. ²⁷ Do you have a wife? Then don't try to get rid of her. Are you unmarried? Then don't look for a wife. ²⁸ But if you do marry, you haven't committed a sin; and if an unmarried woman marries, she hasn't committed a sin. But I would rather spare you the everyday troubles that married people will have. ²⁹ What I mean, my friends, is this: there is not much time left, and from now on married people should live as though they were not married; ³⁰ those who weep, as though they were not sad; those who laugh, as though they were not happy; those who buy, as though they did not own what they bought; ³¹ those who deal in material goods, as though they were not fully occupied with them. For this world, as it is now, will not last much longer. ³² I would like you to be free from worry. An unmarried man concerns himself with the Lord's work, because he is trying to please the Lord. ³³ But a married man concerns himself with worldly matters, because he wants to please his wife; ³⁴ and so he is pulled in two directions. An unmarried woman or a virgin concerns herself with the Lord's work, because she wants to be dedicated both in body and spirit; but a married woman concerns herself with worldly matters, because she wants to please her husband.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

thou bound: 1 Corinthians 7:12-14, 1 Corinthians 7:20

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 16:2 - General 1 Corinthians 7:8 - General

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Art thou bound unto a wife?.... Or to a woman; either by promise, or by espousal, or by consummate marriage; either of which is a tic, or obligation, a bond, and especially the latter; marriage is such a bond as cannot be dissolved, but by the death of one of the parties; see Romans 7:2 unless in case of adultery, or of wilful desertion: and it is a bond which mutually obliges; as the husband is bound by the law of marriage to live chastely and lovingly with his wife, and to take care of her, and provide for her; so the wife is bound by the same law to live in like manner with her husband, and to submit unto him, and obey him:

seek not to be loosed; do not depart from her, nor seek to be divorced, nor even desire to be loosed by death:

art thou loosed from a wife? being either never married, or else if having been married the wife is dead, or legally divorced for a just cause:

seek not a wife, or woman; make no inquiry after one; be content to live without one; enter not into a marriage state, nor take any step towards it; it is best to continue loosed, for the reason above given, that is, provided the person has the gift of continence, otherwise not; see 1 Corinthians 7:5.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Art thou bound unto a wife? - Art thou already married? Marriage is often thus represented as a “tie,” a “bond,” etc.; see the note at Romans 7:2.

Seek not to be loosed - Seek not a “dissolution” (λύσιν lusin) of the connection, either by divorce or by a separation from each other; see the notes on 1 Corinthians 7:10-17.

Art thou loosed from a wife? - Art thou unmarried? It should have been rendered “free from” a wife; or art thou single? It does not imply of necessity that the person had been married, though it may have that meaning, and signify those who had been separated from a wife by her death. There is no necessity of supposing that Paul refers to persons who had divorced their wives. So Grotius, Schleusner, Doddridge, etc.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 27. Art thou bound unto a wife? — i e. Married; for the marriage contract was considered in the light of a bond.

Seek not to be loosed. — Neither regret your circumstances, notwithstanding the present distress, nor seek on this account for a dissolution of the marriage contract. But if thou art under no matrimonial engagements, do not for the present enter into any.