1 Corinthians 7:21

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
If you were a slave when God chose you, don't let that bother you. But if you can be free, then do it.

Revised Standard Version
Were you a slave when called? Never mind. But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Arte thou called a servaut? care not for it. Neverthelesse yf thou mayst be fre vse it rather.

Hebrew Names Version
Were you called being a bondservant? Don't let that bother you, but if you get an opportunity to become free, use it.

International Standard Version
Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let that bother you. Of course, if you have a chance to become free, take advantage of the opportunity.

New American Standard Bible
Were you called as a slave? Do not let it concern you. But if you are also able to become free, take advantage of that.

New Century Version
If you were a slave when God called you, do not let that bother you. But if you can be free, then make good use of your freedom.

Update Bible Version
Were you called being a slave? Do not care for it: no, even if you can become free, use [it] rather.

Webster's Bible Translation
Art thou called [being] a servant? care not for it; but if thou mayest be made free, use [it] rather.

English Standard Version
Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.)

World English Bible
Were you called being a bondservant? Don't let that bother you, but if you get an opportunity to become free, use it.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou canst be made free, use it rather.

Weymouth's New Testament
Were you a slave when God called you? Let not that weigh on your mind. And yet if you can get your freedom, take advantage of the opportunity.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thou seruaunt art clepid, be it no charge to thee; but if thou maist be fre, `the rather vse thou.

English Revised Version
Wast thou called being a bondservant? care not for it: but if thou canst become free, use [it] rather.

Berean Standard Bible
Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let it concern you, but if you can gain your freedom, take the opportunity.

Contemporary English Version
Are you a slave? Don't let that bother you. But if you can win your freedom, you should.

Amplified Bible
Were you a slave when you were called? Do not worry about that [since your status as a believer is equal to that of a freeborn believer]; but if you are able to gain your freedom, do that.

American Standard Version
Wast thou called being a bondservant? care not for it: nay, even if thou canst become free, use it rather.

Bible in Basic English
If you were a servant when you became a Christian, let it not be a grief to you; but if you have a chance to become free, make use of it.

Complete Jewish Bible
Were you a slave when you were called? Well, don't let it bother you; although if you can gain your freedom, take advantage of the opportunity.

Darby Translation
Hast thou been called [being] a bondman, let it not concern thee; but and if thou canst become free, use [it] rather.

Etheridge Translation
21 If a servant thou wast called, be not careful, but, if also thou canst be made free, choose [fn] that thou shouldest serve. [fn]

Murdock Translation
If thou wert called, being a servant; let it not trouble thee. But if thou canst be made free, choose it rather than to serve.

King James Version (1611)
Art thou called being a seruant? care not for it: but if thou maist be made free, vse it rather.

New Living Translation
Are you a slave? Don't let that worry you—but if you get a chance to be free, take it.

New Life Bible
Were you a servant who was owned by someone when you became a Christian? Do not worry about it. But if you are able to become free, do that.

New Revised Standard
Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. Even if you can gain your freedom, make use of your present condition now more than ever.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Art thou called being a seruant? care not for it: but if yet thou maiest be free, vse it rather.

George Lamsa Translation
If you were a slave when you were called, do not feel concerned about it; but even though you can be made free, choose rather to serve.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
A bond-servant, wast thou called? let it not cause thee concern; but, if thou canst even become, free, rather use it.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Wast thou called, being a bondman? Care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Art thou called a seruaunt? care not for it: Neuerthelesse, if thou mayest be free, vse it rather.

Good News Translation
Were you a slave when God called you? Well, never mind; but if you have a chance to become free, use it.

Christian Standard Bible®
Were you called while a slave? Don’t let it concern you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity.

King James Version
Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.

Lexham English Bible
Were you called while a slave? Do not let it be a concern to you. But if indeed you are able to become free, rather make use of it.

Literal Translation
Were you called as a slave? It does not matter to you. But if you are able to be free, rather use it .

Young's Literal Translation
a servant -- wast thou called? be not anxious; but if also thou art able to become free -- use [it] rather;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Art thou called a seruaut, care not for it: neuertheles yf thou mayest be fre, vse it rather.

Mace New Testament (1729)
were you called being a slave? be not perplex'd about it; but if you can obtain your freedom, don't refuse it.

New English Translation
Were you called as a slave? Do not worry about it. But if indeed you are able to be free, make the most of the opportunity.

New King James Version
Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it.

Simplified Cowboy Version
If you were a slave, don't fret about remaining so . . . but if you get the chance to be free, take it.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that.

Legacy Standard Bible
Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it. But if you are able also to become free, rather do that.

Contextual Overview

¹⁷ And don't be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God's place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life. Don't think I'm being harder on you than on the others. I give this same counsel in all the churches. ¹⁸Were you Jewish at the time God called you? Don't try to remove the evidence. Were you non-Jewish at the time of your call? Don't become a Jew. Being Jewish isn't the point. The really important thing is obeying God's call, following his commands. ²⁰Stay where you were when God called your name. Were you a slave? Slavery is no roadblock to obeying and believing. I don't mean you're stuck and can't leave. If you have a chance at freedom, go ahead and take it. I'm simply trying to point out that under your new Master you're going to experience a marvelous freedom you would never have dreamed of. On the other hand, if you were free when Christ called you, you'll experience a delightful "enslavement to God" you would never have dreamed of. ²³All of you, slave and free both, were once held hostage in a sinful society. Then a huge sum was paid out for your ransom. So please don't, out of old habit, slip back into being or doing what everyone else tells you. Friends, stay where you were called to be. God is there. Hold the high ground with him at your side.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

being: 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11, 1 Timothy 6:1-3, 1 Peter 2:18-24

a servant: Rather, a slave, הןץכןע [Strong's G1401], the property of another, and bought with his money. In these verses the apostle shows that Christianity makes no change in our civil connections.

care: Luke 10:40, Luke 10:41, Luke 12:29, *marg. Luke 21:34, Philippians 4:6, Philippians 4:11, Hebrews 13:5, 1 Peter 5:7

Reciprocal: Genesis 40:14 - on me Leviticus 25:42 - my servants Acts 2:18 - on my servants Romans 6:18 - made 1 Corinthians 7:17 - as the 1 Corinthians 7:20 - abide

Cross-References

Genesis 6:13
God said to Noah, "It's all over. It's the end of the human race. The violence is everywhere; I'm making a clean sweep.

Genesis 6:17
"I'm going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction.

Genesis 7:6
Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters covered the Earth. Noah and his wife and sons and their wives boarded the ship to escape the flood. Clean and unclean animals, birds, and all the crawling creatures came in pairs to Noah and to the ship, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. In seven days the floodwaters came.

Genesis 7:17
The flood continued forty days and the waters rose and lifted the ship high over the Earth. The waters kept rising, the flood deepened on the Earth, the ship floated on the surface. The flood got worse until all the highest mountains were covered—the high-water mark reached twenty feet above the crest of the mountains. Everything died. Anything that moved—dead. Birds, farm animals, wild animals, the entire teeming exuberance of life—dead. And all people—dead. Every living, breathing creature that lived on dry land died; he wiped out the whole works—people and animals, crawling creatures and flying birds, every last one of them, gone. Only Noah and his company on the ship lived.

Isaiah 24:19
The Landscape Will Be a Moonscape Danger ahead! God 's about to ravish the earth and leave it in ruins, Rip everything out by the roots and send everyone scurrying: priests and laypeople alike, owners and workers alike, celebrities and nobodies alike, buyers and sellers alike, bankers and beggars alike, the haves and have-nots alike. The landscape will be a moonscape, totally wasted. And why? Because God says so. He's issued the orders. The earth turns gaunt and gray, the world silent and sad, sky and land lifeless, colorless. Earth is polluted by its very own people, who have broken its laws, Disrupted its order, violated the sacred and eternal covenant. Therefore a curse, like a cancer, ravages the earth. Its people pay the price of their sacrilege. They dwindle away, dying out one by one. No more wine, no more vineyards, no more songs or singers. The laughter of castanets is gone, the shouts of celebrants, gone, the laughter of fiddles, gone. No more parties with toasts of champagne. Serious drinkers gag on their drinks. The chaotic cities are unlivable. Anarchy reigns. Every house is boarded up, condemned. People riot in the streets for wine, but the good times are gone forever— no more joy for this old world. The city is dead and deserted, bulldozed into piles of rubble. That's the way it will be on this earth. This is the fate of all nations: An olive tree shaken clean of its olives, a grapevine picked clean of its grapes. But there are some who will break into glad song. Out of the west they'll shout of God 's majesty. Yes, from the east God 's glory will ascend. Every island of the sea Will broadcast God 's fame, the fame of the God of Israel. From the four winds and the seven seas we hear the singing: "All praise to the Righteous One!" But I said, "That's all well and good for somebody, but all I can see is doom, doom, and more doom." All of them at one another's throats, yes, all of them at one another's throats. Terror and pits and booby traps are everywhere, whoever you are. If you run from the terror, you'll fall into the pit. If you climb out of the pit, you'll get caught in the trap. Chaos pours out of the skies. The foundations of earth are crumbling. Earth is smashed to pieces, earth is ripped to shreds, earth is wobbling out of control, Earth staggers like a drunk, sways like a shack in a high wind. Its piled-up sins are too much for it. It collapses and won't get up again. That's when God will call on the carpet rebel powers in the skies and Rebel kings on earth. They'll be rounded up like prisoners in a jail, Corralled and locked up in a jail, and then sentenced and put to hard labor. Shamefaced moon will cower, humiliated, red-faced sun will skulk, disgraced, Because God -of-the-Angel-Armies will take over, ruling from Mount Zion and Jerusalem, Splendid and glorious before all his leaders.

Zephaniah 1:3
"Men and women and animals, including birds and fish— Anything and everything that causes sin—will go, but especially people.

Romans 8:22
All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Art thou called being a servant?.... That is, called by grace whilst in the condition of a servant,

care not for it; do not be troubled at it, and uneasy with it; be not anxiously solicitous to be otherwise; bear the yoke patiently, go through thy servitude cheerfully, and serve thy master faithfully; do not look upon it as any objection to thy calling, any contradiction to thy Christian liberty, or as unworthy of, and a reproach upon thy profession of Christ:

but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. The Syriac renders the last clause, גבי לך דתפלוח, "choose for thyself to serve"; perfectly agreeable to the sense given of the words, by several great critics and excellent interpreters, who take the apostle's meaning to be, that should a Christian servant have an opportunity of making his escape from his master, or could he by any art, trick, and fraudulent method, obtain his liberty, it would be much more advisable to continue a servant, than to become free by any such means: yea, some seem to carry the sense so far, that even if servants could be made free in a lawful way, yet servitude was most eligible, both for their own and their master's good: for their own to keep them humble and exercise their patience; for their master's not only temporal, but spiritual good; since by their good behaviour they might be a means of recommending the Gospel to them, and of gaining them to Christ; but one should rather think the more obvious sense is, that when a Christian servant has his freedom offered him by his master, or he can come at it in a lawful and honourable way, this being preferable to servitude, he ought rather to make use of it; since he would be in a better situation, and more at leisure to serve Christ, and the interest of religion: however, certain it is, that the apostle's design is, to make men easy in every station of life, and to teach them how to behave therein; he would not have the freeman abuse his liberty, or be elated with it, nor the servant be uneasy under his servitude, nor be depressed by it, for the reasons following.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Being a servant - (δοῦλος doulos). A slave. Slaves abounded in Greece and in every part of the pagan world. Athens, e. g., had, in her best days, 20,000 freemen, and 400,000 slaves. See the condition of the pagan world on this subject illustrated at length, and in a very learned manner, by B. B. Edwards, in the Bib. Repository for October, 1835, pp. 411-436. It was a very important subject to inquire what ought to be done in such instances. Many slaves who had been converted might argue that the institution of slavery was contrary to the rights of man; that it destroyed their equality with other people; that it was cruel, and oppressive, and unjust in the highest degree; and that therefore they ought not to submit to it, but that they should burst their bonds, and assert their rights as freemen. In order to prevent restlessness, uneasiness, and insubordination; in order to preserve the peace of society, and to prevent religion from being regarded as disorganizing and disorderly, Paul here states the principle on which the slave was to act. And by referring to this case, which was the strongest which could occur, he designed doubtless to inculcate the duty of order, and contentment in general in all the other relations in which people might be when they were converted.

care not for it - Let it not be a subject of deep anxiety and distress; do not deem it to be disgraceful; let it not affect your spirits; but be content in the lot of life where God has placed you. If you can in a proper way obtain your freedom, do it; if not let it not be a subject of painful reflection. In the sphere of life where God by his providence has placed you, strive to evince the Christian spirit, and show that you are able to bear the sorrows and endure the toils of your humble lot with submission to the will of God, and so as to advance in that relation the interest of the true religion. in that calling do your duty, and evince always the spirit of a Christian. This duty is often enjoined on those who were servants, or slaves; Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22; 1 Timothy 6:1; Titus 2:9; 1 Peter 2:18. This duty of the slave, however, does not make the oppression of the master right or just, any more than the duty of one who is persecuted or reviled to be patient and meek makes the conduct of the persecutor or reviler just or right; nor does it prove that the master has a right to hold the slave as property, which can never be right in the sight of God; but it requires simply that the slave should evince, even in the midst of degradation and injury, the spirit of a Christian, just as it is required of a man who is injured in any way, to bear it as becomes a follower of the Lord Jesus. Nor does this passage prove that a slave ought not to desire freedom if it can be obtained, for this is supposed in the subsequent clause. Every human being has a right to desire to be free and to seek liberty. But it should be done in accordance with the rules of the gospel; so as not to dishonor the religion of Christ, and so as not to injure the true happiness of others, or overturn the foundations of society.

But if thou mayest be free - If thou canst (δύνασαι dunasai), if it is in your power to become free. That is, if your master or the laws set you free; or if you can purchase your freedom; or if the laws can be changed in a regular manner. If freedom can be obtained in “any” manner that is not sinful. In many cases a Christian master might set his slaves free; in others, perhaps, the laws might do it; in some, perhaps, the freedom of the slave might be purchased by a Christian friend. In all these instances it would be proper to embrace the opportunity of becoming free. The apostle does not speak of insurrection, and the whole scope of the passage is against an attempt on their part to obtain freedom by force and violence. He manifestly teaches them to remain in their condition, to bear it patiently and submissively, and in that relation to bear their hard lot with a Christian spirit, unless their freedom could be obtained without “violence and bloodshed.” And the same duty is still binding. Evil as slavery is, and always evil, and only evil, yet the Christian religion requires patience, gentleness, forbearance; not violence, war, insurrection, and bloodshed. Christianity would teach masters to be kind, tender, and gentle; to liberate their slaves, and to change the laws so that it may be done; to be “just” toward those whom they have held in bondage. It would not teach the slave to rise on his master, and imbrue his hands in his blood; to break up the relations of society by violence; or to dishonor his religion by the indulgence of the feelings of revenge and by murder.

Use it rather - Avail yourselves of the privilege if you can, and be a freeman. There are disadvantages attending the condition era slave, and if you can escape from them in a proper manner, it is your privilege and your duty to do it.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 21. Art thou called being a servant? — δουλος εκληθης, Art thou converted to Christ while thou art a slave-the property of another person, and bought with his money? care not for it-this will not injure thy Christian condition, but if thou canst obtain thy liberty-use it rather-prefer this state for the sake of freedom, and the temporal advantages connected with it.