1 Corinthians 7:27

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.

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.

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.

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;

Contextual Overview

²⁵Now, let's talk about your question about virgins. God hasn't told me anything specific, but he has given me mercy and wisdom that can be trusted. This is what I have to say about them. ²⁶Because life is so hard and temptations are so strong, I think it is best to remain a virgin your entire life. ²⁷If you have a wife, don't try to get a divorce. If you don't have a wife, don't go looking for one. ²⁸But getting married isn't a sin. If a young lady gets married, it isn't a sin for her to lose her virginity. However, those who are married will have a lot tougher time than those who are not. ²⁹There ain't a whole lot of time left. Don't concern yourselves too much with things that are not eternal: marriage, ³⁰sadness, happiness, shopping, etc. ³¹This world and the things in it will not be here much longer. Don't complicate your life with temporary thoughts, feelings, and actions. ³²I don't want you to worry all the time. A single cowboy only cares about riding for the Lord and doing the Lord's work. ³³But a married fellow has to worry about supporting his family and his wife, not to mention worrying about if she's happy or not. ³⁴Do you see how he is trying to do two things at once? He's trying to ride for the Lord and take care of his family. The same goes for a widow or a virgin. They concern themselves only with the Lord's work because they are dedicated in body and soul. But a married woman has to worry about worldly matters and pleasing 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.