duties of a wife

¹Similarly also, wives should be subject to their husbands, so that, even if some do not believe the Word, they may benefit without the Word, through the behavior of these wives, ²as they consider with fear your chaste behavior. ³For you, there should be no unnecessary adornment of the hair, or surrounding with gold, or the wearing of ornate clothing. ⁴Instead, you should be a hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptibility of a quiet and meek spirit, rich in the sight of God. ⁵For in this way, in past times also, holy women adorned themselves, hoping in God, being subject to their own husbands. ⁶For so Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You are her daughters, well-behaved and unafraid of any disturbance.

¹Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. ²But, because of fornication, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. ³A husband should fulfill his obligation to his wife, and a wife should also act similarly toward her husband. ⁴It is not the wife, but the husband, who has power over her body. But, similarly also, it is not the husband, but the wife, who has power over his body. ⁵So, do not fail in your obligations to one another, except perhaps by consent, for a limited time, so that you may empty yourselves for prayer. And then, return together again, lest Satan tempt you by means of your abstinence. ⁶But I am saying this, neither as an indulgence, nor as a commandment.

¹⁰Who shall find a strong woman? Far away, and from the furthest parts, is her price. ¹¹The heart of her husband confides in her, and he will not be deprived of spoils. ¹²She will repay him with good, and not evil, all the days of her life. ¹³She has sought wool and flax, and she has worked these by the counsel of her hands. ¹⁴She has become like a merchant’s ship, bringing her bread from far away. ¹⁵And she has risen in the night, and given a prey to her household, and provisions to her maids.

³³Yet truly, each and every one of you should love his wife as himself. And a wife should fear her husband.

¹Similarly also, wives should be subject to their husbands, so that, even if some do not believe the Word, they may benefit without the Word, through the behavior of these wives,

⁷Similarly, you husbands should live with them in accord with knowledge, bestowing honor on the female as the weaker vessel and as co-heirs of the life of grace, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

²²Wives should be submissive to their husbands, as to the Lord.

³So I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ. But the head of woman is man. Yet truly, the head of Christ is God.

¹⁸Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord.

¹¹Let a woman learn in silence with all subjection. ¹²For I do not permit a woman to teach, nor to be in authority over a man, but to be in silence. ¹³For Adam was formed first, then Eve. ¹⁴And Adam was not seduced, but the woman, having been seduced, was in transgression.

¹⁸The Lord God also said: “It is not good for the man to be alone. Let us make a helper for him similar to himself.”

⁴A diligent woman is a crown to her husband. And she who acts with confusion as to which things are worthy is decay to his bones.

²²Wives should be submissive to their husbands, as to the Lord. ²³For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church. He is the Savior of his body. ²⁴Therefore, just as the Church is subject to Christ, so also should wives be subject to their husbands in all things. ²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and handed himself over for her, ²⁶so that he might sanctify her, washing her clean by water and the Word of life, ²⁷so that he might offer her to himself as a glorious Church, not having any spot or wrinkle or any such thing, so that she would be holy and immaculate.

¹⁶To the woman, he also said: “I will multiply your labors and your conceptions. In pain shall you give birth to sons, and you shall be under your husband’s power, and he shall have dominion over you.”

⁹And I say to you, that whoever will have separated from his wife, except because of fornication, and who will have married another, commits adultery, and whoever will have married her who has been separated, commits adultery.”

²But, because of fornication, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.

⁴May marriage be honorable in every way, and may the marriage bed be immaculate. For God will judge fornicators and adulterers.