husband as leader

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.

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.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and handed himself over for her,

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.

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

¹⁹Husbands, love your wives, and do not be bitter toward them.

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.

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

¹Therefore, as most beloved sons, be imitators of God. ²And walk in love, just as Christ also loved us and delivered himself for us, as an oblation and a sacrifice to God, with a fragrance of sweetness. ³But let not any kind of fornication, or impurity, or rapacity so much as be named among you, just as is worthy of the saints, ⁴nor any indecent, or foolish, or abusive talk, for this is without purpose; but instead, give thanks. ⁵For know and understand this: no one who is a fornicator, or lustful, or rapacious (for these are a kind of service to idols) holds an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. ⁶Let no one seduce you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God was sent upon the sons of unbelief.

⁴And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but educate them with the discipline and correction of the Lord.

²Carry one another’s burdens, and so shall you fulfill the law of Christ.