unhappy marriages

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

¹⁵But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart. For a brother or sister cannot be made subject to servitude in this way. For God has called us to peace.

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.

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,

²²He who has found a good wife has found goodness, and he shall draw contentment from the Lord. He who expels a good wife expels goodness. But he who holds on to an adulteress is foolish and impious.

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

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.

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.”

⁶And so, now they are not two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.”

¹⁰But to those who have been joined in matrimony, it is not I who commands you, but the Lord: a wife is not to separate from her husband. ¹¹But if she has separated from him, she must remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband should not divorce his wife. ¹²Concerning the rest, I am speaking, not the Lord. If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. ¹³And if any woman has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce her husband. ¹⁴For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through the believing wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through the believing husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, whereas instead they are holy. ¹⁵But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart. For a brother or sister cannot be made subject to servitude in this way. For God has called us to peace.

¹James, servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes of the dispersion, greetings. ²My brothers, when you have fallen into various trials, consider everything a joy, ³knowing that the proving of your faith exercises patience, ⁴and patience brings a work to perfection, so that you may be perfect and whole, deficient in nothing. ⁵But if anyone among you is in need of wisdom, let him petition God, who gives abundantly to all without reproach, and it shall be given to him. ⁶But he should ask with faith, doubting nothing. For he who doubts is like a wave on the ocean, which is moved about by the wind and carried away;

¹⁶If you would hold hatred, dismiss her, says the Lord, the God of Israel. But iniquity will cover his garment, says the Lord of hosts. Preserve your spirit, and do not be willing to despise.

¹⁴Do not choose to bear the yoke with unbelievers. For how can justice be a participant with iniquity? Or how can the fellowship of light be a participant with darkness?

²⁴For this reason, a man shall leave behind his father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife; and the two shall be as one flesh.

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.

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.