1 Corinthians 7:5

7:5 Do not deprive each other, except by mutual agreement for a specified time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. ¹  Then resume your relationship, ²  so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

1 Corinthians 7:9

7:9 But if they do not have self-control, let them get married. For it is better to marry than to burn with sexual desire. ³ 

1 Corinthians 7:2

7:2 But because of immoralities, each man should have relations with ⁴  his own wife and each woman with ⁵  her own husband.

1 Corinthians 2:14

2:14 The unbeliever ⁶  does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:1

2:1 When I came ⁷  to you, brothers and sisters, ⁸  I did not come with superior eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed the testimony ⁹  of God.

1 Corinthians 3:3

3:3 for you are still influenced by the flesh. ¹⁰  For since there is still jealousy and dissension among you, are you not influenced by the flesh and behaving like unregenerate people? ¹¹ 

Jude 1:16

1:16 These people are grumblers and ¹²  fault-finders who go ¹³  wherever their desires lead them, ¹⁴  and they give bombastic speeches, ¹⁵  enchanting folks ¹⁶  for their own gain. ¹⁷ 

Jude 1:18

1:18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come ¹⁸  scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.” ¹⁹ 

¹ tc Most later witnesses (א² Ï sy) add “fasting and” (τῇ νηστείᾳ καί, th nhsteia kai) before “prayer.” But such an addition is motivated by ascetic concerns; further, its lack in Ì^11vid,46 א* A B C D F G P Ψ 33 1739 1881 2464 al latt co argues decisively against its authenticity.

² tn Grk “and be together again.”

³ tn Grk “than to burn,” a figure of speech referring to unfulfilled sexual passion.

⁴ tn Grk “each man should have his own wife.” “Have” in this context means “have marital relations with” (see the following verse). The verb ἐχέτω (ecetw, “have”) occurs twice in the Greek text, but has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons. This verb occurs 8 times in the LXX (Exod 2:1; Deut 28:30; 2 Chr 11:21; 1 Esd 9:12, 18; Tob 3:8; Isa 13:16; 54:1) with the meaning “have sexual relations with,” and 9 times elsewhere in the NT with the same meaning (Matt 20:23; 22:28; Mark 6:18; 12:33; Luke 20:28; John 4:18 [twice]; 1 Cor 5:1; 7:29).

⁵ tn Grk “should have.” For explanation of the translation, see the note on “have relations with” earlier in this verse.

⁶ tn Grk “natural person.” Cf. BDAG 1100 s.v. ψυχικός a, “an unspiritual pers., one who merely functions bodily, without being touched by the Spirit of God.”

⁷ tn Grk “and I, when I came.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, κἀγώ (kagw) has not been translated here.

⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

⁹ tc ‡ A few important mss (Ì^46vid א* A C pc as well as some versions and fathers) read μυστήριον (musthrion, “mystery”) instead of μαρτύριον (marturion, “testimony”). But the latter has wider ms support (א² B D F G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï and some versions), though not quite as impressive. μαρτύριον may have been changed by scribes in anticipation of Paul’s words in 2:7, or conversely, μυστήριον may have been changed to conform to 1:6. Transcriptionally, since “the mystery of God/Christ” is a well-worn expression in the corpus Paulinum (1 Cor 2:7; 4:1; Eph 3:4; Col 2:2; 4:3), while “testimony of Christ” occurs in Paul only once (1 Cor 1:6, though “testimony of the Lord” appears in 2 Tim 1:8), and “testimony of God” never, it is likely that scribes changed the text to the more usual expression. A decision is difficult in this instance, but a slight preference should be given to μαρτύριον.

¹⁰ tn Or “are still merely human”; Grk “fleshly.” Cf. BDAG 914 s.v. σαρκικός 2, “pert. to being human at a disappointing level of behavior or characteristics, (merely) human.” The same phrase occurs again later in this verse.

¹¹ tn Grk “and walking in accordance with man,” i.e., living like (fallen) humanity without the Spirit’s influence; hence, “unregenerate people.”

¹² tn “And” is not in Greek, but is supplied for the sake of English style.

¹³ tn Or “going.” Though the participle is anarthrous, so also is the subject. Thus, the participle could be either adverbial or adjectival.

¹⁴ tn Grk “(who go/going) according to their own lusts.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “and their mouth speaks bombastic things.”

¹⁶ sn Enchanting folks (Grk “awing faces”) refers to the fact that the speeches of these false teachers are powerful and seductive.

¹⁷ tn Or “to their own advantage.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “be.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”