Bible Verses on Marriage

Wedding photo taken by Lori Ann Mattingly

Nick and I got married on January 15th, 2022. We dated for two years before we got married. We spent a lot of our time together asking each other questions, which ranged from, "What are your beliefs on [insert deep philosophical topic here]?" to "Do you have a survival plan for the zombie apocalypse?" We wanted to get to know one another as thoroughly as possible before getting married. Nevertheless, we are still learning new things about ourselves and each other every day. There are some things you must learn by shared experience rather than conversation. Our first dance song at our wedding was Ben Platt's "Grow as We Go." As we attempt to do just that, we appreciate all the support and advice we have received from friends, spiritual leaders, counselors, good books, and the Bible. Here are some verses about marriage, love, and the home that have been helpful to us.

Matthew 19:3-8 "Pharisees came to him, testing him and saying, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?' He answered, 'Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, "For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?" So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.' They asked him, 'Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and divorce her?' He said to them, 'Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so.'"

Genesis 1:27-28 "God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them. God said to them, 'Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"

Genesis 2:18, 21-25 "Yahweh God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him'...'Yahweh God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Yahweh God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.' Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed."

Proverbs 5:18 "Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth."

Proverbs 11:29a "He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind..."

Proverbs 12:4, 7 "A worthy woman is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful wife is as rottenness in his bones...The wicked are overthrown, and are no more, but the house of the righteous shall stand."

Proverbs 14:1 "Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands."

Proverbs 15:25, 27b "Yahweh will uproot the house of the proud, but he will keep the widow’s borders intact...He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house..."

Proverbs 17:1, 13 "Better is a dry morsel with quietness, than a house full of feasting with strife...Whoever rewards evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house."

Proverbs 18:22 "Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of Yahweh."

Proverbs 19:14 "House and riches are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from Yahweh."

Proverbs 21:9, 19 "It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop than to share a house with a contentious woman... It is better to dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and fretful woman."

Proverbs 24:3-4 "Through wisdom a house is built; by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all rare and beautiful treasure."

Proverbs 27:8 "As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home."

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn’t have another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one keep warm alone? If a man prevails against one who is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 "Go your way—eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works. Let your garments be always white, and don’t let your head lack oil. Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity, for that is your portion in life, and in your labor in which you labor under the sun." 1 Corinthians 11:3, 11"But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God...Nevertheless, neither is the woman independent of the man, nor the man independent of the woman, in the Lord. For as woman came from man, so a man also comes through a woman; but all things are from God."

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a "Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails..."

Colossians 3:18-19 KJV "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them."

Titus 2:2-7a "that older men should be temperate, sensible, sober minded, sound in faith, in love, and in perseverance: and that older women likewise be reverent in behavior, not slanderers nor enslaved to much wine, teachers of that which is good, that they may train the young wives to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sober minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that God’s word may not be blasphemed. Likewise, exhort the younger men to be sober minded. In all things show yourself an example of good works..."

1 Peter 3:1-2, 7-8 "In the same way, wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; so that, even if any don’t obey the Word, they may be won by the behavior of their wives without a word, seeing your pure behavior in fear...You husbands, in the same way, live with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor to the woman, as to the weaker vessel, as also being joint heirs of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. Finally, all of you be like-minded, compassionate, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, courteous,"

The whole chapters of Proverbs 7, Proverbs 31, 1 Corinthians 7, Ephesians 5, and 1 Timothy 5 are also helpful.

*Unless otherwise noted, I use the World English Bible, because it is a free, public domain translation. Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version. Feel free to look up all the verses in your preferred translation! These lists are in no way comprehensive, and I am in no way an expert. These are simply passages I have found helpful in personal study. *

Nicole Jackson-Ozment