Bible
Bible Verses About Marriage
From the first marriage in Eden to the marriage supper of the Lamb in Revelation, Scripture treats marriage as a covenant under God's design and a picture of Christ's love for his church. Below are curated KJV passages on the design of marriage, love and faithfulness, patience and service, and the Christ-and-church pattern.
God's design for marriage
The Bible roots marriage in creation. Jesus quotes Genesis when asked about marriage, anchoring it in God's original design.
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Love and faithfulness
The character of marital love is described most fully in 1 Corinthians 13. The covenant frame is set in Malachi and Hebrews.
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
Patience and service
A healthy marriage is built day by day on patience, kindness, forgiveness, and serving each other.
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
Christ and the church
Paul treats marriage as a living picture of the relationship between Christ and the church. The standard is sacrificial love on one side, honor and respect on the other.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Examples
God's design for marriage
Genesis 2:18, Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:6
Love and faithfulness
1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Hebrews 13:4, Malachi 2:14
Patience and service
Colossians 3:13-14, Ephesians 4:2, Romans 12:10
Christ and the church
Ephesians 5:22-33
How it works
The page groups verses into four themes that summarize the biblical teaching on marriage:
- God's design for marriage: one man and one woman, one flesh.
- Love and faithfulness: covenant love that does not give up.
- Patience and service: the daily texture of a long marriage.
- Christ and the church: the deeper picture marriage points to.
All verse text below is from the King James Version (1611), public domain in the United States.
Frequently asked questions
The Bible presents marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman, instituted by God in Genesis 2 and affirmed by Jesus in Matthew 19. Ephesians 5 describes marriage as a picture of Christ and the church. The character of marital love is described in 1 Corinthians 13: patient, kind, not easily provoked, bearing all things, enduring all things.
Genesis 2:24 is the foundational text: 'Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.' Jesus quotes it in Matthew 19:5-6 and Paul echoes it in Ephesians 5:31. First Corinthians 13:4-7 is the most-read passage at weddings.
Yes, in the explicit definitions given in Scripture. Genesis 2:24, repeated by Jesus and Paul, frames marriage as between a man and a woman. Some Old Testament figures practiced polygamy, but this is described, not commanded, and is consistently presented as a source of trouble in the narratives. Christian traditions differ on contemporary applications; the biblical definition itself is one man and one woman.
Yes, in the United States. The King James Version was first published in 1611 and is in the public domain in the U.S. All verse text on this page is KJV.
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