75 Bible Verses About Marriage
Marriage is God's design, a covenant reflecting Christ's love for the Church. These verses speak to love, commitment, unity, and the spiritual dimensions of the marriage covenant.
Bible Verses
75
carefully curated passages
How to use this page
Read each verse with its context explanation. Bookmark the ones that speak to you and return often as your situation changes.
What the Bible Says About Marriage
Marriage is God's design, a covenant reflecting Christ's love for the Church. These verses speak to love, commitment, unity, and the spiritual dimensions of the marriage covenant.
Genesis 2:24 KJV
“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
Context & Meaning
God's original design for marriage: two individuals leaving prior attachments and becoming one, a profound spiritual and physical union that forms the foundation of family.
Ephesians 5:25 KJV
“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.”
Context & Meaning
The standard for a husband's love is set at Christ's self-sacrificial love for the Church, the highest possible benchmark, requiring daily laying down of self.
Proverbs 31:10 KJV
“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.”
Context & Meaning
The Proverbs 31 woman is celebrated as extraordinarily rare and valuable, a portrait of character, industry, and godliness that makes her a treasure to her household.
Proverbs 18:22 KJV
“Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.”
Context & Meaning
Solomon declares that finding a godly wife is not just a personal blessing but evidence of God's favor, a gift divinely given, not merely humanly acquired.
Hebrews 13:4 KJV
“Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”
Context & Meaning
The writer declares marriage's honor and the purity of marital intimacy, elevating what God designed while warning against the violations that destroy it.
Ephesians 5:22-23 KJV
“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.”
Context & Meaning
Paul uses the Christ-Church relationship as the pattern for marriage, the wife's submission is modeled on the Church's willing response to Christ's servant leadership.
1 Corinthians 7:3 KJV
“Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.”
Context & Meaning
Paul describes the mutuality of marital intimacy as a debt of goodwill, something owed and rendered in love, emphasizing care for the spouse's needs over one's own.
Proverbs 5:18-19 KJV
“Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.”
Context & Meaning
Solomon's frank wisdom encourages devoted delight in one's own spouse, a safeguard against temptation that celebrates the joys of the marriage covenant.
Colossians 3:19 KJV
“Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.”
Context & Meaning
Paul's command to husbands pairs positive love with the negative, bitterness is identified as a specific and destructive enemy of marital love that must be actively resisted.
Malachi 2:15 KJV
“And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.”
Context & Meaning
God grounds marital faithfulness in His purpose, one flesh union is designed to produce godly offspring. Treachery against a spouse violates both covenant and divine design.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Bible say about marriage?
The Bible presents marriage as a God-instituted covenant (Genesis 2:24) that reflects the relationship between Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:22-33). It calls husbands to sacrificial love (Ephesians 5:25), wives to respectful partnership (Ephesians 5:22), and both to mutual love, honor, and faithfulness (1 Corinthians 7, Hebrews 13:4).
What does the Bible say about the roles of husband and wife?
Ephesians 5 presents husbands as servant-leaders modeled on Christ's sacrificial love for the Church, and wives as partners who respond to that leadership as the Church responds to Christ. 1 Peter 3:7 calls husbands to honor their wives as co-heirs of grace. Both roles are defined by love, mutual respect, and shared spiritual purpose.
What does the Bible say about choosing a spouse?
Proverbs 18:22 says finding a wife is finding a good thing and obtaining God's favor. Proverbs 31 describes a virtuous spouse as more valuable than rubies. 2 Corinthians 6:14 warns against being "unequally yoked," suggesting that shared faith is foundational for a God-honoring marriage.
What does the Bible say about a difficult marriage?
The Bible calls married partners to love even when it is costly (Ephesians 5:25), to be neither bitter (Colossians 3:19) nor harsh, to forgive as Christ forgave (Colossians 3:13), and to honor one another even in difficulty (1 Peter 3:7). While the Bible addresses divorce in certain circumstances (Matthew 19:3-9), it consistently upholds the value and permanence of the marriage covenant.
What is a good Bible verse to read at a wedding?
Popular wedding scriptures include: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (the nature of love), Genesis 2:24 (the foundation of marriage), Ruth 1:16 (covenant loyalty), Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (the strength of two), and Ephesians 3:14-19 (prayer for love that surpasses knowledge).