Bible verses about

Bible Verses About Marriage

12 verses · ESV & King James Version

There is a version of Christian writing on marriage that is mostly rules, and a version that is mostly romance, and neither is much help at 11pm when you have had the same argument for the fourth time this month.

What is striking about the actual passages is how practical they are. Ecclesiastes 4 — two are better than one, because if one falls the other lifts them up — was not written about marriage at all. It is about companionship in general, which is why it is one of the truest things in the Bible about why we do this: not because it completes us, but because a life is hard to carry alone.

Paul’s most famous instruction to husbands is not about authority; it is “love your wives, as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it.” The measure is what you give up. And his summary in Ephesians 5:33 lands on two different words — love and respect — because he is describing two distinct hungers.

Proverbs 31 names the marker of a good marriage as safety: “the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her.” Not passion, not performance. Safety.

If your marriage is in a good season, these are worth reading slowly together. If it is in a hard one, start with the closing note at the bottom of this page.

12 verses for when you need them

  1. Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

    Genesis 2:24 ESV

    Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

    Genesis 2:24 KJV

    Quoted by Jesus and by Paul. Leave, cleave, become one — three verbs, and the first one is the one most often skipped.

  2. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

    Ephesians 5:25 ESV

    Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

    Ephesians 5:25 KJV

    The standard set for husbands is not headship in the abstract; it is Christ giving himself up. Sacrificially, and first.

  3. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

    Ephesians 5:33 ESV

    Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

    Ephesians 5:33 KJV

    Paul lands on two different words — love and respect — because he is describing two things people commonly starve for in different ways.

  4. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

    1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV

    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.

    1 Corinthians 13:4-7 KJV

    Written to a fractious church, not to newlyweds, which is why it survives a bad week. Try reading it substituting your own name and see how it sits.

  5. An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.

    Proverbs 31:10-12 ESV

    Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

    Proverbs 31:10-12 KJV

    “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her” — the marker of a good marriage here is safety, not performance.

  6. Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

    Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 ESV

    Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

    Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 KJV

    Not originally about marriage at all — it is about companionship generally — which is why it is one of the most honest things in Scripture about why being two is better than one.

  7. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

    Colossians 3:14 ESV

    And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

    Colossians 3:14 KJV

    Love as the garment over everything else. Marriage takes more forbearance than romance, and this verse knows it.

  8. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

    Mark 10:9 ESV

    What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

    Mark 10:9 KJV

    Jesus' words on permanence. Worth reading as a description of what marriage *is* rather than only as a rule about what may not be done to it.

  9. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

    Hebrews 13:4 ESV

    Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

    Hebrews 13:4 KJV

    Honour is the operative word — the marriage held in high regard by the couple and by everyone around them.

  10. Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

    1 Peter 3:7 ESV

    Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

    1 Peter 3:7 KJV

    “Heirs together” — the shared standing is the point. And note the warning attached: how a husband treats his wife affects his prayers.

  11. He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.

    Proverbs 18:22 ESV

    Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.

    Proverbs 18:22 KJV

    Short, warm, and worth saying out loud to each other occasionally.

  12. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.

    Song of Solomon 8:7 ESV

    Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.

    Song of Solomon 8:7 KJV

    Many waters cannot quench love. The Bible includes an entire book of love poetry, and it does not apologise for it.

Two things, said plainly.

If your marriage is struggling, verses are not a substitute for help. Most couples who come through a bad stretch do so with someone else in the room — a counsellor, a wise older couple, a pastor who will tell you both the truth. Asking for that is not an admission of failure; it is usually the first competent thing anyone does.

And if there is **abuse** — physical, sexual, financial, or the sustained kind that has no bruises — nothing on this page asks you to stay in danger. Scripture's high view of marriage has never been a licence for one person to harm another, and “submit” has been misused to that end for a very long time. Please tell someone today: a doctor, a domestic abuse helpline, a friend who will act. Your safety comes first, and no verse here says otherwise.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version, which is in the public domain. Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.