20 Bible verses about marriage for the good days and the hard ones
Written by Raphael Navarro Schmitt · Reviewed by Maria Luisa Navarro Schmitt ·
Short answer
The Bible presents marriage as a public covenant, not a private arrangement. Genesis 2:24 speaks of leaving, clinging and becoming one flesh; Malachi 2:14 calls her the wife of your covenant; and Hebrews 13:4 asks that marriage be held honourable. The verses below cover both sides of that.
Marriage turns up early in the Bible and without ceremony: in the second chapter of the first book, before any temple, priest or law. And it turns up with three verbs — leave, cling, become one flesh — which are, in that order, three difficult things to do.
What Scripture says after that is far less romantic than people expect. There are instructions about not letting the sun set on your anger, about not turning bitter towards the other person, about a body that has stopped being only yours. There is even a proverb saying it is better to sit in a corner of the attic than to share a house with somebody always spoiling for a fight. This is not the writing of people who had never seen a marriage up close.
The list runs from the beginning — what marriage is — into the daily round: words, the body, the house, forgiveness and whatever it is that holds the years together.
All 20 verses, one by one
The Lord God also said: “It is not good for the man to be alone. Let us make a helper for him similar to himself.”
This is the first time anything in creation is declared not good. And the problem named is not a shortage of love: it is being alone. Company comes before any speech about romance.
Read the chapterFor this reason, a man shall leave behind his father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife; and the two shall be as one flesh.
The forgotten verb is the first one: leave. A great many marriages struggle because somebody married without ever really leaving home, and the family they came from went on making the decisions.
Read the chapter4And he said to them in response, “Have you not read that he who made man from the beginning, made them male and female?” And he said:
5“For this reason, a man shall separate from father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife, and these two shall become one flesh.
6And so, now they are not two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.”
Jesus answers a question about divorce by quoting the creation account — that is, he sends the discussion back to before the law. On what to do when a marriage ends, Christian traditions differ, and it is honest to say so.
Read the chapterBe subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
This verse comes immediately before the famous passage about husband and wife, and it is mutual: to one another. Reading the rest without it changes the sense of everything that follows.
Read the chapterHusbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and handed himself over for her,
The measure given to the husband is not authority, it is handing himself over to the end. Any reading that turns the passage into an advantage for one of the two has to step over this sentence.
Read the chapterYet truly, each and every one of you should love his wife as himself. And a wife should fear her husband.
Paul sums up his own chapter in a single line. Note the second half: this translation follows the Latin and asks the wife to fear her husband, where many English Bibles say respect. The wording is one of the reasons the passage is read so differently across traditions.
Read the chapterHusbands, love your wives, and do not be bitter toward them.
The prohibition is specific and oddly ordinary: bitterness. Not betrayal, not violence — the sour tone that settles in until nobody notices it any more.
Read the chapter26“Be angry, but do not be willing to sin.” Do not let the sun set over your anger.
27Provide no place for the devil.
It does not forbid anger: it puts a deadline on it. And the reason given is curious — the problem is not the fight, it is the room a postponed fight leaves open.
Read the chapterSimilarly, you husbands should live with them in accord with knowledge, bestowing honor on the female as the weaker vessel and as co-heirs of the life of grace, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
Peter ties the way a husband treats his wife to the man’s own prayers. It is the most uncomfortable connection the Bible makes between married life and spiritual life.
Read the chapter3A husband should fulfill his obligation to his wife, and a wife should also act similarly toward her husband.
4It is not the wife, but the husband, who has power over her body. But, similarly also, it is not the husband, but the wife, who has power over his body.
5So, do not fail in your obligations to one another, except perhaps by consent, for a limited time, so that you may empty yourselves for prayer. And then, return together again, lest Satan tempt you by means of your abstinence.
A first-century text handling sex in marriage with complete symmetry: neither of the two belongs to themselves alone. And the only pause it allows requires both of them to agree to it.
Read the chapterMay marriage be honorable in every way, and may the marriage bed be immaculate. For God will judge fornicators and adulterers.
Honourable in every way is a collective responsibility, not only the couple’s. It applies to the people watching from outside who find it entertaining to sneer at somebody else’s marriage.
Read the chapter14And you have said, “What is the reason for this?” It is because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, whom you have despised. Yet she was your partner, and the wife of your covenant.
15Did not One make her, and is she not the remainder of his spirit? And what does one seek, except offspring of God? So then, preserve your spirit, and do not despise the wife of your youth.
God is presented as a witness to the marriage, not as a guest at it. The phrase the wife of your covenant turns the subject into a breach of contract rather than a slow drifting apart.
Read the chapterAnd if a man can prevail against one, two may withstand him, and a threefold cord is broken with difficulty.
The threefold cord is read at almost every Christian wedding. The context, though, is not romantic at all: the whole chapter is about work, exhaustion and being alone.
Read the chapter3By wisdom shall a house be built, and by prudence shall it be strengthened.
4By doctrine, the storerooms shall be filled with every substance that is precious and most beautiful.
A house is built by wisdom and strengthened by prudence — words from a building site, not from a love song. This is the verse for the couple who have something big to decide and keep putting it off.
Read the chapterHe who has found a good wife has found goodness, and he shall draw contentment from the Lord. He who expels a good wife expels goodness. But he who holds on to an adulteress is foolish and impious.
Usually quoted on the day of the engagement. Notice that it speaks of finding, not of deserving: the line treats marriage as something received rather than won.
Read the chapter10Who shall find a strong woman? Far away, and from the furthest parts, is her price.
11The heart of her husband confides in her, and he will not be deprived of spoils.
12She will repay him with good, and not evil, all the days of her life.
The central compliment is not beauty and not obedience: it is trust. A husband whose heart confides in her describes a relationship in which neither of them has to keep watch on the other.
Read the chapterIt is better to sit in a corner of the attic, than with a contentious woman and in a shared house.
Written from the husband’s point of view, like much of Proverbs. The principle, though, belongs to nobody in particular: constant fighting makes any house too small, however large it is.
Read the chapterCharity suffers all, believes all, hopes all, endures all.
Four verbs describing the long term. Endures is the one that shows up most in the real life of an old marriage, and the one that shows up least in wedding speeches.
Read the chapterChorus to Groom and Bride: Capture for us the little foxes, which are tearing down the vines; for our vineyard has flourished. Bride to Chorus: My beloved is for me, and I am for him. He pastures among the lilies, until the day rises and the shadows decline. Bride to Groom: Return, O my beloved. Be like a doe and like a young stag upon the mountains of Bether.
A line of mutual possession, and this edition prints the speaker beside it: the bride. Worth knowing for anyone who assumes the Bible only gives the man a voice when love is the subject. The verse is long and changes speakers several times; hers sits in the middle of it.
Read the chapterYour wife is like an abundant vine on the sides of your house. Your sons are like young olive trees surrounding your table.
Numbered 127 here and 128 in Bibles that follow the Hebrew count. The image is domestic: a vine on the side of the house, young olive trees around the table. The blessing described is not extraordinary — it is dinner with everyone there.
Read the chapter
Frequently asked questions
What does the Bible say about marriage?
It describes marriage as a covenant with a witness. Genesis 2:24 uses three verbs — leave, cling, become one flesh — Malachi 2:14 calls her the wife of your covenant, and Hebrews 13:4 asks that marriage be honoured by everyone, not only by the couple.
Which Bible verse should I read when my marriage is in crisis?
Ephesians 4:26-27 is the most practical: do not let the sun set on your anger. Colossians 3:19 names the most common problem, which is settled bitterness, and 1 Corinthians 13:7 recalls the verb that carries the long term. Serious crises, though, also call for help from someone trained for it.
What does Ephesians 5 teach about husband and wife?
The passage opens at 5:21 with a mutual instruction, asks the husband for a love that hands itself over to the end (5:25), and is summed up by the author himself at 5:33. How to apply that today is a point where Catholics and Protestants, and denominations within each group, read differently.
Does the Bible talk about intimacy in marriage?
It does, and without embarrassment. 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 handles the subject with complete symmetry between the two: neither of them belongs to themselves alone, and any pause requires both of them to agree. It is one of the most mutual passages the Bible has on married life.
A prayer to take with you
Lord, thank you for the person you placed beside me. Guard our house from the bitterness that comes in slowly, and give me the courage to ask forgiveness first. Let us grow old together without losing the taste for each other’s company. Amen.