What does Scripture say about marriage?

²⁶ And God said, Let us make man according to our image and likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the flying creatures of heaven, and over the cattle and all the earth, and over all the reptiles that creep on the earth. ²⁷ And God made man, according to the image of God he made him, male and female he made them. ²⁸ And God blessed them, saying, Increase and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the seas and flying creatures of heaven, and all the cattle and all the earth, and all the reptiles that creep on the earth.

¹⁸ And the Lord God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone, let us make for him a help suitable to him. ¹⁹ And God formed yet farther out of the earth all the wild beasts of the field, and all the birds of the sky, and he brought them to Adam, to see what he would call them, and whatever Adam called any living creature, that was the name of it. ²⁰ And Adam gave names to all the cattle and to all the birds of the sky, and to all the wild beasts of the field, but for Adam there was not found a help like to himself. ²¹ And God brought a trance upon Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs, and filled up the flesh instead thereof. ²² And God formed the rib which he took from Adam into a woman, and brought her to Adam. ²³ And Adam said, This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of her husband. ²⁴ Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. ²⁵ And the two were naked, both Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed.

³ Pharisees came to him, testing him and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?” ⁴ He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ 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’? ⁶ So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.”

⁶ But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. ⁷ For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will join to his wife, ⁸ and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

²¹ subjecting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ. ²² Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the body. ²⁴ But as the assembly is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything. ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly and gave himself up for her, ²⁶ that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without defect. ²⁸ Even so husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord also does the assembly, ³⁰ because we are members of his body, of his flesh and bones. ³¹ “For this cause a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife. Then the two will become one flesh.” ³² This mystery is great, but I speak concerning Christ and the assembly. ³³ Nevertheless each of you must also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

¹ The third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. ² Jesus also was invited, with his disciples, to the wedding. ³ When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine.” ⁴ Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My hour has not yet come.” ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Whatever he says to you, do it.” ⁶ Now there were six water pots of stone set there after the Jews’ way of purifying, containing two or three metretes apiece. ⁷ Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the ruler of the feast.” So they took it. ⁹ When the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and didn’t know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom ¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have drunk freely, then that which is worse. You have kept the good wine until now!” ¹¹ This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

⁶ I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns! ⁷ Let’s rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let’s give the glory to him. For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.” ⁸ It was given to her that she would array herself in bright, pure, fine linen, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. ⁹ He said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.’” He said to me, “These are true words of God.”

⁴ Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled; but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

² But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. ³ Let the husband give his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife her husband. ⁴ The wife doesn’t have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise also the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but the wife does. ⁵ Don’t deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that Satan doesn’t tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

¹⁵ Drink waters out of thine own vessels, and out of thine own springing wells. ¹⁶ Let not waters out of thy fountain be spilt by thee, but let thy waters go into thy streets. ¹⁷ Let them be only thine own, and let no stranger partake with thee. ¹⁸ Let thy fountain of water be [truly] thine own; and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. ¹⁹ Let [thy] loving hart and thy graceful colt company with thee, and let her be considered thine own, and be with thee at all times; for ravished with her love thou shalt be greatly increased.

⁶ Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm; for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave, her shafts are shafts of fire, [even] the flames thereof. ⁷ Much water will not be able to quench love, and rivers shall not drown it; if a man would give all his substance for love, [men] would utterly despise it.

¹ 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, ² seeing your pure behavior in fear. ³ Let your beauty come not from the outward adorning of braiding your hair, and of wearing gold ornaments or of putting on fine clothing, ⁴ but from the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight. ⁵ For this is how in the past the holy women who hoped in God also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands. ⁶ So Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose children you now are if you do well and are not put in fear by any terror. ⁷ 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.

³¹ “It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’ ³² but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.

⁷ They asked him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and divorce her?” ⁸ 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. ⁹ I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery.”

¹⁰ In the house, his disciples asked him again about the same matter. ¹¹ He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. ¹² If a woman herself divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

¹⁸ “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. He who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.

¹⁰ But to the married I command—not I, but the Lord—that the wife not leave her husband ¹¹ (but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband not leave his wife. ¹² But to the rest I—not the Lord—say, if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is content to live with him, let him not leave her. ¹³ The woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he is content to live with her, let her not leave her husband. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. ¹⁵ Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace. ¹⁶ For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

¹⁴ Yet ye said, Wherefore? Because the Lord has borne witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, whom thou hast forsaken, and [yet] she was thy partner, and the wife of thy covenant. ¹⁵ And did he not do well? and [there was] the residue of his spirit. But ye said, What does God seek but a seed? But take ye heed to your spirit, and forsake not the wife of thy youth. ¹⁶ But if thou shouldest hate [thy wife] and put her away, saith the Lord God of Israel, then ungodliness shall cover thy thoughts, saith the Lord Almighty: therefore take ye heed to your spirit, and forsake [them] not,

¹⁰ His disciples said to him, “If this is the case of the man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.” ¹¹ But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but those to whom it is given. ¹² For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it.”

⁷ Yet I wish that all men were like me. However, each man has his own gift from God, one of this kind, and another of that kind. ⁸ But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am. ⁹ But if they don’t have self-control, let them marry. For it’s better to marry than to burn with passion.

³² But I desire to have you to be free from cares. He who is unmarried is concerned for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; ³³ but he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife. ³⁴ There is also a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. ³⁵ This I say for your own benefit, not that I may ensnare you, but for that which is appropriate, and that you may attend to the Lord without distraction.

¹ But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, ² through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron, ³ forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. ⁵ For it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer.