61 Bible Verses about Marriage, Restrictions Concerning

And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah, and he took her and went in unto her.

And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah, and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.

And Moses was content to dwell with the man; and he gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter.

In that season the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the sons of Israel; and this son of the Israelite woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp;

who took wives for themselves of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth; and they dwelt there about ten years.

Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan had a slave, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha. And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha, his slave, to wife; and she bore him Attai.

And among the sons of the priests that had taken strange women these were found: Of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and of his brethren: Maaseiah and Eliezer, and Jarib and Gedaliah. And they gave their hands that they would send away their women; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guiltiness. And of the sons of Immer; Hanani and Zebadiah.read more.
And of the sons of Harim; Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah. And of the sons of Pashur; Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethaneel, Jozabad, and Elasah. And of the sons of the Levites; Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah, (the same is Kelita,) Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer. And of the singers; Eliashib; and of the porters; Shallum, Telem, and Uri. Likewise of Israel: of the sons of Parosh; Ramiah, Jeziah, Malchiah, Miamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah. And of the sons of Elam; Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Eliah. And of the sons of Zattu; Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza. And of the sons of Bebai; Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai. And of the sons of Bani; Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Ramoth. And of the sons of Pahath-moab; Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezaleel, Binnui, and Manasseh. And of the sons of Harim; Eliezer, Ishijah, Malchiah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah. Of the sons of Hashum; Mattenai, Mattathah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei. Of the sons of Bani; Maadai, Amram, and Uel, Benaiah, Bedeiah, Chelluh, Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasau, Bani, Binnui, Shimei, Shelemiah, Nathan, and Adaiah, Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, Azareel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph. And of the sons of Nebo; Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jadau, Joel, and Benaiah. All these had taken strange women, and there were women of theirs who had given birth to sons.

or take of their daughters unto thy sons, and when their daughters go fornicating after their gods they shall make thy sons also fornicate after their gods.

Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me that they may serve other gods; and the anger of the LORD will be kindled upon you and destroy thee suddenly.

Because if ye do in any wise go back and cleave unto the remnant of these Gentiles that remain among you and shall make marriages with them and go in unto them and they to you, know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no longer drive out any of these Gentiles from before you, but they shall be snares and traps unto you and scourges in your sides and thorns in your eyes until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.

And as the sons of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, they took their daughters to be their wives and gave their daughters to their sons and served their gods.

But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites, of the Gentiles concerning which the LORD had said unto the sons of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods. Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.read more.
For it came to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David, his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the mount that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the sons of Ammon. And he did likewise for all his strange wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

for it was as a light thing unto him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal and worshipped him.

Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of the LORD by loving and marrying the daughter of a strange god.

Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites, doing according to their abominations, for they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, and the holy seed is mingled with the peoples of the lands; and the hand of the princes and of the governors has been foremost in this trespass.

Now as Ezra prayed and confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children; and the people wept very sore. Then Shechaniah, the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have rebelled against our God and have taken strange women of the peoples of the land, but there is yet hope for Israel concerning this thing.

In those days I also saw Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab; and their sons spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and according to the language of each people; for they could not speak in the Jews' language. And I contended with them and cursed them and smote certain of them and plucked off their hair and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.read more.
Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless, strange women caused even him to offend. Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange women?

and that we would not give our daughters unto the peoples of the land nor take their daughters for our sons.

and I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of the heavens and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; but thou shalt go unto my country and to my kindred and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon, the Hittite: Who were bitterness of spirit unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these who are of the daughters of this land, why should I want to live?

Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padanaram to the house of Bethuel, thy mother's father, and take thee a wife from there of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother.

Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren or among all my people that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleases me well.

So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife, and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son.

Now, therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to send away all the women and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of the Lord and of those that fear the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

And Ezra, the priest, stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed because ye have taken strange women, thus increasing the guiltiness of Israel. Now, therefore, make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers and do his will; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the lands and from the strange women. Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, Let it be done according to thy word.read more.
But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and there is no strength to stand in the street; neither is this a work of one day or two; for we are many that have transgressed in this thing. Let our rulers of all the congregation now stand, and let all those who have taken strange women in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of each city and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter is turned from us. Jonathan, the son of Asahel, and Jahaziah, the son of Tikvah, were placed over this matter; and Meshullam and Shabbethai, the Levites, helped them. And the sons of the captivity did so. And Ezra, the priest, and the men who were the heads of the fathers in the house of their fathers were separated, all of them by their names, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to inquire into the matter. And they finished, with all the men that had taken strange women by the first day of the first month.

The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is free and may be married to whom she will, if it is in the Lord.

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship does righteousness have with unrighteousness? and what communion does light have with darkness?

But to the rest I speak, not the Lord: If any brother has a wife that does not believe, and she consents to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman who has a husband that does not believe and if he consents to dwell with her, let her not leave him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.read more.
But if the unbelieving spouse separates, let them separate. The brother or the sister is not under slavery in such cases, but God has called us to peace. For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or what knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?

No man shall approach any woman that is near of kin to him, to uncover her nakedness. I am the LORD. The nakedness of thy father or the nakedness of thy mother, thou shalt not uncover; she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. The nakedness of thy father's wife thou shalt not uncover; it is thy father's nakedness.read more.
The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father or daughter of thy mother, whether she is born at home or born abroad, their nakedness thou shalt not uncover. The nakedness of thy son's daughter or of thy daughter's daughter, their nakedness thou shalt not uncover; for theirs is thine own nakedness. The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister; she is thy father's near kinswoman. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister; for she is thy mother's near kinswoman. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife; she is thine aunt. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter-in-law; she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife; it is thy brother's nakedness. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter; neither shalt thou take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen; it is wickedness. Neither shalt thou take a woman together with her sister, to make her a rival, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her lifetime.

And the man that lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely die; their blood shall be upon them. And if a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have wrought mixture; their blood shall be upon them.

A man shall not take his father's wife, nor uncover his father's skirt.

In thee they have discovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee they have forced the unclean menstruous woman. And one has committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee has forced his sister, his father's daughter.

For Herod had laid hold on John and bound him and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.

For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife, for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.

And yet indeed, she is also my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

And I, where shall I go with my reproach? And as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now, therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king, for he will not withhold me from thee.

When brethren dwell together and one of them dies and has no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry outside unto a stranger; her husband's brother shall go in unto her and take her to him to wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her. And it shall be that the firstborn which she bears shall be raised up in the name of his brother who is dead that his name be not blotted out of Israel. And if the man does not desire to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate unto the elders and say, My husband's brother refuses to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother.read more.
Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak unto him, and if he stands and says, I desire not to take her; then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders and loose his shoe from off his foot and spit in his face and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house. And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that is barefoot.

Moreover, I also take Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, as my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance that the name of the dead not be cut off from among his brethren and from the gate of his place. Ye shall be witnesses of this today.

Then Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife and marry her and raise up seed to thy brother.

And Naomi replied, Go back, my daughters; why must ye go with me? Do I have more sons in my womb that they may be your husbands? Turn, my daughters, and go back, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I should say, I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, should ye tarry for them until they are grown? Should ye stay without husbands because of them? No, my daughters, for I have greater bitterness than you because the hand of the LORD has come out against me.

Then he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth, thy handmaid; spread therefore the edge of thy mantle over thy handmaid; for thou art a redeemer.

Then Boaz replied, The day that thou dost receive the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must also receive Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.

saying, Master, Moses said, If a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers, and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no seed, left his wife unto his brother; likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.

Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother dies and leaves his wife behind him and leaves no children, that his brother should take his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were seven brethren, and the first took a wife and dying left no seed. And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed; and the third likewise.read more.
And the seven had her and left no seed; last of all the woman died also.

saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man's brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, that his brother should take his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. There were therefore seven brethren, and the first took a wife and died without children. And the second took her to wife, and he died childless.read more.
And the third took her; and in like manner the seven also, and they left no children and died.

And Onan knew that the seed would not be his, and it came to pass when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he corrupted it on the ground, to not give seed to his brother.

And the redeemer said, I cannot redeem it for myself lest I ruin my own inheritance; redeem thou; I cede my right to you, for I shall not be able to redeem it.

If a man should entice a virgin that is not betrothed and lie with her, he shall surely endow her and take her to be his wife.

When a man finds a damsel that is a virgin who is not betrothed and lays hold on her and lies with her, and they are found, then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver and she shall be his wife; because he has humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.

For the woman who is subject to a husband is obligated to the law so long as the husband lives; but if the husband dies, she is free from the law of the husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she belongs to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law so that she is no adulteress if she belongs to another man.

The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept.

I say, therefore, to the unmarried men and widowers, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they do not have the gift of continence, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn.

I desire therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, govern the house, giving no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.

Whosoever puts away his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whosoever marries her that is put away of her husband commits adultery.

And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication and shall marry another, commits adultery, and whosoever marries her that is put away commits adultery.

And he said unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another commits adultery against her. And if the woman shall put away her husband and be married to another, she commits adultery.

And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife separate from her husband; and if she separates, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband, and let not the husband put away his wife.

When a man has taken a wife and married her, and it comes to pass that she finds no favour in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her; then let him write her a bill of divorce and give it in her hand and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife. And if the latter husband hates her and writes her a bill of divorce and gives it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband who took her to be his wife dies,read more.
her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she is defiled, for that is abomination before the LORD; and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God gives thee for an inheritance.

but I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery; and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced commits adultery.

But if the unbelieving spouse separates, let them separate. The brother or the sister is not under slavery in such cases, but God has called us to peace.