61 Bible Verses about Marriage, Restrictions Concerning

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

And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenathpaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potiphera 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.

And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp;

And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.

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

And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken foreign wives: namely, of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren; Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah. And they gave their promise that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass. And of the sons of Immer; Hanani, and Zebadiah.read more.
And of the sons of Harim; Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah. And of the sons of Pashhur; Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah. Also of the Levites; Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah, (the same is Kelita,) Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer. Of the singers also; Eliashib: and of the gatekeepers; Shallum, and Telem, and Uri. Moreover of Israel: of the sons of Parosh; Ramiah, and Izziah, and Malchijah, and Mijamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah. And of the sons of Elam; Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elijah. And of the sons of Zattu; Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza. Of the sons also of Bebai; Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai. And of the sons of Bani; Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Jeremoth. And of the sons of Pahath-moab; Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh. And of the sons of Harim; Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah. Of the sons of Hashum; Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei. Of the sons of Bani; Maadai, Amram, and Uel, Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu, And Bani, and Binnui, Shimei, And Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah, Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, Azarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah, Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph. Of the sons of Nebo; Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, and Joel, Benaiah. All these had taken foreign wives: and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

And you take of their daughters unto your sons, and their daughters go play the harlot after their gods, and make your sons go play the harlot after their gods.

Neither shall you make marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give unto his son, nor his daughter shall you take unto your son. For they will turn away your son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy you suddenly.

Else if you do in any way go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these 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 more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.

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

But king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, You 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 clung 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 Sidonians, 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 did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him.

Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

Now when these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, in regard to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters as wives for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy race has mixed itself with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass.

Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had 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: for the people wept bitterly. And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.

In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab: And their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the language of Judah, but according to the language of each people. And I contended with them, and pronounced them cursed, and struck certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, You 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 was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did foreign women cause to sin. Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying foreign wives?

And that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons:

And I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: But you shall 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 Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: Who were a source of grief 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 the land, what good shall my life do me?

And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, you shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Paddanaram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and take you a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.

Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you go 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 put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, You have transgressed, and have taken foreign wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the foreign wives. Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As you has said, so must we do.read more.
But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain, and we are not able to stand outside, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing. Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them who have taken foreign wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter is turned from us. Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them. And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of the fathers' houses, according to their fathers' houses, and each of them by name, were set apart, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter. And they finished with all the men that had taken foreign wives 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 is dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.

Be you not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? and what partnership has light with darkness?

But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother has a wife that believes not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman who has a husband that believes not, and if he be pleased 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: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.read more.
But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God has called us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, whether you shall save your husband? or how do you know, O man, whether you shall save your wife?

None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD. The nakedness of your father, or the nakedness of your mother, shall you not uncover: she is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. The nakedness of your father's wife shall you not uncover: it is your father's nakedness.read more.
The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or daughter of your mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even her nakedness you shall not uncover. The nakedness of your son's daughter, or of your daughter's daughter, even their nakedness you shall not uncover: for theirs is your own nakedness. The nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, begotten of your father, she is your sister, you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister: she is your father's near kinswoman. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister: for she is your mother's near kinswoman. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, you shall not approach to his wife: she is your aunt. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law: she is your son's wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife: it is your brother's nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shall you take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness. Neither shall you take as a wife her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.

And the man that lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; 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 committed perversion; their blood shall be upon them.

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

In you have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness: in you have they violated her that was set apart for her impurity. And one has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has violated 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 you 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 you to have your brother's wife.

And yet indeed she is 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 cause my shame to go? and as for you, you shall be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray you, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from you.

If 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 as wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her. And it shall be, that the firstborn that she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel. And if the man desires not 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 to it, 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 has his shoe loosed.

Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of this place: you are witnesses this day.

And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto your brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up descendants to your brother.

And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will you go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have a husband also tonight, and should also bear sons; Would you tarry for them till they were grown? would you refrain from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieves me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.

And he said, Who are you? And she answered, I am Ruth your handmaid: spread therefore your skirt over your handmaid; for you are a near kinsman.

Then said Boaz, The day you buy the field of the hand of Naomi, you must buy it also from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead through his inheritance.

Saying, Teacher, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up children unto his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no child, left his wife unto his brother: Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.

Teacher, 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 children unto his brother. Now there were seven brothers: and the first took a wife, and dying left no children. And the second took her, and died, neither left he any children: and the third likewise.read more.
And the seven had her, and left no children: last of all the woman died also.

Saying, Teacher, 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 children for his brother. There were therefore seven brothers: and the first took a wife, and died without children. And the second took her as 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 descendant would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give a descendant to his brother.

And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance: redeem you my right to yourself; for I cannot redeem it.

And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.

If a man find a young woman that is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the young woman's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he has violated her, he may not put her away all his days.

For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he lives; but if the husband dies, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she is married 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, though she is married to another man.

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

I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot have self-control, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, rule the house, give 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 from 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 whoever marries her who is put away does commit adultery.

And he said unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, commits adultery against her. And if a 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 depart from her husband: But if she depart, 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 favor in his eyes, because he has found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and put 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 divorcement, and puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; or if the latter husband dies, who took her to be his wife;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 you shall not cause the land to sin, which the LORD your God gives you 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 depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God has called us to peace.