39 Bible Verses about Marriage

"The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man--a king--who gave a wedding celebration for his son.

But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for a matter of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh.

To the married I command--not I, but the Lord--a wife must not separate from [her] husband. But if indeed she does separate, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce [his] wife.

Because of this a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife,

Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate."

Marriage [must be] held in honor by all, and the marriage bed [be] undefiled, because God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers.

Deacons must be husbands of one wife, managing [their] children and their own households well.

He who finds a wife finds good, and he will obtain favor from Yahweh.

Take wives and father sons and daughters, and take for your sons wives, and give your daughters to men that they may bear sons and daughters, and multiply there, and you must not be few.

Therefore I want younger [widows] to marry, to bear children, to manage a household, to give the adversary no opportunity for reproach.

"When a man takes a new wife he shall not go out with the army, and {he shall not be obligated with anything}; he shall be free from obligation, {to stay at home} for one year, and he shall bring joy [to] his wife that he took.

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

Husbands, in the same way live with [your wives] {knowledgeably}, as with the weaker female vessel, showing [them] honor as fellow heirs also of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.

Drink water from your [own] cistern and flowing waters from inside your own well. Shall your springs be scattered outward? In the streets, [shall there be] streams of water? May they be yours alone, and not for strangers [who are] with you. read more.
May your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth. [She is] a deer of love and a doe of grace; may her breasts satisfy you {always}; by her love may you be intoxicated continually. Why should you be intoxicated, my child, by a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

"Return, apostate children," {declares} Yahweh. "For {I am your master}, and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan, and I will bring you [to] Zion.

For your husband [is] your maker, his name [is] Yahweh of hosts; and your redeemer [is] the holy one of Israel, he is called the God of all of the earth.

For [as] a young man marries a virgin, [so] shall your sons marry you, and [as is the] joy of [the] bridegroom over [the] bride, [so] shall your God rejoice over you.

Let us rejoice and be glad and give him the glory, because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself.

But [while] they had gone away to buy [it] the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding celebration, and the door was shut.

Therefore, do not give your daughters to their sons, and do not take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek their peace and prosperity so that forever you may be strong and eat the good of the land and may give it as an inheritance to your sons.'

After finishing these things the officials approached me saying, "The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated from the people of the lands with their detestable things, and from the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. For they have taken from their daughters for themselves and their sons. So the holy seed has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands, and the hand of the officials and prefects were foremost in this sin.

and you take from their daughters for your sons, and their daughters prostitute [themselves] after their gods, and they cause your sons to prostitute [themselves] after their gods.

And you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to their son; and you shall not take his daughter for your son. For their sons and daughters will cause your son to turn away {from following me}, and [so] they will serve other gods, and {the anger of Yahweh would be kindled} against you, and he would quickly destroy you.

And Eleazar died, and he did not have sons, but only daughters. And the sons of Kish, their relatives, married them.

Also in those days I saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Half of their children spoke Ashdodite and could not speak Judean, but [only] the tongues of other nations. So I quarreled with them and cursed them and beat some of their men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath by God: "Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. read more.
Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in this way? And among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Yet the foreign women made even him sin. Should we listen to you all and do this great evil, acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?"

After finishing these things the officials approached me saying, "The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated from the people of the lands with their detestable things, and from the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. For they have taken from their daughters for themselves and their sons. So the holy seed has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands, and the hand of the officials and prefects were foremost in this sin.

"When Yahweh your God brings you into the land that you [are] about to enter {into it} to take possession of it, and he drives out many nations {before you}, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations mightier and more numerous than you, and Yahweh your God will give them {over to you} and you defeat them, you must {utterly destroy them}; you shall not make a covenant with them, and you shall not show mercy [to them]. And you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to their son; and you shall not take his daughter for your son. read more.
For their sons and daughters will cause your son to turn away {from following me}, and [so] they will serve other gods, and {the anger of Yahweh would be kindled} against you, and he would quickly destroy you.

And it happened, after {a long time}, after Yahweh had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and [after] Joshua was old and {well-advanced in years}, Joshua summoned all Israel, their elders, heads, judges, and officials, and he said to them, "I am old and {well-advanced in years}, and you have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations {for your sake}, for Yahweh your God [is] fighting for you. read more.
Look! I have allotted to you these remaining nations as an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, [with] all the nations that I have cut off, to the Great Sea {in the west}. And Yahweh your God will push them {back before you} and drive them {out of your sight}, and you will possess their land, just as Yahweh your God promised to you. Be very strong to observe carefully all that is written in the scroll of the law of Moses so as not to turn aside from it, [to] the right or left, so as not to go among these remaining nations with you; {do not profess} the name of their gods, and do not swear by them, serve them, or {bow down to them}. But hold fast to Yahweh your God, just as you have done up to this day. Yahweh has driven out before you great and strong nations; and as for you, {nobody has withstood} you to this day. One of your men put to flight a thousand, for Yahweh your God [is] fighting for you, just as he promised you. Take utmost care for [the sake of] your life to love Yahweh your God, for if indeed you turn back and join these remaining nations {among you}, and you intermarry with them, {marrying their women and they yours},

Shecaniah son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, "We ourselves have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, and even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. So now let us make a covenant with our God to send away all of these women and their offspring, according to the advice of my lord and those who tremble at the commandment of our God. Let it be done according to the law.

Also in those days I saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Half of their children spoke Ashdodite and could not speak Judean, but [only] the tongues of other nations. So I quarreled with them and cursed them and beat some of their men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath by God: "Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. read more.
Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in this way? And among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Yet the foreign women made even him sin. Should we listen to you all and do this great evil, acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?"

King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, Hittite; from the nations which Yahweh had said to the {Israelites}, "You shall not {marry them}, and they shall not {marry you}. They will certainly turn your heart after other gods." But Solomon clung to them to love. He had seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart. read more.
It happened at the time of Solomon's old age that his wives guided his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father [had been]. Solomon went after Ashtoreth the god of [the] Sidonians and after Molech the abhorrence of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of Yahweh and did not fully [follow] after Yahweh as David his father. At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the mountain which {faces} Jerusalem and for Molech, the abomination of the {Ammonites}. Thus he did for all of his foreign wives, offering incense and sacrificing to their gods.

"Keep for yourself what I myself have commanded you today. Look, I [am about to] drive from before you the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Be careful for yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, lest it be a snare among you. Rather, you will tear down their altars, and you will break their stone pillars, and you will cut off their Asherah poles. read more.
For you will not bow in worship to another god, for 'Yahweh [Is] Jealous' is his name, he [is] a jealous God, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they prostitute [themselves] after their gods, and they sacrifice to their gods, and they invite you, and you eat their sacrifice, and you take from their daughters for your sons, and their daughters prostitute [themselves] after their gods, and they cause your sons to prostitute [themselves] after their gods.

"When Yahweh your God brings you into the land that you [are] about to enter {into it} to take possession of it, and he drives out many nations {before you}, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations mightier and more numerous than you, and Yahweh your God will give them {over to you} and you defeat them, you must {utterly destroy them}; you shall not make a covenant with them, and you shall not show mercy [to them]. And you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to their son; and you shall not take his daughter for your son. read more.
For their sons and daughters will cause your son to turn away {from following me}, and [so] they will serve other gods, and {the anger of Yahweh would be kindled} against you, and he would quickly destroy you.

Judah has been faithless, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. Judah has profaned the sanctuary of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. May Yahweh cut off from the tents of Jacob the man who does this, [the] one who is awake and [who] answers, and [the one who] brings an offering to Yahweh of hosts! And this you do {as well}: [you] cover the altar of Yahweh [with] tears, [with] weeping and [with] groaning, because he {no longer regards the offering} or accepts [it] [with] favor from your hand.

Therefore, do not give your daughters to their sons, and do not take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek their peace and prosperity so that forever you may be strong and eat the good of the land and may give it as an inheritance to your sons.'

Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. And he instructed him and said to him, "You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.

So I quarreled with them and cursed them and beat some of their men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath by God: "Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.

And you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to their son; and you shall not take his daughter for your son.

for if indeed you turn back and join these remaining nations {among you}, and you intermarry with them, {marrying their women and they yours},

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Therefore, shall I take away the members of Christ [and] make [them] members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body [with her]? For it says, "The two will become one flesh."

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh.

And he answered [and] said, "Have you not read that the one who created [them] from the beginning made them male and female and said, 'On account of this a man will leave his father and his mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate."

But from the beginning of creation 'he made them male and female. Because of this a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh,' so that they are no longer two but one flesh. read more.
Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate."

Thus also husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. The one who loves his own wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as also Christ [does] the church, because we are members of his body. read more.
"For this [reason] a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."

But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for a matter of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh.

To the married I command--not I, but the Lord--a wife must not separate from [her] husband. But if indeed she does separate, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce [his] wife.

Because of this a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife,

Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate."

But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for a matter of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh.

To the married I command--not I, but the Lord--a wife must not separate from [her] husband. But if indeed she does separate, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce [his] wife.

Because of this a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife,

Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate."

Marriage [must be] held in honor by all, and the marriage bed [be] undefiled, because God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers.

Deacons must be husbands of one wife, managing [their] children and their own households well.

He who finds a wife finds good, and he will obtain favor from Yahweh.

Take wives and father sons and daughters, and take for your sons wives, and give your daughters to men that they may bear sons and daughters, and multiply there, and you must not be few.

Therefore I want younger [widows] to marry, to bear children, to manage a household, to give the adversary no opportunity for reproach.

"Return, apostate children," {declares} Yahweh. "For {I am your master}, and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan, and I will bring you [to] Zion.

For your husband [is] your maker, his name [is] Yahweh of hosts; and your redeemer [is] the holy one of Israel, he is called the God of all of the earth.

Let us rejoice and be glad and give him the glory, because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. And it has been granted to her that she be dressed in bright, clean fine linen (for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints). And he said to me, "Write: Blessed [are] those who are invited to the banquet of the wedding celebration of the Lamb!" And he said to me, "These are the true words of God."

not like the covenant that I {made} with their ancestors on the day of my grasping [them] by their hand, bringing them out from the land of Egypt, my covenant that they themselves broke, though I myself was a master over them," {declares} Yahweh.

And I will take you as my wife forever; I will take you as a wife for myself in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. {I will take you as my wife} in faithfulness, and you will know Yahweh.

--wives to their own husbands as to the Lord,

Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

Now concerning [the things] about which you wrote: "[It is] good for a man not to touch a woman." But because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband. The husband must fulfill his obligation to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband.

In the same way, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some are disobedient to the word, they may be won over without a word by the conduct of their wives, [when they] see your respectful, pure conduct. Let your adornment not be the external [kind], braiding hair and putting on gold jewelry or putting on [fine] clothing, read more.
but the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable [quality] of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is highly valuable in the sight of God. For in the [same] way formerly the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves [by] being subject to their own husbands, like Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose children you have become [when you] do good and are not frightened with respect to any terror.

"When brothers dwell together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not become the wife of a {man of another family}; her brother-in-law {shall have sex with her}, and he shall take her {to himself} as wife, and he shall perform his duty as brother-in-law [with respect to] her. And then the firstborn that she bears {shall represent his dead brother}, so that his name is not blotted out from Israel. But if the man [does] not want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister-in-law shall go up to the gate, to the elders, and she shall say, 'My brother-in-law refused {to perpetuate his brother's name} in Israel, [for] he is not willing {to marry me}.' read more.
Then the elders of his town shall summon him and speak to him, and [if] he persists and says, '{I do not desire to} marry her' [then] his sister-in-law shall go near him before the eyes of the elders, and she shall pull off his sandal from his foot, and she shall spit in his face, and she shall {declare} and she shall say, 'This is how it is done to the man who does not build the house of his brother.' And his {family} shall be called in Israel, 'The house where the sandal was pulled off.'

saying, "Teacher, Moses said if someone dies without having children, his brother is to marry his wife and {father} descendants for his brother.

saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us if someone's brother dies having a wife, and this man is childless, that his brother should take the wife and {father} descendants for his brother.

Then Judah said to Onan, "Go in to the wife of your brother and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother."

Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, "Stay a widow in your father's house until Shelah my son grows up," for {he feared he would also die} like his brother. So Tamar went and stayed in the house of her father.

Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except on the basis of sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."

"And it was said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for a matter of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

And he said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband [and] marries another, she commits adultery."

"Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from [her] husband commits adultery.

Or do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is master of a person for as long a time [as] he lives? For the married woman is bound by law to [her] husband while he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the husband. Therefore as a result, if she belongs to another man [while] her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress [if she] belongs to another man.

that I may make you swear by Yahweh, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose midst I am dwelling,

And Hamor, father of Shechem, went out to Jacob to speak with him.

And Hamor spoke with them saying, "Shechem my son {is in love with} your daughter. Please give her to him for a wife.

When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, "Blessed be Yahweh who has vindicated the case of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and he has kept back his servant from evil; but Yahweh has returned the evil of Nabal on his [own] head." Then David sent and spoke with Abigail to take her for his wife. So the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, and they spoke to her, saying, "David has sent us to you to take you for his wife."

Therefore I want younger [widows] to marry, to bear children, to manage a household, to give the adversary no opportunity for reproach.

But because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband.

But if you marry, you have not sinned, and if the virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have affliction in the flesh, and I would spare you.

saying, "Teacher, Moses said if someone dies without having children, his brother is to marry his wife and {father} descendants for his brother.

"When brothers dwell together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not become the wife of a {man of another family}; her brother-in-law {shall have sex with her}, and he shall take her {to himself} as wife, and he shall perform his duty as brother-in-law [with respect to] her.

And he said, "Who [are] you?" And she said, "I [am] Ruth, your servant. Spread {your garment} over your servant because you [are] a redeemer."

And also Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, I have acquired as a wife, to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance, so that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his relatives and from the gate of his [birth] place. You [are] witnesses today."

It happened that in the days of Herod, king of Judea, [there was] a certain priest, Zechariah by name, of the division of Abijah. And {he had a wife} from the daughters of Aaron, and her name [was] Elizabeth.

to a virgin legally promised in marriage to a man {named} Joseph of the house of David. And the name of the virgin [was] Mary.

And a man from the {family} of Levi went, and he took {a descendent of Levi}.

This [is] the word that Yahweh commanded the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, '{Let them marry} {whomever they like}; only {they must marry} from within the clan of the tribe of their father. Thus an inheritance of the {Israelites} will not go around from tribe to tribe. Rather, the inheritance of each tribe of his father will remain with the {Israelites}. Every daughter who possesses an inheritance from the tribes of the {Israelites} will {marry} one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that the {Israelites} will possess the inheritance of his ancestors. read more.
Therefore an inheritance will not go around from [one] tribe to another tribe because the tribes of the {Israelites} will each hold to their [own] inheritance.'" Just as Yahweh commanded to Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did: Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, {married} the sons of their uncles. {They married} those from the sons of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance {remained} among the tribe of the clan of their ancestors. These [were] the commands and the stipulations that Yahweh commanded by the hand of Moses to the {Israelites} on the desert-plateaus of Moab by the Jordan [across] Jericho.

She got up and bowed down [with] her face to the ground and said, "Here is your female servant, as a slave to wash the feet of my lord's servants."

And they said, "Let us call the girl and ask {her opinion}." And they called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go."

Now Saul's daughter Michal loved David, so they told Saul, and the matter {pleased him}.

{Make the bride price and gift as high as you like}; I will give what you say to me. But give me the girl as a wife."

And Jacob loved Rachel and said, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter."

And David got up, and he and his men went and struck down two hundred men [of the] Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins, and {they presented the full number} to become the king's son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as [his] wife. When Saul {realized} that Yahweh [was] with David and {his own daughter Michal} loved him,

And Sadducees--who say there is no resurrection--came up to him and began to ask him, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if someone's brother dies and he leaves behind a wife and does not leave a child, that his brother should take the wife and {father} descendants for his brother. There were seven brothers, and the first took a wife. And [when he] died, he did not leave descendants. read more.
And the second took her, and he died without leaving descendants. And the third likewise. And the seven did not leave descendants. Last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection, when they rise, {whose} wife will she be? For the seven had her [as] wife. Jesus said to them, "Are you not deceived because of this, [because you] do not know the scriptures or the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. Now concerning the dead, that they are raised, have you not read in the book of Moses {in the passage about the bush} how God spoke to him, saying, 'I [am] the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are very much mistaken!"

On that day Sadducees--who say there is no resurrection--came up to him and asked him, saying, "Teacher, Moses said if someone dies without having children, his brother is to marry his wife and {father} descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers with us. And the first died [after] getting married, and [because he] did not have descendants, he left his wife to his brother. read more.
So also the second and the third, up to the seventh. And last of all the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her [as wife]." But Jesus answered [and] said to them, "You are mistaken, [because] you do not know the scriptures or the power of God! For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. Now concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, who said, "I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob"? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living!"

Now some of the Sadducees--who deny {that there is a resurrection}--came up [and] asked him, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us if someone's brother dies having a wife, and this man is childless, that his brother should take the wife and {father} descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers, and the first took a wife [and] died childless, read more.
and the second, and the third took her, and likewise also the seven did not leave children and died. Finally the woman also died. Therefore in the resurrection, the woman--whose wife will she be? For the seven had her [as] wife." And Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and [to] the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they are not even able to die any longer, because they are like the angels and are sons of God, [because they] are sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses revealed in [the passage about] the bush, when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and [the] God of Isaac and [the] God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him!"

For the married woman is bound by law to [her] husband while he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the husband. Therefore as a result, if she belongs to another man [while] her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress [if she] belongs to another man.

So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate."

A wife is bound for as long a time [as] her husband lives. But if her husband {dies}, she is free to marry whomever she wishes, only in the Lord.

And Samson and his father and mother went down to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah, and suddenly a young lion [came] roaring to meet him.

And who [is] the man who got engaged to a woman and [has] not married her? Let him go and let him return to his house, so that he does not die in battle and {another man} marries her.'

Then he went down and talked to the woman, and {she pleased Samson}. And he returned after awhile {to marry her}, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and there [was] a swarm of wild honey bees in the body of the lion, and honey.

And I will cause to disappear from the towns of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem [the] sound of jubilation, and [the] sound of joy, [the] voice of [the] bridegroom, and [the] voice of [the] bride, for the land will become a site of ruins.

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Look, I [am] about to cause to disappear from this place, before your eyes and in your days, [the] voice of jubilation, and [the] voice of joy, and [the] voice of [the] bridegroom, and [the] voice of [the] bride.

And I will exterminate from them the sound of jubilation, and the sound of joy, [the] voice of [the] bridegroom, and [the] voice of [the] bride, [the] sound of [the] millstones, and [the] light of [the] lamp.

And the servant brought out silver jewelry and gold jewelry, and garments, and he gave [them] to Rebekah. And he gave precious gifts to her brother and to her mother.

So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer of barely and a measure of wine.

{Make the bride price and gift as high as you like}; I will give what you say to me. But give me the girl as a wife."

then {the man who lay with her} shall give to the father of the young woman fifty [shekels] of silver, and she shall become {his wife} {because} he violated her, and he is not allowed to divorce her {during his lifetime}.

Then Saul said, "This [is] what you must say to David: '{The king desires no bride price} except for a hundred foreskins of [the] Philistines, to avenge himself on the enemies of the king.'" (Now Saul had planned to allow David to fall by the hand of [the] Philistines.)

And Hamor, father of Shechem, went out to Jacob to speak with him.

And Hamor spoke with them saying, "Shechem my son {is in love with} your daughter. Please give her to him for a wife.

So now, {if you are going to deal loyally and truly} with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, so that I may turn to [the] right or to [the] left." Then Laban and Bethuel answered, and they said, "The matter has gone out from Yahweh; we are not able to speak bad or good to you. Here [is] Rebekah before you. Take [her] and go; let her be a wife for the son of your master as Yahweh has spoken."

So Laban gathered all the men of the place and prepared a feast.

His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared there a feast, as young men were accustomed to doing this.

"The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man--a king--who gave a wedding celebration for his son. And he sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the wedding celebration, and they did not want to come.

And Laban gave Bilhah his female servant to Rachel his daughter as a female servant.

So they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and the servant of Abraham and his men.

And Laban gave Zilpah his female servant to her, to Leah his daughter [as] a female servant.

And she said to him, "I [am] the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor."

Arise, go to Paddan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.

{Besides}, she [is] my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife.

"Return, apostate children," {declares} Yahweh. "For {I am your master}, and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan, and I will bring you [to] Zion.

For your husband [is] your maker, his name [is] Yahweh of hosts; and your redeemer [is] the holy one of Israel, he is called the God of all of the earth.

And I will take you as my wife forever; I will take you as a wife for myself in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. {I will take you as my wife} in faithfulness, and you will know Yahweh.

So Laban gathered all the men of the place and prepared a feast.

And the king gave a great banquet, Esther's banquet, for all his officials and servants. And he granted a tax amnesty to the provinces and he gave gifts with royal liberality.

And Samson said to them, "Let me tell you a riddle. If you can fully explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find [it out], I will give to you thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments.

But [when] the king came in to see the {dinner guests}, he saw a man there not dressed [in] wedding clothes. And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here, not having wedding clothes?' But {he could say nothing}.

He who finds a wife finds good, and he will obtain favor from Yahweh.

Now concerning virgins I do not have a command from the Lord, but I am giving an opinion as one shown mercy by the Lord to be trustworthy. Therefore, I consider this to be good because of the impending distress, that [it is] good for a man to be thus. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek release. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. read more.
But if you marry, you have not sinned, and if the virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have affliction in the flesh, and I would spare you. But I say this, brothers: the time is shortened, that from now on even those who have wives should be as [if they] do not have [wives], and those who weep as [if they] do not weep, and those who rejoice as [if they] do not rejoice, and those who buy as [if they] do not possess, and those who make use of the world as [if they] do not make full use of [it]. For the present form of this world is passing away. But I want you to be free from care. The unmarried person cares for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But the one who is married cares for the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided. And the unmarried woman or the virgin cares for the things of the Lord, in order that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But the married woman cares for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not that I may put a restriction on you, but to promote appropriate and devoted service to the Lord without distraction. But if anyone thinks he is behaving dishonorably concerning his virgin, if she is past her prime and it ought to be thus, let him do what he wishes. He does not sin. Let them marry. But he who stands firm in his heart, not having necessity, but has authority concerning his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin, he will do well. So then, the one who marries his own virgin does well, and the one who does not marry [her] will do better.

" 'If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged and he lies with her, he surely will give her bride price {to have her as his wife}. If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he will weigh out money according to the bride price for the virgin.

But I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish all people could be like myself, but each one has his own gift from God, one in this way and another in that way. Now I say to the unmarried and to the widows: [It is] good for them if they remain as I [am]. read more.
But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn [with sexual desire].

Or do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is master of a person for as long a time [as] he lives? For the married woman is bound by law to [her] husband while he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the husband. Therefore as a result, if she belongs to another man [while] her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress [if she] belongs to another man.

A wife is bound for as long a time [as] her husband lives. But if her husband {dies}, she is free to marry whomever she wishes, only in the Lord. But she is happier if she remains thus, according to my opinion--and I think I have the Spirit of God.

(This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.)

because [the] husband is [the] head of the wife, as also Christ [is the] head of the church (he himself [being the] Savior of the body). But as the church is subject to Christ, thus also wives [should be subject] to their husbands in everything.

So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer of barely and a measure of wine.

And Jacob worked for Rachel seven years, but they were as a few days in his eyes because he loved her.

Jacob fled [to] the open field of Aram, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he watched over [sheep].

And also Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, I have acquired as a wife, to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance, so that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his relatives and from the gate of his [birth] place. You [are] witnesses today."

They said to him, "Why then did Moses command [us] to give a document--a certificate of divorce--and to divorce her?" He said to them, "Moses, with reference to your hardness of heart, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not like this.

"When a man takes a wife and he marries her {and then} {she does not please him}, because he found {something objectionable} and writes her a letter of divorce and puts [it] in her hand and sends her [away] from his house,

saying, "Teacher, Moses said if someone dies without having children, his brother is to marry his wife and {father} descendants for his brother.

"When brothers dwell together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not become the wife of a {man of another family}; her brother-in-law {shall have sex with her}, and he shall take her {to himself} as wife, and he shall perform his duty as brother-in-law [with respect to] her.

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and furthermore, even his own life, {he cannot be} my disciple.

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields on account of my name will receive a hundred times as much, and will inherit eternal life.

"If your brother, the son of your mother or your son or your daughter {or your wife whom you embrace} or {your intimate friend} in secrecy {says}, 'Let us go and let us serve other gods!' [gods] that you and your ancestors have not known, from [among] the gods of the people who are around you, {those near you or those far from you}, from [one] end of the earth and up to the [other] end of the earth, you must not give in to him, and you shall not listen to him, and your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall not have compassion, and you shall not cover [up] for him. read more.
But you shall certainly kill him; your hand shall be first against him to kill him and next the hand of all [of] the people. And you shall stone him with stones and let him die, for he tried to seduce you from Yahweh your God, the [one] bringing you from [the] land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

And you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to their son; and you shall not take his daughter for your son.

If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he will weigh out money according to the bride price for the virgin.

And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all he had, "Please put your hand under my thigh

Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. And he instructed him and said to him, "You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Paddan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.

King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, Hittite;

Also in those days I saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

And seven women shall grasp at one man on that day, saying, "We will eat our own bread, and we will wear our own clothing; only {let us be called by your name}! Take away our disgrace!"

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Look, I [am] about to cause to disappear from this place, before your eyes and in your days, [the] voice of jubilation, and [the] voice of joy, and [the] voice of [the] bridegroom, and [the] voice of [the] bride.

And he said, "Go." He sent her away [for] two months, and she went with her friends, and she lamented over her virginity on the mountains.

Then Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan [were] evil in the eyes of Isaac his father,

He went up and told his father and mother, and he said, "I saw a woman in Timnah from the daughters of [the] Philistines; so then, take her for me as a wife." But his father and mother said to him, "Is there not a wife among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must take a wife from [the] uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Take her for me because {she pleases me}."

And all of the people who [were] at the gate and the elders said, "[We are] witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman coming into your house as Rachel and as Leah, who {together} built the house of Israel. May you have strength in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem. And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah from the offspring that Yahweh will give to you from this young woman."

And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, "You [are] our sister; may you become countless thousands; and may your offspring take possession of the gate of his enemies."

Therefore, do not give your daughters to their sons, and do not take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek their peace and prosperity so that forever you may be strong and eat the good of the land and may give it as an inheritance to your sons.'

And you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to their son; and you shall not take his daughter for your son.

I will rejoice greatly in Yahweh; my being shall shout in exultation in my God. For he has clothed me [with] garments of salvation, he has covered me [with the] robe of righteousness, as bridegroom adorns [himself] [with] a head wrap like a priest, and as bride adorns herself [with] her jewelry.

Lift your eyes up all around and see; all of them gather; they come to you. {As surely as I live}, {declares} Yahweh, surely you shall put on all of them like [an] ornament, and you shall bind them on like bride.

King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, Hittite;

He had seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart.

And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of the wife of Abram [was] Sarai, and the name of the wife of Nahor [was] Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.

And God came to Abimelech in a dream at night. And he said to him, "Look, you [are] a dead man on account of the woman you have taken. For she [is] {a married woman}."

Please say you are my sister so that it will go well for me on your account. {Then I will live} on account of you."

And Abimelech called for Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you that you brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin? You have done things to me that should not be done." And Abimelech said to Abraham, "{What were you thinking} that you did this thing?" And Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place; they will kill me on account of the matter of my wife. read more.
{Besides}, she [is] my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife. And it happened [that] as God caused me to wander from the house of my father I said to her, 'This [is] your loyal kindness that you must do for me at every place where we come: say concerning me, "He [is] my brother." '" And Abimelech took sheep and cattle and male slaves and female slaves, and he gave [them] to Abraham. And he returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, "Here [is] my land before you; settle {where it pleases you}." And to Sarah he said, "Look, I have given a thousand [pieces of] silver to your brother. It [shall be] {an exoneration}. {You are vindicated before all who are with you}."

And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven, and over every animal that moves upon the earth."

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices {greatly} because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine is complete.

[the] voice of jubilation, and [the] voice of joy, [the] voice of [the] bridegroom, and [the] voice of [the] bride, [the] voices of [those who] say, "Praise Yahweh of hosts, for Yahweh [is] good, for his loyal love [is] {forever}," [the voices of those who] bring thank offerings [to] the house of Yahweh, for I will restore the fortunes of the land as in the beginning,' says Yahweh.

And I will put hostility between you and between the woman, and between your offspring and between her offspring; he will strike you [on the] head, and you will strike him [on the] heel."

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. And she said, "I have given birth to a man with [the help of] Yahweh."

And the men of Israel said, "Did you see this man who has come up? For he [is] going up to defy Israel! It will be [that] the man who defeats him, the king will make him very rich with great wealth and will give him his daughter [in marriage] and will make his father's house free in Israel."

And Caleb said, "Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and captures it, I will give to him Acsah my daughter as a wife."

And David got up, and he and his men went and struck down two hundred men [of the] Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins, and {they presented the full number} to become the king's son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as [his] wife.

Now concerning [the things] about which you wrote: "[It is] good for a man not to touch a woman." But because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband.

But Jesus answered [and] said to them, "You are mistaken, [because] you do not know the scriptures or the power of God! For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.

Jesus said to them, "Are you not deceived because of this, [because you] do not know the scriptures or the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices {greatly} because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine is complete.

When they saw him, they took thirty companions, and they were with him.

she who forsakes the partner of her youth and has forgotten the covenant of her God,

Lament like a virgin girded in sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

Now concerning virgins I do not have a command from the Lord, but I am giving an opinion as one shown mercy by the Lord to be trustworthy. Therefore, I consider this to be good because of the impending distress, that [it is] good for a man to be thus. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek release. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. read more.
But if you marry, you have not sinned, and if the virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have affliction in the flesh, and I would spare you. But I say this, brothers: the time is shortened, that from now on even those who have wives should be as [if they] do not have [wives], and those who weep as [if they] do not weep, and those who rejoice as [if they] do not rejoice, and those who buy as [if they] do not possess, and those who make use of the world as [if they] do not make full use of [it]. For the present form of this world is passing away. But I want you to be free from care. The unmarried person cares for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But the one who is married cares for the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided. And the unmarried woman or the virgin cares for the things of the Lord, in order that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But the married woman cares for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not that I may put a restriction on you, but to promote appropriate and devoted service to the Lord without distraction. But if anyone thinks he is behaving dishonorably concerning his virgin, if she is past her prime and it ought to be thus, let him do what he wishes. He does not sin. Let them marry. But he who stands firm in his heart, not having necessity, but has authority concerning his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin, he will do well. So then, the one who marries his own virgin does well, and the one who does not marry [her] will do better.

To the married I command--not I, but the Lord--a wife must not separate from [her] husband. But if indeed she does separate, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce [his] wife. Now to the rest I say--not the Lord--if any brother has an unbelieving wife and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. read more.
And if any wife has an unbelieving husband and he consents to live with her, she must not divorce her husband. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the brother, since otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. The brother or the sister is not bound in such [cases]. But God has called us in peace. For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Come out and look, {O maidens of Zion}, at {King Solomon}, at the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the joy of his heart!

And Boaz had gone up [to] the [city] gate and sat there. And look, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken [was] passing by. And he said, "Come over here to sit, {friend}." And he came over and sat. And he took ten men from the elders of the city and said, "Sit here." And they sat. And he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who returned from the countryside [of] Moab, is selling the tract of land which [was] for our brother Elimelech. read more.
And I thought {I would tell you} and say, '{Buy it in the presence of} those sitting and before the elders of my people,' if you want to redeem [it], redeem [it]. But if you do not want to redeem, tell me so that I may know, for there is no one except you to redeem [it], and I [am] after you." And he said, "I want to redeem [it]." And Boaz said, "On the day of your acquiring the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the dead [man], [in order] to raise up [for] the name of the dead his inheritance." And the redeemer said, "I am not able to redeem for myself, lest I ruin my inheritance. You redeem for yourself my kinsman-redemption, for I am not able to redeem [it]." (Now this {was the custom in former times} in Israel concerning the kinsman-redemption and transfer of property: to confirm the matter, a man removed his sandal and gave [it] to his fellow countryman. This [was] the manner of attesting in Israel.) So the redeemer said to Boaz, "Acquire [it] for yourself," and he removed his sandal. And Boaz said to the elders and all of the people, "You [are] witnesses today that I have acquired all that [was] for Elimelech and that [was] for Kilion and Mahlon from the hand of Naomi. And also Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, I have acquired as a wife, to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance, so that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his relatives and from the gate of his [birth] place. You [are] witnesses today." And all of the people who [were] at the gate and the elders said, "[We are] witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman coming into your house as Rachel and as Leah, who {together} built the house of Israel. May you have strength in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem.

Then Yahweh said to me, "Take yourself a large tablet and write on it with a common stylus pen: Maher-Halal-Hash-Baz. And I will require reliable witnesses as a witness for me: Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah." And I approached the prophetess, and she conceived, and she gave birth to a son. And Yahweh said to me, "Call his name Maher-Halal-Hash-Baz.

"If it happens [that] a young woman, a virgin, [is] engaged to a man, [and] a man finds her in the town and lies with her, then you shall bring out {both of them} to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them with stones so that they shall die, the young woman because she did not cry out in the town, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife; and so you shall purge the evil from your midst.

The husband must fulfill his obligation to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but her husband [does]. And likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but his wife [does]. Do not defraud one another, except perhaps by agreement, for a time, in order that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and [then] you should be {together} again, lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self control.

Can a young woman forget her ornaments? [Or] a bride her sashes? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

Lift your eyes up all around and see; all of them gather; they come to you. {As surely as I live}, {declares} Yahweh, surely you shall put on all of them like [an] ornament, and you shall bind them on like bride.

And the men of Israel said, "Did you see this man who has come up? For he [is] going up to defy Israel! It will be [that] the man who defeats him, the king will make him very rich with great wealth and will give him his daughter [in marriage] and will make his father's house free in Israel."

Then Saul said to David, "Here [is] my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you as [your] wife. Only be {a brave warrior} for me and fight the battles of Yahweh." For Saul thought, "My hand will not be against him, but let the hand of [the] Philistines be against him."

And Saul thought, "I will give her to him, so that she may be a snare for him and the hand of [the] Philistines may be against him." So Saul said to David, "For a second [time] you can become my son-in-law today."

And the servant brought out silver jewelry and gold jewelry, and garments, and he gave [them] to Rebekah. And he gave precious gifts to her brother and to her mother.

Even the daughter of Tyre [will come] with a gift. [The] rich from among people will seek your {favor}.

Arise, go to Paddan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.

And Isaac brought her to the tent of Sarah his mother. And he took Rebekah, and she became his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after [the death of] his mother.

that I may make you swear by Yahweh, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose midst I am dwelling, but that you will go to my land and to my family, and take a wife for my son, for Isaac."

A wife is bound for as long a time [as] her husband lives. But if her husband {dies}, she is free to marry whomever she wishes, only in the Lord.

But because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband.

And you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to their son; and you shall not take his daughter for your son. For their sons and daughters will cause your son to turn away {from following me}, and [so] they will serve other gods, and {the anger of Yahweh would be kindled} against you, and he would quickly destroy you.

--wives to their own husbands as to the Lord, because [the] husband is [the] head of the wife, as also Christ [is the] head of the church (he himself [being the] Savior of the body). But as the church is subject to Christ, thus also wives [should be subject] to their husbands in everything. read more.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for her; in order that he might sanctify her by cleansing [her] with the washing of water by the word; in order that he might present to himself the church glorious, not having a spot or wrinkle or any such [thing], but that she may be holy and blameless. Thus also husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. The one who loves his own wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as also Christ [does] the church, because we are members of his body. "For this [reason] a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." (This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.) Only you also, each one [of you], must thus love his own wife as himself, and the wife {must respect} her husband.

Thus also husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. The one who loves his own wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as also Christ [does] the church,

"The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man--a king--who gave a wedding celebration for his son.

"Then the kingdom of heaven may be compared to ten virgins who took their lamps [and] went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were foolish and five [were] wise. For [when] the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take olive oil with them. read more.
But the wise ones took olive oil in flasks with their lamps. And [when] the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. But in the middle of the night there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all those virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish ones said to the wise ones, 'Give us [some] of your olive oil, because our lamps are going out!' But the wise ones answered saying, "Certainly there will never be enough for us and for you! Go instead to those who sell [olive oil] and buy [some] for yourselves.' But [while] they had gone away to buy [it] the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding celebration, and the door was shut.

And who [is] the man who got engaged to a woman and [has] not married her? Let him go and let him return to his house, so that he does not die in battle and {another man} marries her.'

Now the birth of Jesus Christ occurred in this way. His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, [but] before they came together, she was found {to be pregnant} by the Holy Spirit.

to a virgin legally promised in marriage to a man {named} Joseph of the house of David. And the name of the virgin [was] Mary.

I wish all people could be like myself, but each one has his own gift from God, one in this way and another in that way. Now I say to the unmarried and to the widows: [It is] good for them if they remain as I [am].

Each one in [the situation] in which he was called, brothers--in this he should remain with God. Now concerning virgins I do not have a command from the Lord, but I am giving an opinion as one shown mercy by the Lord to be trustworthy. Therefore, I consider this to be good because of the impending distress, that [it is] good for a man to be thus. read more.
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek release. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you marry, you have not sinned, and if the virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have affliction in the flesh, and I would spare you. But I say this, brothers: the time is shortened, that from now on even those who have wives should be as [if they] do not have [wives], and those who weep as [if they] do not weep, and those who rejoice as [if they] do not rejoice, and those who buy as [if they] do not possess, and those who make use of the world as [if they] do not make full use of [it]. For the present form of this world is passing away. But I want you to be free from care. The unmarried person cares for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But the one who is married cares for the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided. And the unmarried woman or the virgin cares for the things of the Lord, in order that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But the married woman cares for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not that I may put a restriction on you, but to promote appropriate and devoted service to the Lord without distraction. But if anyone thinks he is behaving dishonorably concerning his virgin, if she is past her prime and it ought to be thus, let him do what he wishes. He does not sin. Let them marry. But he who stands firm in his heart, not having necessity, but has authority concerning his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin, he will do well. So then, the one who marries his own virgin does well, and the one who does not marry [her] will do better. A wife is bound for as long a time [as] her husband lives. But if her husband {dies}, she is free to marry whomever she wishes, only in the Lord. But she is happier if she remains thus, according to my opinion--and I think I have the Spirit of God.

A widow or a divorced woman or a defiled [woman], a prostitute--these he must not take; he shall take only a virgin from his people [as] wife.

"Then the kingdom of heaven may be compared to ten virgins who took their lamps [and] went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were foolish and five [were] wise. For [when] the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take olive oil with them. read more.
But the wise ones took olive oil in flasks with their lamps. And [when] the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. But in the middle of the night there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'

The king's daughter is all glorious within; her garment [is] of gold embroidered cloth. She is brought to the king [in] colorful garments. [The] young women behind her, her attendants, [are] being brought to you.

" '{None} [of] you shall approach anyone [who is] {his close relative} to expose nakedness; I [am] Yahweh.

A foolish child is a ruin to his father, and the quarreling of a woman is a continuous dripping.

A house and wealth [are] an inheritance [from] fathers, but from Yahweh [comes] a woman who is prudent.

" 'They shall not {marry} a woman [who is] a prostitute and defiled, nor shall they {marry} a woman divorced from her husband, because each priest [is] holy for his God.

And the servant brought out silver jewelry and gold jewelry, and garments, and he gave [them] to Rebekah. And he gave precious gifts to her brother and to her mother.

And the king's servants attending him said, "Let them seek attractive young virgins for the king. Let the king appoint chief officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, and let them gather every attractive young virgin to the {harem} in the citadel of Susa {under the care of} Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let him give [them] their beauty treatment. And let the young woman {who is pleasing} in the king's eyes become queen in place of Vashti. The thing was good in the king's eyes, and he acted accordingly.

And it happened, at the proclaiming of the edict of the king and his law, when many young women were being gathered to the citadel of Susa {under Hegai's care}, Esther was taken to the {king's palace} {under the care of} Hegai who was in charge of the women. {The young woman pleased him} and she won favor in his presence, and he quickly provided for her beauty treatment and her portion of food, with seven chosen maids to give to her from the {king's palace}, and he advanced her and her maids to the best part of the {harem}. Esther did not disclose her people and her family because Modecai had charged her that she must not tell. read more.
And every day Modecai would walk up and down in front of the courtyard of the {harem} to learn {how Esther was doing}. When the turn came for each girl to go to King Ahasuerus, after the end of twelve months of being under the regulations of the women--for the days of their beauty treatments had to be filled, six months with the oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and women's cosmetics-- in this way, the girl goes to the king and all that she asks is given to her {to take} with her from the {harem} to the {king's palace}. In the evening she would go and in the morning she would return to the {second harem} {under the care of} Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch in charge of the concubines. She would not go back to the king unless the king delighted in her and she was called by name.

Then Laban said, "{It is not the custom} in our country to give the younger before the firstborn.

And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here, not having wedding clothes?' But {he could say nothing}.

I will rejoice greatly in Yahweh; my being shall shout in exultation in my God. For he has clothed me [with] garments of salvation, he has covered me [with the] robe of righteousness, as bridegroom adorns [himself] [with] a head wrap like a priest, and as bride adorns herself [with] her jewelry.

{Did not one God make them?} But a remnant of [the] spirit is his. And what does the one [God] desire? An offspring of God. {You must be attentive to} your spirit, and you must not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

Then Yahweh God said, "[it is] not good [that] the man is alone. I will make for him a helper {as his counterpart}."

So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate."

And Samson said to them, "Let me tell you a riddle. If you can fully explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find [it out], I will give to you thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments.

And he said, "Go." He sent her away [for] two months, and she went with her friends, and she lamented over her virginity on the mountains.

Marriage [must be] held in honor by all, and the marriage bed [be] undefiled, because God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers.

And Lamech took to himself two wives. The name of the first [was] Adah, and the name of the second [was] Zillah.

Marriage [must be] held in honor by all, and the marriage bed [be] undefiled, because God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers.

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh.

For [as] a young man marries a virgin, [so] shall your sons marry you, and [as is the] joy of [the] bridegroom over [the] bride, [so] shall your God rejoice over you.

Even the daughter of Tyre [will come] with a gift. [The] rich from among people will seek your {favor}.

and watch and look; when the daughters of Shiloh dance in the dances, come out from the vineyards and seize for yourselves a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. And if their fathers or their brothers complain to us, we will say to them, 'Allow us to have them, because we did not capture a wife for each man in the battle, and because you did not give [them] to them, {or else} you would have been guilty.'" The descendants of Benjamin did likewise, and they took wives for each of them from the dancers whom they seized, and they went and returned to their territory, and they rebuilt the cities and they lived in them.

Solomon intermarried with Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and he took the daughter of Pharaoh and brought her to the city of David until he finished building his house, the house of Yahweh, and the walls of Jerusalem all around.

Hear, O daughter, and {discern} and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father's house.

Then Laban said to Jacob, "[Just] because you [are] my brother should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wage [should be]." Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older [was] Leah, and the name of the younger [was] Rachel. Now the eyes of Leah [were] dull, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. read more.
And Jacob loved Rachel and said, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter." Then Laban said, "Better [that] I give her to you than I give her to another man. Stay with me." And Jacob worked for Rachel seven years, but they were as a few days in his eyes because he loved her. And Jacob said to Laban, "Give [me] my wife, that I may go in to her, for {my time} is completed." So Laban gathered all the men of the place and prepared a feast. And it happened [that] in the evening he took Leah his daughter and brought her to him, and he went in to her. And Laban gave Zilpah his female servant to her, to Leah his daughter [as] a female servant. And it happened [that] in the morning, behold, it [was] Leah! And he said to Laban, "What [is] this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Now why did you deceive me?" Then Laban said, "{It is not the custom} in our country to give the younger before the firstborn. Complete the week of this one, then I will also give you the other, {on the condition that you will work for me} another seven years." And Jacob did so. So he completed the week of this [one], then he gave Rachel his daughter to him as a wife. And Laban gave Bilhah his female servant to Rachel his daughter as a female servant. Then he also went in to Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with him yet another seven years.

"Then you will know that I have sent to you this command, that my covenant with Levi {continues}," says Yahweh of hosts.

And a man from the {family} of Levi went, and he took {a descendent of Levi}.

Kings' daughters [are] among your noble ladies. The queen stands at your right hand in gold of Ophir.

Kings' daughters [are] among your noble ladies. The queen stands at your right hand in gold of Ophir.

And seven women shall grasp at one man on that day, saying, "We will eat our own bread, and we will wear our own clothing; only {let us be called by your name}! Take away our disgrace!"

I will rejoice greatly in Yahweh; my being shall shout in exultation in my God. For he has clothed me [with] garments of salvation, he has covered me [with the] robe of righteousness, as bridegroom adorns [himself] [with] a head wrap like a priest, and as bride adorns herself [with] her jewelry.

And on the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding. And [when the] wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine!" read more.
And Jesus said to her, "What {does your concern have to do with me}, woman? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Whatever he says to you, do [it]!"

And he lived in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul, saying, "Give [me] my wife Michal whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred foreskins of [the] Philistines."

And Boaz had gone up [to] the [city] gate and sat there. And look, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken [was] passing by. And he said, "Come over here to sit, {friend}." And he came over and sat.

If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he will weigh out money according to the bride price for the virgin.

" 'And I passed by you, and I saw you, and look, {your time of lovemaking had come}, and [so] I spread out my hem over you, and I covered your nakedness, and I swore to you, and I entered into a covenant with you,' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, 'and {you became mine}.

He went up and told his father and mother, and he said, "I saw a woman in Timnah from the daughters of [the] Philistines; so then, take her for me as a wife."

"When a man takes a new wife he shall not go out with the army, and {he shall not be obligated with anything}; he shall be free from obligation, {to stay at home} for one year, and he shall bring joy [to] his wife that he took.