44 Bible Verses about Singleness

And the damsel's father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hates her;

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

But the woman, when she shall vow a vow unto the LORD and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth, and her father hears her vow and her bond with which she has bound her soul, and her father shall remain silent regarding it, then all her promises shall stand, and every bond with which she has bound her soul shall stand. But if her father disallows her in the day that he hears all of her vows and of her bonds with which she has bound her soul, they shall not stand, and the LORD shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her.

And Caleb said, He that smites Kirjathsepher and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.

And Saul said to David, Behold I will give thee my elder daughter Merab to wife; only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD's battles. For Saul said to himself, My hand shall not be against him, but the hand of the Philistines shall be against him.

and for his virgin sister, that is near unto him, who has had no husband; for her he may be defiled.

Behold, Rebekah is before thee; take her and go and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the LORD has spoken.

And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised, for among us that is a reproach. But with this condition we will consent unto you: If ye will become as we are that every male of you be circumcised,

And they shall come near no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that has had no husband, they may defile themselves.

And Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each of you to thy mother's house; the LORD deal with you in mercy as ye have dealt with the dead and with me. The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept. And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.read more.
And Naomi replied, Go back, my daughters; why must ye go with me? Do I have more sons in my womb that they may be your husbands? Turn, my daughters, and go back, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I should say, I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, should ye tarry for them until they are grown? Should ye stay without husbands because of them? No, my daughters, for I have greater bitterness than you because the hand of the LORD has come out against me.

Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow at thy father's house until Shelah, my son, is grown; for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.

But if the priest's daughter becomes a widow or divorced and has no child and is returned unto her father's house as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's bread; but no stranger shall eat thereof.

And his concubine committed adultery against him and went away from him unto her father's house to Bethlehem of Judah and was there four whole months.

And what man is there that has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go and return unto his house lest peradventure he die in the battle and another man take her.

But if this thing is true and the tokens of virginity are not found for the damsel, then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones, and she shall die because she has wrought folly in Israel, to fornicate in her father's house; so shalt thou put evil away from among you.

And she said again unto her father, Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains and bewail my virginity, I and my companions. And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months, and she went with her companions and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And it came to pass at the end of two months that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. And she had never known a man. From here came the custom in Israel

For as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit has the LORD called thee, and as a young woman who is put away, said thy God.

Then the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man left in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him that we may preserve the generation of our father.

Even thy sons which were fatherless, shall say in thine ears, The place is too strait for me; give place to me that I may dwell. Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who has begotten me these, seeing I had lost my children and was desolate, a stranger removed from my land? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

Thou shalt no longer be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any longer be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be called Hephzibah and thy land Beulah; ; for the will of the LORD shall be in thee, and thy land shall be married.

Contend with your mother, contend: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore remove her whoredoms from her face and her adulteries from between her breasts;

For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth into praise and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.

Rejoice, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud with joy, thou that didst not travail with child: for more shall be the sons of the desolate than the sons of the married wife, said the LORD.

For I would that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one after this manner and another after that.

Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.

His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not expedient to marry. But he said unto them, Everyone cannot receive this word, except those unto whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs who were so born from their mother's womb; and there are some eunuchs who were made eunuchs of men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs because of the kingdom of the heavens. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

But if they do not have the gift of continence, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn.

But the younger widows refuse, for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they desire to marry, having condemnation, because they have cast off their first faith. And reject also the idle, who have learned to wander about from house to house, and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.read more.
I desire therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, govern the house, giving no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.

Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord, yet I give my advice, as one that has obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful. I hold, therefore, this to be good because of the present distress, that it is good for a man to be thus: Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife.read more.
But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have affliction in the flesh, but I forbear you.

And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife separate from her husband;

Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence, and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife does not have authority of her own body, but the husband; and likewise also the husband does not have authority of his own body, but the wife.read more.
Do not defraud one another, except it be with mutual consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer and come together again, that Satan not tempt you for your incontinency. But I speak this by permission, and not by commandment.

And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day; come not at your women.

And the priest answered David and said, There is no common bread under my hand; there is only sacred bread, which I will give thee if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. And David answered the priest and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us since yesterday and the day before yesterday since I came out, and the vessels of the young men were holy although the way is profane; how much more that today it shall be sanctified with the vessels.

I say, therefore, to the unmarried men and widowers, It is good for them if they abide even as I.

Now concerning the things of which ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

But I would have you without worry. He that is unmarried cares for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but he that is married cares for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. There is a difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit; but she that is married cares for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.read more.
And this I speak for your own profit, not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is honourable and that ye may attend upon the Lord without impediment.

And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

And he had four daughters, virgins, who prophesied.

Now she that is a widow indeed and desolate, trusts in God, and is diligent in supplications and prayers night and day,

For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

For when they shall rise from the dead, neither shall they marry nor husbands take women nor women, husbands; but are as the angels who are in the heavens.

but those who are accounted worthy to obtain that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry, nor are given in marriage;

But this I say, brothers, the time is short; for the rest, let those that have wives be as though they had none; and those that weep, as though they wept not; and those that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and those that buy, as though they possessed not; and those that use this world, as not using it as their own, for the fashion of this world passes away.