19 Bible Verses about Singleness

For it is written, "Rejoice, thou barren woman that bearest not, break forth into a joyful cry, thou that dost not travail with child. For the desolate woman has many children--more indeed than she who has the husband."

Yet I would that everybody lived as I do; but each of us has his own special gift from God--one in one direction and one in another.

"If this is the case with a man in relation to his wife," said the disciples to Him, "it is better not to marry." "It is not every man," He replied, "who can receive this teaching, but only those on whom the grace has been bestowed. There are men who from their birth have been disabled from marriage, others who have been so disabled by men, and others who have disabled themselves for the sake of the Kingdom of the Heavens. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it."

If, however, they cannot maintain self-control, by all means let them marry; for marriage is better than the fever of passion.

But the younger widows you must not enrol; for as soon as they begin to chafe against the yoke of Christ, they want to marry, and they incur disapproval for having broken their original vow. And at the same time they also learn to be idle as they go round from house to house; and they are not only idle, but are gossips also and busybodies, speaking of things that ought not to be spoken of.read more.
I would therefore have the younger women marry, bear children, rule in domestic matters, and furnish the Adversary with no excuse for slander.

Concerning unmarried women I have no command to give you from the Lord; but I offer you my opinion, which is that of a man who, through the Lord's mercy, is deserving of your confidence. I think then that, taking into consideration the distress which is now upon us, it is well for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to get free. Are you free from the marriage bond? Do not seek for a wife.read more.
Yet if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a maiden marries, she has not sinned. Such people, however, will have outward trouble. But I am for sparing you.

But to those already married my instructions are--yet not mine, but the Lord's--that a wife is not to leave her husband;

But because there is so much fornication every man should have a wife of his own, and every woman should have a husband. Let a man pay his wife her due, and let a woman also pay her husband his. A married woman is not mistress of her own person: her husband has certain rights. In the same way a married man is not master of his own person: his wife has certain rights.read more.
Do not refuse one another, unless perhaps it is just for a time and by mutual consent, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer and may then associate again; lest the Adversary begin to tempt you because of your deficiency in self-control. Thus much in the way of concession, not of command.

But I tell the unmarried, and women who are widows, that it is well for them to remain as I am.

I now deal with the subjects mentioned in your letter. It is well for a man to abstain altogether from marriage.

And I would have you free from worldly anxiety. An unmarried man concerns himself with the Lord's business--how he shall please the Lord; but a married man concerns himself with the business of the world--how he shall please his wife. There is a difference too between a married and an unmarried woman. She who is unmarried concerns herself with the Lord's business--that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but the married woman concerns herself with the business of the world--how she shall please her husband.read more.
Thus much I say in your own interest; not to lay a trap for you, but to help towards what is becoming, and enable you to wait on the Lord without distraction.

"Another said, "'I am just married. It is impossible for me to come.'

Now Philip had four unmarried daughters who were prophetesses;

A widow who is really in need, friendless and desolate, has her hopes fixed on God, and continues at her supplications and prayers, night and day;

For in the Resurrection, men neither marry nor are women given in marriage, but they are like angels in Heaven.

For when they have risen from among the dead, men do not marry and women are not given in marriage, but they are as angels are in Heaven.

But as for those who shall have been deemed worthy to find a place in that other age and in the Resurrection from among the dead, the men do not marry and the women are not given in marriage.

Yet of this I warn you, brethren: the time has been shortened--so that henceforth those who have wives should be as though they had none, those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, and those who use the world as not using it to the full. For the world as it now exists is passing away.