61 Bible Verses about Marriage, Restrictions Concerning

And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite man named Shuah. And he took her and went in to her.

And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-paaneah. And he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On, for his wife. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

And Moses was content to live with the man. And he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah.

And the son of a woman of Israel, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the sons of Israel. And this son of the woman of Israel and a man of Israel struggled together in the camp.

And they took wives for themselves from the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.

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

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

and lest you take from their daughters for your sons, and their daughters go whoring after their gods and make your sons go whoring after their gods.

Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter to your son. For they will turn away your son from following Me, so that they may serve other gods. So the anger of Jehovah will be kindled against you and will destroy you suddenly.

Otherwise, if you go back in any way, and hold to those left of these nations, these that remain among you, and shall marry them and go in to them and they to you, know for a certainty that Jehovah your God will no more drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and whips in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which Jehovah your God has given you.

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

And King Solomon loved many foreign women, even the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, Hittites; of the nations which Jehovah had said to the sons of Israel, You shall not go in to them, and they shall not go in to you; surely they will turn away your heart after their gods. Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.read more.
For it happened when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods. And his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites; and Solomon did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and did not go fully after Jehovah like his father David. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill which is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the sons of Ammon. And likewise he did for all his foreign wives, and burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he also took Jezebel, the daughter of Eth-baal king of the Sidonians, for a wife. And he went and served Baal, and worshiped him.

Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy place of Jehovah, which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

And at the end of these things, the rulers came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands. But they are doing according to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons. So the holy seed has mixed themselves with the people of those lands. Yes, the hand of the leaders and overseers has been chief in this sin.

And when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there gathered to him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children, for the people wept with a great weeping. And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, We have sinned against our God and have taken strange women from the people of the land. Yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.

In those days I also saw Jews who lived with women from Ashdod, Ammon, and from Moab. And their sons spoke half Ashdod's speech, and there was no caring to speak Jewish, but according to the language of each people. And I contended with them, and cursed them, and struck certain of them, and plucked off their hair. And I made them swear by the name of God, saying, You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters to your sons, or for yourselves.read more.
Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. But women from other lands caused even him to sin. Shall we then listen to you, to do all this great evil, to sin against our God in living with foreign women?

And we swore that we would not give our daughters to the people of the land nor take their daughters for our sons.

And I will make you swear by Jehovah, the God of Heaven and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell. But you shall go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife to my son Isaac.

And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; who were a grief of spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah.

And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these of the daughters of the land, what good is my life to me?

And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and commanded him. And he said to him, You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father. And take a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.

And his father and his mother said to him, Is there no woman among the daughters of your brothers, or among all my people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for she pleases me very much.

And Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife. And when he went in to her, Jehovah made her conceive. And she bore a son.

And now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the women, and such as have been born of them, according to the counsel of the Lord, and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God. And let it be done according to the Law.

And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, You have sinned, and have taken strange women to increase the sin of Israel. And now confess to Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and do His pleasure. And separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange women. Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As you have said, so we must do.read more.
But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand outside. And the work is not of one or two days. For we who have sinned in this thing are many. And let our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all those who have taken strange women in our cities, come at a set time, and with them the elders of every city and its judges, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter has turned from us. Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah made a stand against this. And Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them. And the sons of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by names, were separated. And they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter. And they made an end with all the men who had taken strange women by the first day of the first month.

The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives, but if her husband sleeps in death, she is at liberty to be remarried to whom she will, only in the Lord.

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship does righteousness have with lawlessness? And what partnership does light have with darkness?

But to the rest I speak, not the Lord, If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is pleased to dwell with him, do not let him put her away. And the woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is pleased to dwell with her, do not let her leave him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; else your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.read more.
But if the unbelieving one separates, let him be separated. A brother or a sister is not in bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace. For what do you know, O wife, whether you shall save your husband? Or what do you know, O man, whether you shall save your wife?

None of you shall approach to any who are near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness. I am Jehovah. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife. It is your father's nakedness.read more.
You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother, born at home or born away. Their nakedness you shall not uncover. The nakedness of your son's daughter, or of your daughter's daughter, you shall not uncover their nakedness. For theirs is your own nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of the daughter of your father's wife, begotten of your father. She is your sister. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister. She is your father's near kinswoman. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister. For she is your mother's near kinswoman. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother. You shall not approach his wife. She is your aunt. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife. You shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife. It is your brother's nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shall you undertake to uncover her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter. They are her near kinswomen; it is wickedness. And you shall not take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life.

And the man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness. Both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be on them. And if a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have performed a perversion; their blood shall be on them.

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

In you they have uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in you they have humbled her defiled by impurity. And a man has done abomination with his neighbor's wife; and a man has defiled his daughter-in-law in unchaste acts; and a man has humbled within you his sister, his father's daughter.

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

For Herod himself had sent out and laid hold on John and had bound him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. For he had married her, and John had said to Herod, It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.

And yet truly she is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife.

And I, where shall I cause my shame to go? And as for you, you shall be as one of the fools in Israel. But now please speak to the king. For he will not withhold me from you.

If brothers live together, and one of them dies and has no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry outside to a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her as a wife for himself, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. And it shall be, the first-born whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his dead brother, so that his name may not be put out of Israel. And if the man does not want to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate to the elders and say, My husband's brother refuses to raise up a name in Israel to his brother. He will not perform my levirate.read more.
Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him. And if he stands and says, I do not desire to take her, then his brother's wife shall come to him in the presence of his elders, and take off his shoe from his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done to that man who will not build up his brother's house. And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him who has his shoe taken off.

And also Ruth of Moab, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, so that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses this day.

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

And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Are there yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go. For I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have a husband also tonight, and should also bear sons, would you wait for them until they were grown? Will you shut yourselves up, not to have a husband? No, my daughters, for it makes me very sad for your sakes that the hand of Jehovah has gone out against me.

And he said, Who are you? And she answered, I am your handmaid Ruth. And you shall spread your skirt over your handmaid, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.

And Boaz said, In the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must buy also from the hand of Ruth of Moab, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.

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

Teacher, Moses wrote to us, If a man's brother die and leaves his wife, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up seed to his brother. And there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. And the second took her, and died; neither did he leave any seed. And the third likewise.read more.
And the seven had her, and left no seed. Last of all the woman also died.

saying, Teacher, Moses wrote to us, If anyone's brother dies, having a wife, and if he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up seed to his brother. Therefore there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife and died without children. And the second took her as a wife, and he died childless.read more.
And the third took her. And likewise the seven left no children and died.

And Onan knew that the seed would not be his. And it happened when he went in to his brother's wife, that he spilled on the ground, not giving seed to his brother.

And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance. You redeem my right to yourself, for I cannot redeem.

And if a man lures a virgin who is not promised, and lies with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.

If a man finds a girl, a virgin not engaged, and lays hold on her, and lies with her, and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife. Because he has humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.

For the married woman was bound by law to the living husband. But if the husband is dead, she is set free from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she is married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress by becoming another man's wife.

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

I say therefore to the unmarried and the widows, It is good for them if they remain even as I. But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn.

Therefore I want the younger ones to marry, bear children, guide the house, giving no occasion to the adversary because of reproach.

Everyone putting away his wife and marrying another commits adultery; and everyone marrying her who is put away from her husband commits adultery.

And I say to you, Whoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is put away commits adultery.

And He said to them, Whoever shall put away his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband and marries to another, she commits adultery.

And to the married I command (not I, but the Lord), a woman not to be separated from her husband. But if she is indeed separated, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to leave his wife.

When a man has taken a wife and married her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes, because he has found some uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill of divorce and put it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she has departed from his house, she goes and becomes another man's; and the latter husband hates her and writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house; or if the latter husband dies, he who took her to be his wiferead more.
her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after she is defiled. For that is hateful before Jehovah. And you shall not cause the land to sin, which Jehovah your God gives you for an inheritance.

But I say to you that whoever shall put away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever shall marry her who is put away commits adultery.

But if the unbelieving one separates, let him be separated. A brother or a sister is not in bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace.