Marriage in Scripture: Biblical Foundation

God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

The LORD God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.

The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.

The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. You will bear children in pain. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, “I have gotten a man with the LORD’s help.”

Lamech took two wives: the name of the first one was Adah, and the name of the second one was Zillah.

Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice. You wives of Lamech, listen to my speech, for I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for bruising me.

God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives.

Abram and Nahor married wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah.

When he had come near to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at.

Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way.”

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my servant. It may be that I will obtain children by her.” Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife.

He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your hand. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes.” Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face.

They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?” He said, “There, in the tent.”

Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

Abraham said about Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a man’s wife.”

Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

Abimelech took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah, his wife, to him.

But you shall go to my country, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live,

but you shall go to my father’s house, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.’

Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. He loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah.

the field which Abraham purchased from the children of Heth. Abraham was buried there with Sarah, his wife.

Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian, to be his wife.

The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “My wife”, lest, he thought, “the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at.”

When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah, his wife.

When Esau was forty years old, he took as wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?”

Isaac called Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father. Take a wife from there from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.

Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram, to take him a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a command, saying, “You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;”

So Esau went to Ishmael, and took, in addition to the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife.

Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.”

Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.

In the evening, he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to Jacob. He went in to her.

Laban gave Zilpah his servant to his daughter Leah for a servant.

Fulfil the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you will serve with me for seven more years.”

Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week. He gave him Rachel his daughter as wife.

Laban gave Bilhah, his servant, to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.

He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him seven more years.

She gave him Bilhah her servant as wife, and Jacob went in to her.

When Leah saw that she had finished bearing, she took Zilpah, her servant, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

Leah said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes, also?” Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”

Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, “You must come in to me; for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” He lay with her that night.

Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will live with me, because I have borne him six sons.” She named him Zebulun.

When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place, and to my country.

Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service with which I have served you.”

Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field to his flock,

If you afflict my daughters, or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, no man is with us; behold, God is witness between me and you.”

Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, “Get me this young lady as a wife.”

Hamor talked with them, saying, “The soul of my son, Shechem, longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife.

Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.

Ask me a great amount for a dowry, and I will give whatever you ask of me, but give me the young lady as a wife.”

then will we give our daughters to you; and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.

The young man didn’t wait to do this thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter, and he was honoured above all the house of his father.

“These men are peaceful with us. Therefore let them live in the land and trade in it. For behold, the land is large enough for them. Let’s take their daughters to us for wives, and let’s give them our daughters.

Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon, the Hittite; and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, the Hivite;

and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebaioth.

these are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz, the son of Adah, the wife of Esau; and Reuel, the son of Basemath, the wife of Esau.

Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau’s son; and she bore to Eliphaz Amalek. These are the descendants of Adah, Esau’s wife.

These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the descendants of Basemath, Esau’s wife.

These were the sons of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These are the chiefs who came of Reuel in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.

These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These are the chiefs who came of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife.

Baal Hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place. The name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

There, Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite man named Shua. He took her, and went in to her.

Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.”

Onan knew that the offspring wouldn’t be his; and when he went in to his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother.

She took off the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she wasn’t given to him as a wife.

Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah. He gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.

Your servant, my father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.

The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin.

To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.

There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah:

A man of the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as his wife.

Moses was content to dwell with the man. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter.

Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”

So he let him alone. Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses. The years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven years.

Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

Eleazar Aaron’s son took one of the daughters of Putiel as his wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families.

“You shall not commit adultery.

If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him.

If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.

If she doesn’t please her master, who has married her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her.

If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her as a daughter.

If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights.

“If a man entices a virgin who isn’t pledged to be married, and lies with her, he shall surely pay a dowry for her to be his wife.

If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods, and make your sons play the prostitute after their gods.

If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening.

“‘If any man lies with her, and her monthly flow is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed he lies on shall be unclean.

“‘You shall not take a wife in addition to her sister, to be a rival, to uncover her nakedness, while her sister is still alive.

“‘You shall not lie carnally with your neighbour’s wife, and defile yourself with her.

“‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

“‘They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. A priest shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.

“‘He shall take a wife in her virginity.

He shall not marry a widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute. He shall take a virgin of his own people as a wife.

If a priest’s daughter is married to an outsider, she shall not eat of the heave offering of the holy things.

“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him,

and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and this is kept concealed, and she is defiled, there is no witness against her, and she isn’t taken in the act;

and the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife and she is defiled; or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife and she isn’t defiled;

then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for her: one tenth of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory.

The priest shall cause her to take an oath and shall tell the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you haven’t gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband’s authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse.

But if you have gone astray, being under your husband’s authority, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband—”

When he has made her drink the water, then it shall happen, if she is defiled and has committed a trespass against her husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away; and the woman will be a curse amongst her people.

“‘This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, being under her husband, goes astray, and is defiled,

or when the spirit of jealousy comes on a man, and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute on her all this law.

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman.

“If she has a husband, while her vows are on her, or the rash utterance of her lips with which she has bound her soul,

and her husband hears it, and says nothing to her in the day that he hears it; then her vows shall stand, and her pledges with which she has bound her soul shall stand.

But if her husband forbids her in the day that he hears it, then he makes void her vow which is on her and the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has bound her soul. The LORD will forgive her.

“If she vowed in her husband’s house or bound her soul by a bond with an oath,

and her husband heard it, and held his peace at her and didn’t disallow her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge with which she bound her soul shall stand.

But if her husband made them null and void in the day that he heard them, then whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand. Her husband has made them void. The LORD will forgive her.

Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.

But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows or all her pledges which are on her. He has established them, because he said nothing to her in the day that he heard them.

But if he makes them null and void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her iniquity.”

These are the statutes which the LORD commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between a father and his daughter, being in her youth, in her father’s house.

If they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance.

This is the thing which the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them be married to whom they think best, only they shall marry into the family of the tribe of their father.

Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may each possess the inheritance of his fathers.

for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to their father’s brothers’ sons.

They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph. Their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbour’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour’s.”

You shall not make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son.

What man is there who has pledged to be married to a wife, and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.”

and see amongst the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her, and desire to take her as your wife,

She shall take off the clothing of her captivity, and shall remain in your house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month. After that you shall go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.

It shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall let her go where she desires; but you shall not sell her at all for money. You shall not deal with her as a slave, because you have humbled her.

If a man has two wives, the one beloved and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and if the firstborn son is hers who was hated,

If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, hates her,

accuses her of shameful things, gives her a bad name, and says, “I took this woman, and when I came near to her, I didn’t find in her the tokens of virginity;”

then the young lady’s father and mother shall take and bring the tokens of the young lady’s virginity to the elders of the city in the gate.

The young lady’s father shall tell the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man as his wife, and he hates her.

Behold, he has accused her of shameful things, saying, ‘I didn’t find in your daughter the tokens of virginity;’ and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity.” They shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.

They shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father of the young lady, because he has given a bad name to a virgin of Israel. She shall be his wife. He may not put her away all his days.

But if this thing is true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young lady,

If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both die, the man who lay with the woman and the woman. So you shall remove the evil from Israel.

If there is a young lady who is a virgin pledged to be married to a husband, and a man finds her in the city, and lies with her,

then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones; the lady, because she didn’t cry, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbour’s wife. So you shall remove the evil from amongst you.

But if the man finds the lady who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die;

for he found her in the field, the pledged to be married lady cried, and there was no one to save her.

If a man finds a lady who is a virgin, who is not pledged to be married, grabs her and lies with her, and they are found,

then the man who lay with her shall give to the lady’s father fifty shekels of silver. She shall be his wife, because he has humbled her. He may not put her away all his days.

A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s skirt.

When a man takes a wife and marries her, then it shall be, if she finds no favour in his eyes because he has found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a certificate of divorce, put it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

When she has departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.

If the latter husband hates her, and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; or if the latter husband dies, who took her to be his wife;

her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after she is defiled; for that would be an abomination to the LORD. You shall not cause the land to sin, which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.

When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out in the army, neither shall he be assigned any business. He shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer his wife whom he has taken.

If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, and take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.

When men strive against each other, and the wife of one draws near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him who strikes him, and puts out her hand, and grabs him by his private parts,

You will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, and not use its fruit.

Caleb said, “He who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife.”

Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.

“But if you do at all go back, and hold fast to the remnant of these nations, even these who remain amongst you, and make marriages with them, and go in to them, and they to you;

Caleb said, “I will give Achsah my daughter as wife to the man who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it.”

Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it, so he gave him Achsah his daughter as his wife.

When she came, she got him to ask her father for a field. She got off her donkey; and Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”

They took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods.

Gideon had seventy sons conceived from his body, for he had many wives.

He had thirty sons. He sent his thirty daughters outside his clan, and he brought in thirty daughters from outside his clan for his sons. He judged Israel seven years.

There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and childless.

The woman hurried and ran, and told her husband, saying to him, “Behold, the man who came to me that day has appeared to me.”

Manoah arose and followed his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” He said, “I am.”

Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines.

He came up, and told his father and his mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. Now therefore get her for me as my wife.”

Then his father and his mother said to him, “Isn’t there a woman amongst your brothers’ daughters, or amongst all my people, that you go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?” Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.”

He went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well.

His father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men used to do so.

Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, “You just hate me, and don’t love me. You’ve told a riddle to the children of my people, and haven’t told it to me.” He said to her, “Behold, I haven’t told my father or my mother, so why should I tell you?”

She wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted; and on the seventh day, he told her, because she pressed him severely; and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his friend.

But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat. He said, “I will go in to my wife’s room.” But her father wouldn’t allow him to go in.

Her father said, “I most certainly thought that you utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please, take her instead.”

In those days, when there was no king in Israel, there was a certain Levite living on the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim, who took for himself a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah.

His concubine played the prostitute against him, and went away from him to her father’s house to Bethlehem Judah, and was there for four months.

But the man wouldn’t stay that night, but he rose up and went near Jebus (also called Jerusalem). With him were a couple of saddled donkeys. His concubine also was with him.

The Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered, “I came into Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.

Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, “None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.”

How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?”

However, we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, ‘Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.’”

They commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,

and see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards, and each man catch his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

It shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we didn’t take for each man his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them; otherwise you would now be guilty.’”

The children of Benjamin did so, and took wives for themselves according to their number, of those who danced, whom they carried off. They went and returned to their inheritance, built the cities, and lived in them.

The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. They came into the country of Moab and lived there.

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

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

Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?

Go back, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, ‘I have hope,’ if I should even have a husband tonight, and should also bear sons,

He said, “Who are you?” She answered, “I am Ruth your servant. Therefore spread the corner of your garment over your servant; for you are a near kinsman.”

Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from amongst his brothers and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses today.”

All the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which both built the house of Israel; and treat you worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem.

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she bore a son.

He had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why don’t you eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

They rose up in the morning early and worshipped the LORD, then returned and came to their house to Ramah. Then Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her.

Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems good to you. Wait until you have weaned him; only may the LORD establish his word.” So the woman waited and nursed her son until she weaned him.

The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the captain of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle.

Saul said to David, “Behold, my elder daughter Merab. I will give her to you as wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight the LORD’s battles.” For Saul said, “Don’t let my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him.”

David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my life, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?”

But at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as wife.

Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David; and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.

Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall today be my son-in-law.”

Saul commanded his servants, “Talk with David secretly, and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore be the king’s son-in-law.’”

Saul’s servants spoke those words in the ears of David. David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man and little known?”

When his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the deadline,

David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as wife.

Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you don’t save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.”

So Michal let David down through the window. He went away, fled, and escaped.

Michal took the teraphim and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head and covered it with clothes.

When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed is the LORD, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil. The LORD has returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” David sent and spoke concerning Abigail, to take her to himself as wife.

When David’s servants had come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you, to take you to him as wife.”

Abigail hurriedly arose and rode on a donkey with her five maids who followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.

David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they both became his wives.

Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.

David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife.

David’s two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

So David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

and the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah, David’s wife. These were born to David in Hebron.

David said, “Good. I will make a treaty with you, but one thing I require of you. That is, you will not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.”

David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Deliver me my wife Michal, whom I was given to marry for one hundred foreskins of the Philistines.”

Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband, Paltiel the son of Laish.

Her husband went with her, weeping as he went, and followed her to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go! Return!” and he returned.

David took more concubines and wives for himself out of Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron; and more sons and daughters were born to David.

Then David returned to bless his household. Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How glorious the king of Israel was today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of his servants’ maids, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!”

David sent and enquired after the woman. One said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, Uriah the Hittite’s wife?”

David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house.

When the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her, and lay with her. She bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. The LORD loved him;

He said, “Please speak to Solomon the king (for he will not tell you ‘no’), that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.”

She said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.”

Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into David’s city until he had finished building his own house, the LORD’s house, and the wall around Jerusalem.

Ben Abinadab, in all the height of Dor (he had Taphath, Solomon’s daughter, as wife);

Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife);

His house where he was to dwell, the other court within the porch, was of the same construction. He made also a house for Pharaoh’s daughter (whom Solomon had taken as wife), like this porch.

Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, taken Gezer, burnt it with fire, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it for a wedding gift to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.

But Pharaoh’s daughter came up out of David’s city to her house which Solomon had built for her. Then he built Millo.

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites,

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

So he did for all his foreign wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed to their gods.

Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.

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

But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sad that you eat no bread?”

He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ He answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”

Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise, and eat bread, and let your heart be merry. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

But there was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did Ahab’s house, for he married Ahab’s daughter. He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight.

Baal Hanan died, and Hadad reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pai. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah, which three were born to him of Shua’s daughter the Canaanitess. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; and he killed him.

Abigail bore Amasa; and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.

Caleb the son of Hezron became the father of children by Azubah his wife, and by Jerioth; and these were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon.

Azubah died, and Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur.

Afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he took as wife when he was sixty years old; and she bore him Segub.

After Hezron died in Caleb Ephrathah, Abijah, Hezron’s wife, bore him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.

Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah. She was the mother of Onam.

The name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail; and she bore him Ahban and Molid.

Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant as wife; and she bore him Attai.

Ephah, Caleb’s concubine, bore Haran, Moza, and Gazez; and Haran became the father of Gazez.

Maacah, Caleb’s concubine, bore Sheber and Tirhanah.

Now these were the sons of David, who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second, Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess;

the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith;

the fifth, Shephatiah of Abital; the sixth, Ithream by Eglah his wife:

and these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon, four, by Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel;

Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.

The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon; and Mered’s wife bore Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa.

His wife the Jewess bore Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. These are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took.

The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the fathers of Keilah the Garmite and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.

With them, by their generations, after their fathers’ houses, were bands of the army for war, thirty-six thousand; for they had many wives and sons.

Machir took a wife of Huppim and Shuppim, whose sister’s name was Maacah. The name of the second was Zelophehad; and Zelophehad had daughters.

Maacah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she named him Peresh. The name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rakem.

He went in to his wife, and she conceived and bore a son, and he named him Beriah, because there was trouble with his house.

Shaharaim became the father of children in the field of Moab, after he had sent them away. Hushim and Baara were his wives.

By Hodesh his wife, he became the father of Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam,

The father of Gibeon, whose wife’s name was Maacah, lived in Gibeon

Jeiel the father of Gibeon, whose wife’s name was Maacah, lived in Gibeon.

David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David became the father of more sons and daughters.

Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters only; and their relatives, the sons of Kish, took them as wives.

Rehoboam took a wife for himself, Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse.

After her, he took Maacah the granddaughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.

Rehoboam loved Maacah the granddaughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and became the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

He dealt wisely, and dispersed some of his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to every fortified city. He gave them food in abundance; and he sought many wives for them.

He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did Ahab’s house, for he had Ahab’s daughter as his wife. He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight.

Jehoiada took for him two wives, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as his wife. Then a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle.

Of the children of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Hakkoz, and the children of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name.

For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy offspring have mixed themselves with the peoples of the lands. Yes, the hand of the princes and rulers has been chief in this trespass.”

Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered Ezra, “We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land. Yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.

Now therefore let’s make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and those who are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God. Let it be done according to the law.

Amongst the sons of the priests there were found who had married foreign women: of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.

All these had taken foreign wives. Some of them had wives by whom they had children.

For there were many in Judah sworn to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah; and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as wife.

Of the priests: the children of Hobaiah, the children of Hakkoz, the children of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name.

and that we would not give our daughters to the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons;

In those days I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab;

I contended with them, cursed them, struck certain of them, plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves.

Didn’t Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet amongst many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless foreign women caused even him to sin.

Shall we then listen to you to do all this great evil, to trespass against our God in marrying foreign women?”

For this deed of the queen will become known to all women, causing them to show contempt for their husbands when it is reported, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she didn’t come.’

When the king’s decree which he shall make is published throughout all his kingdom (for it is great), all the wives will give their husbands honour, both great and small.”

for he sent letters into all the king’s provinces, into every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, that every man should rule his own house, speaking in the language of his own people.

My breath is offensive to my wife. I am loathsome to the children of my own mother.

“If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door,

then let my wife grind for another, and let others sleep with her.

For that would be a heinous crime. Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,

For the Chief Musician. Set to “The Lilies.” A contemplation by the sons of Korah. A wedding song. My heart overflows with a noble theme. I recite my verses for the king. My tongue is like the pen of a skilful writer.

So the king will desire your beauty, honour him, for he is your lord.

Fire devoured their young men. Their virgins had no wedding song.

Your wife will be as a fruitful vine in the innermost parts of your house, your children like olive shoots around your table.

A worthy woman is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful wife is as rottenness in his bones.

Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favour of the LORD.

A foolish son is the calamity of his father. A wife’s quarrels are a continual dripping.

House and riches are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.

It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop than to share a house with a contentious woman.

A continual dropping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike:

for an unloved woman when she is married, and a servant who is heir to her mistress.

The heart of her husband trusts in her. He shall have no lack of gain.

She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.

Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity, for that is your portion in life, and in your labour in which you labour under the sun.

My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh, that lies between my breasts.

My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.

Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are like doves.

Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant; and our couch is verdant.

The beams of our house are cedars. Our rafters are firs.

I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

As a lily amongst thorns, so is my love amongst the daughters.

As the apple tree amongst the trees of the wood, so is my beloved amongst the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, his fruit was sweet to my taste.

He brought me to the banquet hall. His banner over me is love.

Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am faint with love.

My beloved is mine, and I am his. He browses amongst the lilies.

Go out, you daughters of Zion, and see King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother has crowned him, in the day of his weddings, in the day of the gladness of his heart.

Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon. Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards.

You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride. You have ravished my heart with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck.

How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, the fragrance of your perfumes than all kinds of spices!

Your lips, my bride, drip like the honeycomb. Honey and milk are under your tongue. The smell of your garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

My sister, my bride, is a locked up garden; a locked up spring, a sealed fountain.

Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits, henna with spikenard plants,

spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree; myrrh and aloes, with all the best spices,

a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, flowing streams from Lebanon.

Awake, north wind, and come, you south! Blow on my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and taste his precious fruits.

I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Friends Eat, friends! Drink, yes, drink abundantly, beloved.

For your Maker is your husband; the LORD of Armies is his name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of the whole earth.

For the LORD has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off,” says your God.

You will not be called Forsaken any more, nor will your land be called Desolate any more; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD delights in you, and your land will be married.

For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you. As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.

“Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number.

“They say, ‘If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man’s, should he return to her again?’ Wouldn’t that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me,” says the LORD.

“Return, backsliding children,” says the LORD, “for I am a husband to you. I will take one of you from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

“Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with me, house of Israel,” says the LORD.

“How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes’ houses.

They were as fed horses roaming at large. Everyone neighed after his neighbour’s wife.

Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land will become a waste.”

“You shall not take a wife, neither shall you have sons or daughters, in this place.”

For the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

Take wives and father sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, and don’t be diminished.

The women said, “When we burnt incense to the queen of the sky and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?”

“‘“Adulterous wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband!

You are the daughter of your mother, who loathes her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

or who does not do any of those things but has eaten at the mountain shrines and defiled his neighbour’s wife,

who hasn’t eaten on the mountains, hasn’t lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hasn’t defiled his neighbour’s wife,

One has committed abomination with his neighbour’s wife, and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law. Another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter.

You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbour’s wife. So should you possess the land?”’

They shall not take for their wives a widow, or her who is put away; but they shall take virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

He will set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and with him equitable conditions. He will perform them. He will give him the daughter of women, to destroy the kingdom, but she will not stand, and won’t be for him.

When the LORD spoke at first by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and children of unfaithfulness; for the land commits great adultery, forsaking the LORD.”

So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bore him a son.

Contend with your mother! Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her prostitution from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

It will be in that day,” says the LORD, “that you will call me ‘my husband,’ and no longer call me ‘my master.’

I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion.

I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD.

Jacob fled into the country of Aram. Israel served to get a wife. For a wife he tended flocks and herds.

Don’t trust in a neighbour. Don’t put confidence in a friend. With the woman lying in your embrace, be careful of the words of your mouth!

Yet you say, ‘Why?’ Because the LORD has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and the wife of your covenant.

Did he not make you one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

One who hates and divorces”, says the LORD, the God of Israel, “covers his garment with violence!” says the LORD of Armies. “Therefore pay attention to your spirit, that you don’t be unfaithful.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this: After his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly.

But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself;

and didn’t know her sexually until she had given birth to her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery;’

but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.

“It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’

but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.

For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife.

For John said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

Pharisees came to him, testing him and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,

and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh’?

So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.”

They asked him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and divorce her?”

He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so.

I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery.”

His disciples said to him, “If this is the case of the man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.”

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a wedding feast for his son,

saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.’

Now there were with us seven brothers. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother.

In the same way, the second also, and the third, to the seventh.

In the resurrection therefore, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had her.”

For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like God’s angels in heaven.

For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ship,

“Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Jesus said to them, “Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they can’t fast.

For Herod himself had sent out and arrested John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, for he had married her.

For John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

Pharisees came to him testing him, and asked him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

They said, “Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be written, and to divorce her.”

But Jesus said to them, “For your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment.

But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.

For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will join to his wife,

and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.

What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.

If a woman herself divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

“Teacher, Moses wrote to us, ‘If a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife behind him, and leaves no children, that his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.’

There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying left no offspring.

The second took her, and died, leaving no children behind him. The third likewise;

and the seven took her and left no children. Last of all the woman also died.

In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be of them? For the seven had her as a wife.”

For when they will rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the priestly division of Abijah. He had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary.

to enrol himself with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him as wife, being pregnant.

There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity,

“Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’

“If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple.

“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. He who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.

They ate, they drank, they married, and they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ship, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

They asked him, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should take the wife and raise up children for his brother.

There were therefore seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died childless.

The second took her as wife, and he died childless.

The third took her, and likewise the seven all left no children, and died.

Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them will she be? For the seven had her as a wife.”

Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and are given in marriage.

But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.

The third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there.

Jesus also was invited, with his disciples, to the wedding.

He 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. Therefore my joy is made full.

The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’

for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.”

But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,

He found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them,

After some days, Felix came with Drusilla his wife, who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ Jesus.

For the woman that has a husband is bound by law to the husband while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is discharged from the law of the husband.

So then if, while the husband lives, she is joined to another man, she would be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she is joined to another man.

Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, “The two”, he says, “will become one flesh.”

Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman.

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

Let the husband give his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife her husband.

The wife doesn’t have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise also the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

Don’t deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that Satan doesn’t tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am.

But if they don’t have self-control, let them marry. For it’s better to marry than to burn with passion.

But to the married I command—not I, but the Lord—that the wife not leave her husband

(but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband not leave his wife.

But to the rest I—not the Lord—say, if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is content to live with him, let him not leave her.

The woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he is content to live with her, let her not leave her husband.

For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage 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?

Are you bound to a wife? Don’t seek to be freed. Are you free from a wife? Don’t seek a wife.

But if you marry, you have not sinned. If a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have oppression in the flesh, and I want to spare you.

But I say this, brothers: the time is short. From now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none;

But I desire to have you to be free from cares. He who is unmarried is concerned for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;

but he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife.

There is also a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband.

But if any man thinks that he is behaving inappropriately towards his virgin, if she is past the flower of her age, and if need so requires, let him do what he desires. He doesn’t sin. Let them marry.

So then both he who gives his own virgin in marriage does well, and he who doesn’t give her in marriage does better.

A wife is bound by law for as long as her husband lives; but if the husband is dead, she is free to be married to whomever she desires, only in the Lord.

Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?

But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

if they desire to learn anything. “Let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is shameful for a wife to be talking in the assembly.”

For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you in marriage to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the saviour of the body.

But as the assembly is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly and gave himself up for her,

Even so husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.

“For this cause a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife. Then the two will become one flesh.”

Nevertheless each of you must also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

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

Husbands, love your wives, and don’t be bitter against them.

The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching;

Let servants be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

Let no one be enrolled as a widow under sixty years old, having been the wife of one man,

But refuse younger widows, for when they have grown wanton against Christ, they desire to marry,

I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household, and give no occasion to the adversary for insulting.

if anyone is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, who are not accused of loose or unruly behaviour.

that they may train the young wives to love their husbands, to love their children,

to be sober minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that God’s word may not be blasphemed.

Let marriage be held in honour amongst all, and let the bed be undefiled; but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

In the same way, wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, so that, even if any don’t obey the Word, they may be won by the behaviour of their wives without a word,

For this is how in the past the holy women who hoped in God also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands.

So Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose children you now are if you do well and are not put in fear by any terror.

You husbands, in the same way, live with your wives according to knowledge, giving honour to the woman as to the weaker vessel, as also being joint heirs of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

Let’s rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let’s give the glory to him. For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.”

He said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.’” He said to me, “These are true words of God.”

I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls which were loaded with the seven last plagues came, and he spoke with me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”