Bible-Reading.comGenesis 2:18-24
18The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”
19And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
20The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
21So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.
22And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him.
23And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.”
24For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Ruth 4
1Meanwhile, Boaz went to the gate and sat down there. Soon the kinsman-redeemer of whom he had spoken came along, and Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.
2Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.
3And he said to the kinsman-redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the land of Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech.
4I thought I should inform you that you may buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do so. But if you will not redeem it, tell me so I may know, because there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.” “I will redeem it,” he replied.
5Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi and also from Ruth the Moabitess, you must also acquire the widow of the deceased in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.”
6The kinsman-redeemer replied, “I cannot redeem it myself, or I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I cannot redeem it.”
7Now in former times in Israel, concerning the redemption or exchange of property, to make any matter legally binding a man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party, and this was a confirmation in Israel.
8So the kinsman-redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.”
9At this, Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon.
10Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to raise up the name of the deceased through his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his home. You are witnesses today.”
11“We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.
12And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman.”
13So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And when he had relations with her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
14Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a kinsman-redeemer. May his name become famous in Israel.
15He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
16And Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became a nurse to him.
17The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David.
18Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron,
19Hezron was the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab,
20Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, Nahshon was the father of Salmon,
21Salmon was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed,
22Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David.
Proverbs 5:15-19
15Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.
16Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?
17Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.
18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
19A loving doe, a graceful fawn— may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever.
Proverbs 18:22
22He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
9Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.
10For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up!
11Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?
12And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Matthew 19:5-6
5and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?
6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
Mark 10:6-9
6However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’
7‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,
8and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
9Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
John 2:1-11
1On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,
2and Jesus and His disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
3When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to Him, “They have no more wine.”
4“Woman, why does this concern us?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”
6Now six stone water jars had been set there for the Jewish rites of purification. Each could hold from twenty to thirty gallons.
7Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim.
8“Now draw some out,” He said, “and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so,
9and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not know where it was from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside
10and said, “Everyone serves the fine wine first, and then the cheap wine after the guests are drunk. But you have saved the fine wine until now!”
11Jesus performed this, the first of His signs, at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
I Corinthians 7
1Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good to abstain from sexual relations.
2But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
3The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.
4The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife.
5Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack of self-control.
6I say this as a concession, not as a command.
7I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
8Now to the unmarried and widows I say this: It is good for them to remain unmarried, as I am.
9But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
10To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.
11But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
12To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.
13And if a woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.
14For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
15But if the unbeliever leaves, let him go. The believing brother or sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace.
16How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
17Regardless, each one should lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is what I prescribe in all the churches.
18Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when called? He should not be circumcised.
19Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commandments is what counts.
20Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called.
21Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let it concern you—but if you can gain your freedom, take the opportunity.
22For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman. Conversely, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.
23You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
24Brothers, each one should remain in the situation he was in when God called him.
25Now about virgins, I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.
26Because of the present crisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is.
27Are you committed to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you free of commitment? Do not look for a wife.
28But if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
29What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;
30those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing;
31and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
32I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord.
33But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife,
34and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the work of the Lord, how she can be holy in both body and spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, how she can please her husband.
35I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but in order to promote proper decorum and undivided devotion to the Lord.
36However, if someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward his betrothed, and if she is beyond her youth and they ought to marry, let him do as he wishes; he is not sinning; they should get married.
37But the man who is firmly established in his heart and under no constraint, with control over his will and resolve in his heart not to marry the virgin, he will do well.
38So then, he who marries the virgin does well, but he who does not marry her does even better.
39A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord.
40In my judgment, however, she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.
I Corinthians 11:3, 8-9
3But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
8For man did not come from woman, but woman from man.
9Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.
I Corinthians 13:1-13
1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal.
2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs.
6Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth.
7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed.
9For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away.
11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways.
12Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.
II Corinthians 6:14
14Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
Ephesians 5:22-33
22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.
24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her
26to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
27and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.
28In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
29Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.
30For we are members of His body.
31“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”
32This mystery is profound, but I am speaking about Christ and the church.
33Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Colossians 3:18-19
18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
Hebrews 13:4
4Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
I Peter 3:1-7
1Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives
2when they see your pure and reverent demeanor.
3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes,
4but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.
5For this is how the holy women of the past adorned themselves. They put their hope in God and were submissive to their husbands,
6just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. And you are her children if you do what is right and refuse to give way to fear.
7Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
Revelation 19:7-9
7Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.
8She was given clothing of fine linen, bright and pure.” For the fine linen she wears is the righteous acts of the saints.
9Then the angel told me to write, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”