Bible-Reading.comGenesis 2:18-24
18The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
19Out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name.
20The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him.
21The LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
22The LORD God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
23The 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.”
24Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.
Ruth 4
1Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there. Behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by. Boaz said to him, “Come over here, friend, and sit down!” He came over, and sat down.
2Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here,” and they sat down.
3He said to the near kinsman, “Naomi, who has come back out of the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s.
4I thought I should tell you, saying, ‘Buy it before those who sit here, and before the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know. For there is no one to redeem it besides you; and I am after you.” He said, “I will redeem it.”
5Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must buy it also from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance.”
6The near kinsman said, “I can’t redeem it for myself, lest I endanger my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself; for I can’t redeem it.”
7Now this was the custom in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: a man took off his sandal, and gave it to his neighbor; and this was the way of formalizing transactions in Israel.
8So the near kinsman said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” then he took off his sandal.
9Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses today, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi.
10Moreover, 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 among his brothers and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses today.”
11All 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.
12Let your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the offspring which the LORD will give you by this young woman.”
13So 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.
14The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you today without a near kinsman. Let his name be famous in Israel.
15He shall be to you a restorer of life and sustain you in your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”
16Naomi took the child, laid him in her bosom, and became nurse to him.
17The women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi”. They named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
18Now this is the history of the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron,
19and Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab,
20and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmon,
21and Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed,
22and Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.
Proverbs 5:15-19
15Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
16Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
17Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
18Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19A loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.
Proverbs 18:22
22Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the LORD.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
9Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.
10For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn’t have another to lift him up.
11Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one keep warm alone?
12If a man prevails against one who is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Matthew 19:5-6
5and 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’?
6So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.”
Mark 10:6-9
6But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.
7For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will join to his wife,
8and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.
9What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
John 2:1-11
1The third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there.
2Jesus also was invited, with his disciples, to the wedding.
3When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine.”
4Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My hour has not yet come.”
5His mother said to the servants, “Whatever he says to you, do it.”
6Now there were six water pots of stone set there after the Jews’ way of purifying, containing two or three metretes apiece.
7Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim.
8He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the ruler of the feast.” So they took it.
9When the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and didn’t know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom
10and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have drunk freely, then that which is worse. You have kept the good wine until now!”
11This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
I Corinthians 7
1Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman.
2But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
3Let the husband give his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife her husband.
4The 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.
5Don’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.
6But this I say by way of concession, not of commandment.
7Yet I wish that all men were like me. However, each man has his own gift from God, one of this kind, and another of that kind.
8But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am.
9But if they don’t have self-control, let them marry. For it’s better to marry than to burn with passion.
10But to the married I command—not I, but the Lord—that the wife not leave her husband
11(but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband not leave his wife.
12But 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.
13The woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he is content to live with her, let her not leave her husband.
14For 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.
15Yet 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.
16For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
17Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk. So I command in all the assemblies.
18Was anyone called having been circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised.
19Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is keeping God’s commandments.
20Let each man stay in that calling in which he was called.
21Were you called being a bondservant? Don’t let that bother you, but if you get an opportunity to become free, use it.
22For he who was called in the Lord being a bondservant is the Lord’s free man. Likewise he who was called being free is Christ’s bondservant.
23You were bought with a price. Don’t become bondservants of men.
24Brothers, let each man, in whatever condition he was called, stay in that condition with God.
25Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be trustworthy.
26Therefore I think that because of the distress that is on us, it’s good for a man to remain as he is.
27Are you bound to a wife? Don’t seek to be freed. Are you free from a wife? Don’t seek a wife.
28But 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.
29But I say this, brothers: the time is short. From now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none;
30and those who weep, as though they didn’t weep; and those who rejoice, as though they didn’t rejoice; and those who buy, as though they didn’t possess;
31and those who use the world, as not using it to the fullest. For the mode of this world passes away.
32But 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;
33but he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife.
34There 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.
35This I say for your own benefit, not that I may ensnare you, but for that which is appropriate, and that you may attend to the Lord without distraction.
36But if any man thinks that he is behaving inappropriately toward 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.
37But he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no urgency, but has power over his own will, and has determined in his own heart to keep his own virgin, does well.
38So then both he who gives his own virgin in marriage does well, and he who doesn’t give her in marriage does better.
39A 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.
40But she is happier if she stays as she is, in my judgment, and I think that I also have God’s Spirit.
I Corinthians 11:3, 8-9
3But 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.
8For man is not from woman, but woman from man;
9for man wasn’t created for the woman, but woman for the man.
I Corinthians 13:1-13
1If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
2If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing.
3If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing.
4Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,
5doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil;
6doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.
9For we know in part and we prophesy in part;
10but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with.
11When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things.
12For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.
13But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.
II Corinthians 6:14
14Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
Ephesians 5:22-33
22Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the body.
24But as the assembly is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything.
25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly and gave himself up for her,
26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without defect.
28Even so husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.
29For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord also does the assembly,
30because we are members of his body, of his flesh and bones.
31“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.”
32This mystery is great, but I speak concerning Christ and the assembly.
33Nevertheless each of you must also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Colossians 3:18-19
18Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19Husbands, love your wives, and don’t be bitter against them.
Hebrews 13:4
4Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled; but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
I Peter 3:1-7
1In 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 behavior of their wives without a word,
2seeing your pure behavior in fear.
3Let your beauty come not from the outward adorning of braiding your hair, and of wearing gold ornaments or of putting on fine clothing,
4but from the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight.
5For this is how in the past the holy women who hoped in God also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands.
6So Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose children you now are if you do well and are not put in fear by any terror.
7You husbands, in the same way, live with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor 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.
Revelation 19:7-9
7Let’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.”
8It was given to her that she would array herself in bright, pure, fine linen, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
9He 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.”