The best Bible verses for marriage (ESV) include passages about God's love, strength, and guidance. This page features 15+ carefully curated Scripture passages for marriage (ESV), each selected for its relevance and depth. Read, save, and share the perfect verse for your situation.
"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant"1 Corinthians 13:4
"And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."Colossians 3:14
"Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."Genesis 2:24
"Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."1 Corinthians 13:7
"Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised."Song of Solomon 8:7
"And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him — a threefold cord is not quickly broken."Ecclesiastes 4:12
"Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart."Proverbs 3:3
"Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous."Hebrews 13:4
Occasions ask something specific of scripture. A verse chosen for marriage (ESV) is usually going to be read aloud, printed in a program, or spoken to someone at a moment they will remember for a long time — which rules out passages that need three sentences of setup before they land.
These 15 are the verses most often chosen for marriage (ESV), and they are chosen for good reason: each one makes sense on first hearing, carries its meaning without commentary, and speaks to the moment rather than around it.
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The most-cited Bible verses for marriage (ESV) are 1 Corinthians 13:4, Ephesians 5:25, Colossians 3:14. This page collects 15 of them, each with its full passage, context and the text in six translations.
Read the verse in its surrounding passage before you use it — a verse that fits in isolation sometimes says something different in context. Compare two translations where the wording is unclear, and pick for the person who will read it rather than for the theme.
Scripture returns to marriage (ESV) across both testaments rather than settling it in one passage, which is why the verses on this page do not all say the same thing. Read together they give a fuller answer than any single verse does.
There is no single best translation. The NIV and NLT read most naturally and communicate well to someone outside the church; the ESV and NASB stay closer to the original wording; the KJV carries the phrasing most people recognise. Every verse here links to a page showing all six side by side.
More than any page can list. This one carries the 15 that are most often turned to for marriage (ESV), chosen so each stands on its own and links through to the full chapter it belongs to.