12 Bible Verses for a Wedding

A wedding is a covenant — and covenant is God's language. These verses belong in vows, programs, toasts, and the quiet prayer the couple prays the night before. Read them slowly; they're the foundation a marriage stands on.

1. 1.

   1 Corinthians 13:4–7

   "Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn't envy. Love doesn't brag, is not proud, doesn't behave itself inappropriately, doesn't seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn't rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

   The wedding passage. But notice — every word here is a verb. Love isn't a feeling on the wedding day; it's a thousand decisions over the marriage.

2. 2.

   Genesis 2:24

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

   The first wedding sentence God ever spoke. Leave, cleave, become one — in that order, on purpose.

3. 3.

   Ecclesiastes 4:9–12

   "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor… A threefold cord is not quickly broken."

   Two becomes a stronger one. Three — when God is the third strand — becomes nearly unbreakable. Build your marriage as a threefold cord.

4. 4.

   Song of Solomon 8:6–7

   "Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death… Many waters can't quench love, neither can floods drown it."

   The most romantic passage in Scripture. Love that nothing can drown. That's the vow.

5. 5.

   Matthew 19:6

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

   God is the one doing the joining. The couple stays married by the strength of that, not their own.

6. 6.

   Colossians 3:14

   "Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection."

   Above patience, above kindness, above all the other virtues — love. It's the thread that holds the whole thing together.

7. 7.

   Ephesians 5:25

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

   The pattern for husbands is the cross. Loving the way Jesus loved the church — that's the bar.

8. 8.

   Proverbs 18:22

   "Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from Yahweh."

   A spouse from God is favor, not luck. Treat her — treat him — as a gift you didn't earn.

9. 9.

   Romans 12:10

   "In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor preferring one another."

   Honor first. Affection second. Marriage that lasts puts the other person ahead by reflex.

10. 10.

    1 Peter 4:8

    "Above all things be earnest in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins."

    You'll need love that covers — because every marriage has things to cover for. Forgiveness is the daily oxygen.

11. 11.

    Jeremiah 31:3

    "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness."

    His love is the model for the love you're entering. Everlasting. Kind. Drawing the other person toward Him through it.

12. 12.

    1 Corinthians 13:13

    "But now faith, hope, and love remain — these three. The greatest of these is love."

    Three things outlast the wedding day. Build your marriage on all three — love most of all.

May the Lord bless your marriage all the days of it. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), which is in the public domain.