What Does the Bible Say About Pastors Marrying?

2 Timothy 4:2 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

1 Timothy 3:2 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

Ephesians 4:11 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,

Jeremiah 3:15 ESV / 9 helpful votes

“‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 8 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

James 3:1 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

Hebrews 13:17 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Titus 1:5-9 ESV / 7 helpful votes

This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

Acts 20:28 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

John 3:16-17 ESV / 7 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

1 Timothy 5:8 ESV / 6 helpful votes

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

1 Peter 5:1-5 ESV / 5 helpful votes

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

1 Peter 5:1-4 ESV / 5 helpful votes

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

1 Peter 3:15 ESV / 5 helpful votes

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

James 1:22 ESV / 5 helpful votes

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Titus 2:3-5 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Titus 1:5 ESV / 5 helpful votes

This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—

1 Timothy 3:1-13 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? ...

1 Timothy 3:1 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

Colossians 3:12 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

Philippians 4:19 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:4 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Ephesians 5:25 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

Ephesians 4:11-12 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

Galatians 6:9 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Galatians 3:28 ESV / 5 helpful votes

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 ESV / 5 helpful votes

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV / 5 helpful votes

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Romans 12:1-13:13 ESV / 5 helpful votes

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ...

Matthew 6:1-34 ESV / 5 helpful votes

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ...

Micah 6:8 ESV / 5 helpful votes

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Jeremiah 10:21 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For the shepherds are stupid and do not inquire of the Lord; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.

Jeremiah 2:8 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.

Proverbs 27:23 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds,

Genesis 2:24 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

2 Corinthians 11:2 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

1 Corinthians 7:1-40 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ...

Matthew 6:33 ESV / 4 helpful votes

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

1 Peter 5:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;

Hebrews 13:4 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Ephesians 5:31 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

1 Timothy 3:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

Ephesians 5:22-33 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ...

Ephesians 4:1-3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Galatians 6:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

1 Corinthians 7:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.

John 3:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Mark 10:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes

What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Matthew 19:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

Matthew 19:4-6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Matthew 5:32 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Song of Solomon 8:6-7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. 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.

Genesis 2:25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Genesis 2:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

Genesis 1:27-28 ESV / 2 helpful votes

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

56 Bible Verses about Pastors Marrying

2 Timothy 4:2 ESV / 12 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Timothy 3:2 ESV / 10 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ephesians 4:11 ESV / 9 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Jeremiah 3:15 ESV / 9 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 8 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

James 3:1 ESV / 7 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Hebrews 13:17 ESV / 7 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Titus 1:5-9 ESV / 7 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Acts 20:28 ESV / 7 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

John 3:16-17 ESV / 7 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Timothy 5:8 ESV / 6 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Peter 5:1-5 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Peter 5:1-4 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Peter 3:15 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

James 1:22 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Titus 2:3-5 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Titus 1:5 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Timothy 3:1-13 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Timothy 3:1 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Colossians 3:12 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Philippians 4:19 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Philippians 2:4 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ephesians 5:25 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ephesians 4:11-12 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Galatians 6:9 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Galatians 3:28 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Romans 12:1-13:13 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 6:1-34 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Micah 6:8 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Jeremiah 10:21 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Jeremiah 2:8 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 27:23 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 2:24 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

2 Corinthians 11:2 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Corinthians 7:1-40 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 6:33 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Peter 5:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Hebrews 13:4 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ephesians 5:31 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Timothy 3:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ephesians 5:22-33 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ephesians 4:1-3 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Galatians 6:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Corinthians 7:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

John 3:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Mark 10:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 19:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 19:4-6 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 5:32 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Song of Solomon 8:6-7 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 2:25 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 2:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 1:27-28 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Suggest a Verse

Enter a Verse Reference (e.g., John 3:16-17)