Bible Verses About Relationships
How to be near another person well
A daily prayer & verse
Scripture to help you thrive in love, wealth, and health — a little light in your inbox.
The Bible has less to say about romance than people expect, and far more about how to live close to another person over time. Most of these verses are about friendship, community, and the daily work of bearing with someone. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 is the classic case for not going it alone. 1 Corinthians 13 is read at weddings but was written to a church that was falling out. These are the verses people reach for when a relationship is good and they want to keep it, or when it is strained and they want to know what to do next.
12 verses about relationships
- Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
- “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labour. For 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. Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one keep warm alone? If a man prevails against one who is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
- The case against going it alone: two lift each other, keep each other warm, hold the line.
- Proverbs 27:17
- “Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.”
- Iron sharpens iron. A real friend changes you, and the process is not always comfortable.
- Ephesians 4:2-3
- “with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
- The plain instructions for staying together: humility, patience, bearing with one another in love.
- 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, and endures all things.”
- The wedding passage, written to a divided church. Love as patient, unenvious, hard-working verbs.
- Romans 12:10
- “In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honour prefer one another,”
- Be tenderly affectionate, and in honour prefer one another. Warmth and deference in the same breath.
- Colossians 3:12-14
- “Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do. Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.”
- What to put on for other people: compassion, kindness, forgiveness, and love over the top of it all.
- Amos 3:3
- “Do two walk together, unless they have agreed?”
- Do two walk together unless they have agreed? A quiet question about shared direction.
- 2 Corinthians 6:14
- “Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?”
- The unequal-yoke verse. Often over-applied; it warns against binding partnerships, not all contact.
- Proverbs 13:20
- “One who walks with wise men grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.”
- You become the company you keep. Walk with the wise, or share the harm of fools.
- 1 Peter 4:8
- “And above all things be earnest in your love amongst yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins.”
- Love covers a multitude of sins. Affection that overlooks small offences rather than filing them.
- Philippians 2:3-4
- “doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.”
- Count others better than yourself, and watch their interests too. The antidote to rivalry.
- Galatians 6:2
- “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
- Bear one another's burdens. Carrying weight for each other is named as the whole point.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (British Edition) (Public Domain).
How to use these verses
For a friendship or a marriage worth naming, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 and Proverbs 27:17 travel well and need little explanation. When the trouble is between two people, Ephesians 4:2-3 and Colossians 3:12-14 give you something to actually do: bear with, forgive, keep the peace. Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 slowly rather than sentimentally, because it is a list of hard verbs, not a greeting card. Handle 2 Corinthians 6:14 with care, since it is often stretched to forbid any friendship with people outside the faith, which is more than the verse says.
A moment to reflect
It is worth being honest about how much of this is unglamorous. The Bible spends little time on the spark of a new relationship and a lot of time on the patience it takes to stay. Almost every verse here asks you to give something up: your preference, your record of the offence, your right to be proved right. That is why 1 Corinthians 13 is harder than it sounds at a wedding. If a relationship in your life is strained today, the useful question these verses put to you is not whether the other person has changed, but whether you are willing to bear with them while you both do.
A verse worth keeping, each day
One short note — a verse, a line of context, and nothing else. Start where Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 starts.
Frequently asked
What does the Bible say about relationships?
It treats relationships as work more than feeling. It calls you to humility, patience, and forgiveness (Ephesians 4:2-3, Colossians 3:12-14), and it values honest friendship that sharpens you (Proverbs 27:17). Love is described as a set of actions, not a mood.
What is the best Bible verse about friendship?
Proverbs 27:17 and Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 are the most quoted. Proverbs 27:17 captures how a good friend changes you, while Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 makes the plain case that two are better than one when either of you falls.
Does the Bible say not to date or marry unbelievers?
2 Corinthians 6:14 warns against being unequally yoked, and many read it as guidance on marriage. The verse is broader than dating and is often stretched too far, so it is worth reading it as a caution about binding partnerships rather than a rule against all friendship.