Bible Verses for Relationships & Friendship
King James Version (KJV)
Human beings are wired for connection — "it is not good for man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18). The Bible has profound things to say about friendship, community, and how we relate to one another. Proverbs 17:17 says "a friend loves at all times," and John 15:13 describes the highest form of love as laying down one's life for a friend.
These Bible verses on relationships speak to friendships, family bonds, and the qualities that make relationships thrive — loyalty, honesty, forgiveness, and love. They are especially for those seeking to build better relationships or navigate difficult ones.
“¶ Charity suffereth long, [and] is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,”
“Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;”
“Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”
“Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;”
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
“But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such [cases]: but God hath called us to peace.”
“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
“Nevertheless, [to avoid] fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.”
“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
“But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to [her] husband: and let not the husband put away [his] wife.”
“¶ And unto the married I command, [yet] not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from [her] husband:”
“For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.”
“And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.”
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?”
“¶ Charity never faileth: but whether [there be] prophecies, they shall fail; whether [there be] tongues, they shall cease; whether [there be] knowledge, it shall vanish away.”
“But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.”
“I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.”
“¶ The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.”
“Defraud ye not one the other, except [it be] with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.”
“For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save [thy] husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save [thy] wife?”
“But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.”
“Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.”
“Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”
“For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.”
“But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:”
“There is difference [also] between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please [her] husband.”
“The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.”
“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
“But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please [his] wife.”
“And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.”