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38 Bible verses about love
Bible verses about love point in three directions: God’s love for each person, the love we owe one another, and the love that binds a couple or friends. John 3:16 is likely the best known, but the first letter of John says it in three words: “God is love.”
This page gathers all three, along with the famous thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians, often read at weddings. The verses are quoted word for word from the King James Version and come from the Selfia app. Note that the King James Version often translates the Greek word agape as “charity,” where newer translations say “love.” It is the same word. You can read them for yourself, give them to someone, or share them as a couple.
Bible verses about God’s love
These verses describe a love that comes before any effort: everlasting in Jeremiah, more faithful than a mother’s memory in Isaiah, stronger than death in Paul. They are worth reading on days when you feel hard to love.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
We love him, because he first loved us.
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.
Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee.
For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Bible verses about loving others
Together with the love of God, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” is how Jesus sums up the whole law. These passages describe a practical love, shown in deed more than in word, that goes as far as laying down one’s life for one’s friends.
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.
1 Corinthians 13: “Charity suffereth long”
The thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians describes love by what it does: it suffers long, it is kind, it does not boast. These verses, with other passages from Paul’s letters, suit a wedding as well as a friendship.
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Let all your things be done with charity.
And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance.
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height.
Bible verses about love in marriage and friendship
The Song of Solomon celebrates a love that many waters cannot quench, Ruth promises to follow Naomi wherever she goes, and Proverbs speaks of a friend who loves at all times. These are texts to slip into an invitation, a toast or a card.
Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.
Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge.
And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
A threefold cord is not quickly broken.
I have called you friends.
Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.
How to use these verses about love
For a wedding, choose one or two short verses rather than a long passage, and check the reference against the Bible used during the ceremony, since translations vary. For a card or a message, one verse from the last section is enough, with a sentence of your own about why you chose it.
For yourself, try a slower reading: take a verse about God’s love, put your own name in place of “us” or “you,” and read it again. Then take a verse about loving others and ask who it brings to mind today.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most famous Bible verse about love?
John 3:16 is probably the most quoted: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” For love between people, 1 Corinthians 13:4 and John 13:34 come up often. Song of Solomon 8:7, “Many waters cannot quench love,” suits a wedding well.
Why does the King James Version say “charity” instead of “love”?
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul uses the Greek word agape, a love given without conditions. The King James translators rendered it “charity,” a word that carried that strong meaning in their day; most modern translations say “love.” The verses on this page keep the wording of the King James Version.
Which Bible verse should we choose for a wedding?
Passages often read include 1 Corinthians 13:4, Ruth 1:16, Song of Solomon 8:7 and Ecclesiastes 4:12, “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Pick a text that sounds like your story, read it aloud before the ceremony, and name the translation in the program.