priests not marrying
What does the Bible say about priests not marrying? These are the passages readers found most helpful — tap any citation to read it in context.
11 passages · most helpful first
32But I would prefer you to be without worry. Whoever is without a wife is worried about the things of the Lord, as to how he may please God. 33But whoever is with a wife is worried about the things of the world, as to how he may please his wife. And so, he is divided. 34And the unmarried woman and the virgin think about the things that are of the Lord, so that she may be holy in body and in spirit. But she who is married thinks about the things that are of the world, as to how she may please her husband.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and handed himself over for her,
27Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be freed. Are you free of a wife? Do not seek a wife.
12For there are chaste persons who were born so from their mother’s womb, and there are chaste persons who have been made so by men, and there are chaste persons who have made themselves chaste for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever is able to grasp this, let him grasp it.”
1Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2But, because of fornication, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. 3A husband should fulfill his obligation to his wife, and a wife should also act similarly toward her husband. 4It is not the wife, but the husband, who has power over her body. But, similarly also, it is not the husband, but the wife, who has power over his body. 5So, do not fail in your obligations to one another, except perhaps by consent, for a limited time, so that you may empty yourselves for prayer. And then, return together again, lest Satan tempt you by means of your abstinence. 6But I am saying this, neither as an indulgence, nor as a commandment.
7They shall not take as a wife a promiscuous woman, or a prostitute, or her who has been repudiated by her husband. For they are consecrated to their God,
2Therefore, it is necessary for a bishop to be beyond reproach, the husband of one wife, sober, prudent, gracious, chaste, hospitable, a teacher,
32But I would prefer you to be without worry. Whoever is without a wife is worried about the things of the Lord, as to how he may please God.
1Now the Spirit has clearly said that, in the end times, some persons will depart from the faith, paying attention to spirits of error and the doctrines of devils, 2speaking lies in hypocrisy, and having their consciences seared, 3prohibiting marriage, abstaining from foods, which God has created to be accepted with thanksgiving by the faithful and by those who have understood the truth. 4For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected which is received with thanksgiving; 5for it has been sanctified by the Word of God and by prayer. 6By proposing these things to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished by words of faith, and by the good doctrine that you have secured.
5For the young man will live with the virgin, and your children will live with you. And the groom will rejoice over the bride, and your God will rejoice over you.
29And anyone who has left behind home, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land, for the sake of my name, shall receive one hundred times more, and shall possess eternal life.