Sex

Sex is the union of husband and wife, created by God and given within marriage. The two become one flesh, husband and wife owe each other due benevolence, and the marriage bed is to be kept undefiled.

Created for marriage

• Genesis 1:27-28
  ²⁷So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”
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• Genesis 2:24-25
  ²⁴Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. ²⁵And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
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• Matthew 19:4-6
  ⁴And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ ⁵And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? ⁶Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
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Delight in marriage

• Proverbs 5:18-19
  ¹⁸Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth: ¹⁹Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.A loving doe, a graceful fawn— may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever.
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• Ecclesiastes 9:9
  Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.
  Show context · Read Ecclesiastes 9 →
• Song of Solomon 4:9-10
  ⁹Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your neck. ¹⁰How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! Your love is much better than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than all spices.
  Show context · Read Song of Solomon 4 →
• Song of Solomon 7:10
  I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.
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Duty of husband and wife

• 1 Corinthians 7:2
  Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
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• 1 Corinthians 7:3-5
  ³Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴The 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.The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife. ⁵Defraud 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.Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack of self-control.
  Show context · Read 1 Corinthians 7 →

The marriage bed undefiled

• Hebrews 13:4
  Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
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• 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
  ³For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, ⁵Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;
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• 1 Corinthians 6:18-20
  ¹⁸Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. ¹⁹What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.
  Show context · Read 1 Corinthians 6 →
• Song of Solomon 2:7
  I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
  Show context · Read Song of Solomon 2 →

See also

• Marriage
• Sexual immorality
• Lust
• Husbands
• Wives

Notes

1. Verses are quoted in the translation chosen in the Translation menu at the top of the page. See Translations for sources and copyright notices.
2. Each reference links to the full chapter so the verse can be read in context.