Unequally yoked

To be unequally yoked is to be bound together with an unbeliever. Believers are not to be yoked with unbelievers and are to marry only in the Lord, and Israel was forbidden to intermarry with nations that would turn their hearts after other gods. A believer already married to an unbeliever who is pleased to dwell with him or her is not to depart.

Not yoked with unbelievers

• 2 Corinthians 6:14-16
  ¹⁴Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? ¹⁵And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? ¹⁶And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”
  Show context · Read 2 Corinthians 6 →
• 1 Corinthians 7:39
  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.A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord.
  Show context · Read 1 Corinthians 7 →
• Genesis 24:3-4
  ³And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:and I will have you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am dwelling, ⁴But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.but will go to my country and my kindred to take a wife for my son Isaac.”
  Show context · Read Genesis 24 →

Warnings to Israel

• Deuteronomy 7:3-4
  ³Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, ⁴For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.
  Show context · Read Deuteronomy 7 →
• Exodus 34:15-16
  ¹⁵Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices. ¹⁶And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.
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• Nehemiah 13:23-27
  ²³In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab:In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. ²⁴And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people.Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of the other peoples, but could not speak the language of Judah. ²⁵And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves! ²⁶Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel—yet foreign women drew him into sin. ²⁷Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives?Must we now hear that you too are doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?”
  Show context · Read Nehemiah 13 →
• 1 Kings 11:1-4
  ¹But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women. ²Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love. ³And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away. ⁴For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.
  Show context · Read 1 Kings 11 →

Married to an unbeliever

• 1 Corinthians 7:12-16
  ¹²But 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.To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. ¹³And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.And if a woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. ¹⁴For 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.For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. ¹⁵But 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.But if the unbeliever leaves, let him go. The believing brother or sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace. ¹⁶For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
  Show context · Read 1 Corinthians 7 →
• 1 Peter 3:1-2
  ¹Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives ²While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.when they see your pure and reverent demeanor.
  Show context · Read 1 Peter 3 →

See also

• Marriage
• Dating
• Divorce
• Wives
• Solomon

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.