Readings
The Bride and Groom may choose to have a friend or family member read one or two Lessons (passages from the Bible) that are relevant to marriage. Such passages may include:
Poems/Literature:
- "The Irrational Season" by Madeleine L'Engle
- "Gift from the Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- "A History of Love" by Diane Ackerman
- "A Marriage" by Michael Blumenthal
- "A New Beginning" by Gwen Frostic
- "Dove Poem" by Anonymous
- "Fidelity" by Dorothy Colgan
- Hindu Marriage Poem
- "Hope is the Thing with Feathers" by Emily Dickenson
- "How do I Love Thee" by Elizabeth Browning
- "In Love Made Visible" by Mary Swenson
- "Love" by Roy Croft
- "Love Lives" by John Clare
- "Love's Philosophy" by Percy Shelley
- "Marriage" by Mary Fordham
- "My Love" by Linda Elrod
- "My True Love" by Sir Phillip Sydney
- Sonnet 69 by Pablo Neurda
- "Perfect Love" by Anonymous
- Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
- "She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron
- "Somewhere I Have Never Traveled" by EE Cummings
- "Sudden Light" by Dante Rossetti
- "The Passionate Shepherd to his Love" by Christopher Marlowe
- "The Seven Blessings" by Anonymous
- "Till Death do us Part" by Carol Bos
- "Touched by an Angel" by Maya Angelou
- "True Love" by Anonymous
- "Why Marriage" by Mari Nichols-Haining
Old Testament Readings:
- Genesis 1:26-31 Male and female created by God
- Genesis 2:18-24 God creates man and woman
- Genesis 24:48-51,58-67 Marriage of Isaac and Rebekah
- Ruth 1:16-17 "Do not press me to leave you"
- Song of Solomon 2:10-13 Love in the Spring
- Song of Solomon 5:16 What my lover is like
- Song of Solomon 8:7 Unquenchable love
- Isaiah 61:10-11 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord
- Isaiah 63:7-9 The steadfast love of God
- Jeremiah 32:38-41 God's faithfulness
- Jeremiah 33:11 The voice…of gladness
- Psalm 127: God's Blessings in the Home
- Psalm 128: The Happy Home of the Faithful
- Psalm 136: God's Work in Creation & History
- Hosea 2:19-20 "And I will take you for my wife forever"
New Testament Letters:
- Romans 12:1-2 The New Life in Christ
- I Corinthians 7:1-7 Directions Concerning Marriage
- I Corinthians 12:31-13:13 The Gift of Love
- Ephesians 5:21-33 The Christian Household
- Colossians 3:12-17 Live in love and thanksgiving
- Philippians 2:5-11 Attitudes to build a marriage
- I John 3:16; 4:7-19 God is Love
The Gospels: