Wedding Readings from the Old Testament 

Old Testament Wedding Reading – Sample 1
Genesis 2:18-24

A Reading from the Book of Genesis
The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."  Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.  So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.  But for Adam no suitable helper was found.  So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh.  Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.  The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman, 'for she was taken out of man."  For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
The Word of the Lord

Old Testament Wedding Reading – Sample 2 
Songs of Songs 2:8-10, 13b-14, 16; 8:6-7

A Reading from the Book of Songs of Songs 
Listen! My beloved! Behold, he is coming, Climbing on the mountains, Leaping on the hills!  My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he is standing behind our wall, He is looking through the windows, He is peering through the lattice.  My beloved responded and said to me, 'Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along.  Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along!'"  "O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret place of the steep pathway, Let me see your form, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your form is lovely… "My beloved is mine, and I am his… Put me like a seal over your heart, Like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, Jealousy is as severe as Sheol; Its flashes are flashes of fire, The very flame of the LORD.  "Many waters cannot quench love, Nor will rivers overflow it; If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, It would be utterly despised."
The Word of the Lord 

Old Testament Wedding Reading – Sample 3
Sirach 26:1-4; 13-16 

A Reading from the Book of Sirach  
Happy is the husband of a good wife; the number of his days will be doubled.  A loyal wife rejoices her husband, and he will complete his years in peace.  A good wife is a great blessing; she will be granted among the blessings of the man who fears the Lord.  Whether rich or poor, his heart is glad, and at all times his face is cheerful.  A wife's charm delights her husband, and her skill puts fat on his bones.  A silent wife is a gift of the Lord, and there is nothing so precious as a disciplined soul.  A modest wife adds charm to charm, and no balance can weigh the value of a chaste soul.  Like the sun rising in the heights of the Lord, so is the beauty of a good wife in her well-ordered home.
The Word of the Lord 

 Additional list of suggestions

• Genesis 1:26-28,31a  (The Creation of Man and Woman)

• Genesis 24:48-51,58-67 (The Meeting of Isaac and Rebekah)

• Tobit 7:9c10,11c-17 (The Marriage of Tobias and Sarah)

• Tobit 8:4-9 (Prayer of the New Spouses)

• Jeremiah 31:31-32a,33-34a (The New Covenant of the People of God)