What Does the Bible Say About Parenthood?

Proverbs 22:6 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Psalm 139:13-16 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Jeremiah 1:5 ESV / 5 helpful votes

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Ephesians 6:4 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Exodus 21:22-25 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

Ephesians 6:1-24 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, ...

Luke 2:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

Zechariah 12:1 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him:

Proverbs 13:24 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

Psalm 127:3-5 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Exodus 23:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.

Genesis 25:22 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

Genesis 9:6 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

Genesis 1:27 ESV / 3 helpful votes

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Revelation 21:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Titus 2:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And so train the young women to love their husbands and children,

Colossians 3:1-25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ...

Galatians 3:1-29 ESV / 2 helpful votes

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— ...

Romans 13:1-14 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. ...

Luke 2:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

Luke 2:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Luke 1:44 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

Luke 1:41 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,

Luke 1:36 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

Luke 1:31 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

Luke 1:1-80 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ...

Matthew 1:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Hosea 13:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Samaria shall bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword; their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.

Isaiah 42:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:

Proverbs 19:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.

Proverbs 6:17 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV / 2 helpful votes

There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

Psalm 127:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

Psalm 106:38 ESV / 2 helpful votes

They poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.

Psalm 51:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Psalm 51:1-19 ESV / 2 helpful votes

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. ...

Job 3:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light?

Job 3:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man is conceived.’

1 Samuel 1:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.

Judges 13:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

Deuteronomy 27:25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Exodus 21:1-36 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone. But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ ...

Exodus 20:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“You shall not murder.

Genesis 2:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

Genesis 1:26 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Genesis 1:26-28 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

46 Bible Verses about Parenthood

Proverbs 22:6 ESV / 10 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 139:13-16 ESV / 6 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Jeremiah 1:5 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ephesians 6:4 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Exodus 21:22-25 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ephesians 6:1-24 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 2:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Zechariah 12:1 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 13:24 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 127:3-5 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Exodus 23:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 25:22 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 9:6 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 1:27 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Revelation 21:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Titus 2:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Colossians 3:1-25 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Galatians 3:1-29 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Romans 13:1-14 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 2:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 2:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 1:44 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 1:41 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 1:36 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 1:31 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 1:1-80 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 1:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Hosea 13:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Isaiah 42:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 19:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 6:17 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 127:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 106:38 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 51:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 51:1-19 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Job 3:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Job 3:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Samuel 1:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Judges 13:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Deuteronomy 27:25 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Exodus 21:1-36 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Exodus 20:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 2:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 1:26 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 1:26-28 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

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