I posted a similar thread over at the PP, but with little response. Here’s the deal. I’m agnostic, getting married in a Lutheran church. I need to pick two scripture readings, or the officiant will pick them for me. So far, I’ve read:
Genesis 2:18-24
Colossians 3:12-17
First Corinthians 13
Ephesians 5:20-33
First Corinthians has been done to death, but it’s the only one that I even remotely like. The others are about wives submitting to their husbands, God making Eve out of a rib bone blah blah blah. I’m starting to work on Song of Solomon, hopefully I’ll find something there.
I just want to find some nice scripture about love, and I haven’t really had any luck yet.
Try the end of Proverbs (from “A woman of valor…” until the end of the book).
It’s a traditional ode to a wife. True, it may be a bit one-sided (I’m not aware of any similar reading for a groom). It is traditionaly sung in Jewish homes at the Sabbath evening meal.
At our wedding, a paraphrase of 1 Cor. 13 was read.
Love…
is patient and kind; love is not jealous or conceited, or proud or provoked; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is pleased with the truth. Love never gives up; it’s faith, hope, and patience never fail.
Nice - short - to the point. Maybe that could do??
"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken..."
[The “third” in the threefold cord generally taken to be a reference to God’s presence in your marriage…]
Also, John chapter 2 is the account of Jesus at the wedding in Cana (famous for the “water-into-wine” miracle).
Most Protestant denominations don’t recognize the Book of Tobit as valid Scripture… I suspect the Lutherans don’t either. But if they’re open to Aprocryphal readings, there’s nice wedding prayers in there (Catholic weddings use it regularly).
Thanks, Howard Juneau and DeVena. Those are great suggestions too. The First Corinthians passage is one of my favorites, but my fiance feels it’s a bit overused at weddings.
I knew I could count on SDMB to help me out.
preview astorian you nearly snuck in on me! I’m pretty sure this guy won’t allow non-Lutheran readings, but it never hurts to check it out. Thanks.
preview again
Dammit, PRNYouth! You nearly got in there too! I have those verses as one of my choices, but your version sounds purtier. Where can I find that translation?
I have a friend who is a Lutheran pastor. Eccl. 4:9-12 and Songs 8:6-7 are two of her favorite passages; she used them at a friend’s wedding and then again at her own.
She also used Gen. 2:18-24, and probably the selection from 1st Cor. I recall the selection from Genesis as being about the creation of the institution of marriage. (Side note: Get the words correct when reading that section. We had had an issue where the reader accidentially transposed “parents” and “wife.”)
It’s not a wedding piece, or about the love between a man and a woman, but Ruth’s vow to Naomi is one of the most beautiful pieces of devotion and committment in the bible.
If you want an actual print version of it, it’s available at many mainstream bookstores and most Christian bookstores.
For all my online Bible-reading needs, though (and I’m a minister, so I have many), I use Bible Gateway. It provides many different translations, including The Message, and several foreign language versions. The Message is abbreviated “msg” in their dropdown menus. I like it especially because when reading a verse, you can click an option that says “see this verse in [any other translation]”.
You might want to check with your presiding minister to see if they’ll allow a Message paraphrase to be used. It’s not accepted as valid in some more traditional areas, becase it is technically a paraphrase rather than a straight translation.
