Bible Verses About Family

The Bible is full of verses about family. God created the family unit. His Word provides guidance on family values, challenging relationships, raising children, facing loss and more.

You can turn to Scripture for help with parenting, marriage and sibling dynamics. We hope that the Bible verses below will deepen your understanding of this subject. (All verses are taken from the New American Standard Version of the Bible.)

What the Bible Says About Relationships in the Family

The Bible provides specific instructions on how family members should treat one another. These instructions apply to parents, children and siblings.

Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged on the land which the Lord your God gives you. – Exodus 20:12

If someone says, “I love God,” and yet he hates his brother or sister, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. – 1 John 4:20

Train up a child in the way he should go
Even when he grows older he will not abandon it. – Proverbs 22:6

What the Bible Says About the Child’s Role in the Family

Scripture exhorts children to honor and obey their parents.

Listen to your father, who fathered you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old. – Proverbs 23:22

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. – Colossians 3:20

What the Bible Says About Serving God as a Family

Families that build their foundation on God and His Word will be able to endure the many ups and downs of life.

But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15

They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and was overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with his whole household. – Acts 16:31-34

Every Mention of the Word “Family” in the Bible

We’ve included all mentions of the word “family” in the NASB below. We hope reflecting on these verses will deepen your knowledge of God’s Word!

Bible Verses About Family in Genesis

Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and let’s sleep with him so that we may keep our family alive through our father.” – Genesis 19:32

On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept last night with my father; let’s make him drink wine tonight too, then you go in and sleep with him, so that we may keep our family alive through our father.” – Genesis 19:34

Bible Verses About Family in Leviticus

then I Myself will set My face against that man and against his family, and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play the prostitute with him, by playing the prostitute with Molech. – Leviticus 20:5

So you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. – Leviticus 25:10

He shall then leave you, he and his sons with him, and shall go back to his family, so that he may return to the property of his forefathers. – Leviticus 25:41

‘Now if the means of a stranger or of a foreign resident with you becomes sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes poor in relation to him and sells himself to a stranger who is residing with you, or to the descendants of a stranger’s family, – Leviticus 25:47

or his uncle, or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or if he prospers, he may redeem himself. – Leviticus 25:49

Bible Verses About Family in Numbers

So the sons of Israel did all this; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they camped by their flags, and so they set out, everyone by his family according to his father’s household. – Numbers 2:34

Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites; these were the families of the Gershonites. – Numbers 3:21

Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these were the families of the Kohathites. – Numbers 3:27

Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were the families of Merari. – Numbers 3:33

Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; – Numbers 26:5

of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites. – Numbers 26:6

The sons of Simeon by their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites; – Numbers 26:12

of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. – Numbers 26:13

The sons of Gad by their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites; – Numbers 26:15

of Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites; – Numbers 26:16

of Arod, the family of the Arodites; of Areli, the family of the Arelites. – Numbers 26:17

The sons of Judah by their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Perezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites. – Numbers 26:20

The sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites. – Numbers 26:21

The sons of Issachar by their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the family of the Punites; – Numbers 26:23

of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites. – Numbers 26:24

The sons of Zebulun by their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites. – Numbers 26:26

The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir fathered Gilead: of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites. – Numbers 26:29

These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the family of the Iezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites; – Numbers 26:30

and of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites; and of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites; – Numbers 26:31

and of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites. – Numbers 26:32

These are the sons of Ephraim by their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites. – Numbers 26:35

These are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites. – Numbers 26:36

The sons of Benjamin by their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites; – Numbers 26:38

of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites. – Numbers 26:39

The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites. – Numbers 26:40

These are the sons of Dan by their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan by their families. – Numbers 26:42

The sons of Asher by their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Beriites. – Numbers 26:44

Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites. – Numbers 26:45

The sons of Naphtali by their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites; – Numbers 26:48

of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites. – Numbers 26:49

These are those who were numbered of the Levites according to their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites. – Numbers 26:57

These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, and the family of the Korahites. Kohath fathered Amram. – Numbers 26:58

Why should the name of our father be withdrawn from among his family simply because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s brothers.” – Numbers 27:4

And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his nearest relative in his own family, and he shall take possession of it; and it shall be a statutory ordinance to the sons of Israel, just as the Lord has commanded Moses.’” – Numbers 27:11

Now the heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came forward and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the heads of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, – Numbers 36:1

This is what the Lord has commanded regarding the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whomever they wish; only they must marry within the family of the tribe of their father.’ – Numbers 36:6

And every daughter who comes into possession of an inheritance of any tribe of the sons of Israel shall marry one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that the sons of Israel may each possess the inheritance of his fathers. – Numbers 36:8

They married those from the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained with the tribe of the family of their father. – Numbers 36:12

Bible Verses About Family in Deuteronomy

“When brothers live together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. Her husband’s brother shall have relations with her and take her to himself as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. – Deuteronomy 25:5

And in Israel his family shall be called by the name, ‘The house of him whose sandal was removed.’ – Deuteronomy 25:10

so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.
– Deuteronomy 29:18

Bible Verses About Family in Joshua

So in the morning you shall come forward by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the Lord selects by lot shall come forward by families, and the family which the Lord selects shall come forward by households, and the household which the Lord selects shall come forward man by man. – Joshua 7:14

So he brought the family of Judah forward, and he selected the family of the Zerahites; then he brought the family of the Zerahites forward man by man, and Zabdi was selected. – Joshua 7:17

Bible Verses About Family in Judges

So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go free. – Judges 1:25

But he said to Him, “O Lord, how am I to save Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” – Judges 6:15

Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mother’s relatives, and spoke to them and to the entire family of the household of his mother’s father, saying, – Judges 9:1

He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters whom he gave in marriage outside the family, and he brought in thirty daughters from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel for seven years. – Judges 12:9

And there was a man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was infertile and had not given birth to any children. – Judges 13:2

Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there. – Judges 17:7

So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, valiant men from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it; and they said to them, “Go, explore the land.” And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and stayed overnight there. – Judges 18:2

Then from the family of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war set out. – Judges 18:11

And they said to him, “Be silent, put your hand over your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?” – Judges 18:19

And the sons of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and each one departed from there to his inheritance. – Judges 21:24

Bible Verses About Family in Ruth

Now Naomi had a relative of her husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. -Ruth 2:1

So she left and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. – Ruth 2:3

Bible Verses About Family in 1 Samuel

Saul replied, “Am I not a Benjaminite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?” – 1 Samuel 9:21

Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin forward by its families, and the Matrite family was selected by lot. And Saul the son of Kish was selected by lot; but when they looked for him, he could not be found. – 1 Samuel 10:21

But David said to Saul, “Who am I, and who is my family, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” – 1 Samuel 18:18

If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly requested leave of me to run to Bethlehem, his city, because it is the yearly sacrifice there for the whole family.’ – 1 Samuel 20:6

He said, ‘Please let me go, because our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has ordered me to attend. So now, if I have found favor in your sight, please let me slip away so that I may see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.” – 1 Samuel 20:29

Bible Verses About Family in 2 Samuel

Now behold, the entire family has risen against your servant, and they have said, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother, so that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed, and eliminate the heir as well.’ So they will extinguish my coal which is left, so as to leave my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth.” – 2 Samuel 14:7

When King David came to Bahurim, behold, a man was coming out from there from the family of the house of Saul, and his name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he was coming out, cursing as he came. – 2 Samuel 16:5

Bible Verses About Family in 1 Kings

Then all Israel will mourn for him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam’s family will come to the grave, because in him something good was found toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. – 1 Kings 14:13

Bible Verses About Family in 2 Kings

But it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. – 2 Kings 25:25

Bible Verses About Family in 1 Chronicles

Now Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many sons, nor did all their family increase like the sons of Judah. – 1 Chronicles 4:27

Then to the rest of the sons of Kohath were given by lot, from the family of the tribe, from the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh, ten cities. – 1 Chronicles 6:61

and from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Aner with its pasture lands and Bileam with its pasture lands, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath. – 1 Chronicles 6:70

To the sons of Gershom were given, from the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands and Ashtaroth with its pasture lands; – 1 Chronicles 6:71

And the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house for three months; and the Lord blessed the family of Obed-edom and all that he had. – 1 Chronicles 13:14

Bible Verses About Family in 2 Chronicles

but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful as the house of Ahab was unfaithful, and you have also killed your brothers, your own family, who were better than you, – 2 Chronicles 21:13

Bible Verses About Family in Esther

So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and these days of Purim were not to be neglected by the Jews, or their memory fade from their descendants. – Esther 9:28

Bible Verses About Family in Job

Then I thought, ‘I will die with my family, And I will multiply my days as the sand. – Job 29:18

But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned against Job; his anger burned because he justified himself before God. – Job 32:2

Bible Verses About Family in Jeremiah

‘Return, you faithless sons,’ declares the Lord; ‘For I am a master to you, And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, And bring you to Zion.’ – Jeremiah 3:14

And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family, that remains in all the places to which I have driven them,” declares the Lord of armies. – Jeremiah 8:3

Now in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. While they were eating bread together there in Mizpah, – Jeremiah 41:1

Bible Verses About Family in Ezekiel

Then he took one of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land, – Ezekiel 17:13

Bible Verses About Family in Daniel

Then the king told Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles, – Daniel 1:3

Bible Verses About Family in Amos

Hear this word which the Lord has spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the entire family which He brought up from the land of Egypt: – Amos 3:1

Bible Verses About Family in Micah

Therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am planning against this family a catastrophe From which you cannot remove your necks; And you will not walk haughtily, For it will be an evil time. – Micah 2:3

Bible Verses About Family in Zechariah

The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; – Zechariah 12:12

the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; – Zechariah 12:13

all the families that are left, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves. – Zechariah 12:14

And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. – Zechariah 14:18

Bible Verses About Family in Luke

Now Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, – Luke 2:4

Now someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” – Luke 12:13

Bible Verses About Family in Acts

And on the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family was revealed to Pharaoh. – Acts 7:13

“Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent. – Acts 13:26

Bible Verses About Family in Ephesians

from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, – Ephesians 3:15

Bible Verses About Family in 1 Timothy

but if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to show proper respect for their own family and to give back compensation to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God. – 1 Timothy 5:4