²⁷ So God created man ^(A)in His own image; in the image of God He created him; ^(B)male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ^(C)“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and ^(D)subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that ^[a]moves on the earth.”

Marriage—Christ and the Church^(A)

²² Wives, ^(B)submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³ For ^(C)the husband is head of the wife, as also ^(D)Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. ²⁴ Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands ^(E)in everything.

^25 (F)Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and ^(G)gave Himself for her, ²⁶ that He might ^[a]sanctify and cleanse her ^(H)with the washing of water ^(I)by the word, ^27 (J)that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, ^(K)not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. ²⁸ So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. ³⁰ For ^(L)we are members of His body, ^[b]of His flesh and of His bones. ^31 (M)“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the ^(N)two shall become one flesh.”