Bible Verses About Family
The family, in Catholic teaching, is the "domestic church" — the first community in which faith is transmitted and lived. This understanding is grounded in Scripture's consistent portrayal of family life as the primary site of God's covenant promises being handed on across generations. The commandment to honor father and mother is the only commandment in the Decalogue that comes with a promise attached to it.
The Catholic tradition, drawing on both Scripture and natural law, holds that the family founded on the sacrament of marriage between a man and woman is the fundamental cell of society. The deuterocanonical Book of Tobit is the most sustained narrative of a holy family in the Old Testament, modeling prayer, fidelity, and care for the elderly.
Note: 2 verses on this page are from the deuterocanonical books — books included in the Catholic Bible but absent from most Protestant translations (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1–2 Maccabees).
9 verses — Douay-Rheims Bible (1899 Challoner revision) — Public domain
It is a proverb: A young man according to his way, even when he is old he will not depart from it.Proverbs 22:6 — Douay-Rheims
The classic wisdom statement on the lasting formative power of early upbringing — central to Catholic catechetical tradition.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is just. Honour thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment with a promise: that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest be long-lived upon earth. And you, fathers, provoke not your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and correction of the Lord.Ephesians 6:1-4 — Douay-Rheims
Paul applies the fourth commandment within the Christian household, balancing children's obedience with fathers' gentleness.
These words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart: and thou shalt tell them to thy children, and thou shalt meditate upon them sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping and rising.Deuteronomy 6:6-7 — Douay-Rheims
The foundational mandate for family catechesis — faith is transmitted through ordinary daily life, not only formal instruction.
Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to indignation, lest they be discouraged.Colossians 3:20-21 — Douay-Rheims
Paul's parallel instruction to the Colossian household — mutual respect running in both directions.
And he called his son Tobias to him, and said to him: When God shall take my soul, bury my body: and thou shalt honour thy mother all the days of her life: for thou must be mindful what and how great perils she suffered for thee in her womb.Tobit 4:3-4Deuterocanonical — Douay-Rheims
Tobit's deathbed instruction to his son — a deuterocanonical model of the transmission of wisdom and piety within a family.
Thy wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of thy house. Thy children as olive plants, round about thy table.Psalm 128:3 — Douay-Rheims
A psalm of blessing on the family, prayed at Jewish and Catholic liturgical celebrations of marriage and family life.
He that honoureth his father shall have joy in his own children, and in the day of his prayer he shall be heard. He that honoureth his father shall enjoy a long life: and he that obeyeth the father, shall be a comfort to his mother.Sirach 3:6-7Deuterocanonical — Douay-Rheims
Sirach expands the fourth commandment into an extended meditation on the blessings that flow from honouring parents.
But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.Joshua 24:15 — Douay-Rheims
Joshua's declaration before Israel — the family unit as the primary locus of covenant commitment.
And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and men.Luke 2:51-52 — Douay-Rheims
The Holy Family at Nazareth — Jesus himself grew in a family, was subject to his parents, and this is how God chose to enter human life.
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Source
All verse texts from the Douay-Rheims Bible (1899 Challoner revision), public domain. The Douay-Rheims is the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate.