This list gives you Bible verses to read, share and pray as you mark an anniversary celebration, whether you are the one who has been married for twenty-five years, the friend giving a toast, or the family member gathering everyone around one table. The verses are grouped by mood, from thanksgiving and faithfulness to the long road of shared life. What they have in common is a steady focus on God as the one who keeps covenants, and on the gift of people who stay.
Verses of Thanksgiving for the Years Behind You
Looking back over a marriage or a long friendship can bring up gratitude, grief and everything in between. These passages turn that look backward into praise, reminding you that the story was never only your own effort.
Psalm 107:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
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Thanksgiving is the natural first response when you count the years. Before the cake is cut, take a minute alone and name three specific good things from the years you have shared, then say them out loud to God as your opening thanks.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.
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Paul ties gratitude to the will of God rather than to ideal circumstances. At your celebration, choose one hard season you survived together and thank God for what it taught you, not just for the easy days.
Lamentations 3:22-23
22 It is because of the LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. 23 They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
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These words were written in the middle of ruin, yet they point to mercies that are new every morning. Read them aloud at the start of the day, and let the faithfulness they describe shape how you speak to your spouse or friend that morning.
Verses on Faithfulness and Covenant Love
An anniversary is a quiet witness to promises kept. These verses speak about steadfast love and the kind of loyalty that keeps showing up on ordinary Tuesdays as well as special evenings.
Ruth 1:16
Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.
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Ruth’s pledge to Naomi is one of the Bible’s most tender loyalty vows, spoken without any guarantee of what the future held. Consider writing a short line of your own commitment in the same spirit, and read it together over dinner.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn’t have another to lift him up.
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The writer observes that two people working together get a better return and have help when one falls. Name one specific way your partner has lifted you this year, and tell them plainly before the evening ends.
Song of Solomon 8:7
Many waters can’t quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, he would be utterly scorned.
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This verse describes a love that floods cannot drown, a picture of fidelity under pressure. If you are celebrating with a friend or relative whose marriage has been tested, this is a good verse to speak over them with care.
Romans 12:10
In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor preferring one another…
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Paul asks believers to outdo one another in showing honor, which is a practical test for long relationships. Try picking one small act of honor each day of the week following the celebration, such as thanking your spouse in front of others.
Verses for Hope and Looking Ahead
A milestone is also a doorway. These passages turn your eyes toward the years still ahead and the God who will walk through them with you.
Joshua 24:15
If it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
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Joshua’s declaration is a family and household statement of allegiance, made at a moment of renewal. Consider reading it together as a household and deciding one shared commitment for the coming year.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
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Trusting God with the unknown is a theme every long-married couple learns again and again. As you look toward the next decade, write these verses on a card and keep it where you both will see it.
Isaiah 43:2
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you.
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God’s promise to be present in the waters and the fire speaks to the trials that most anniversaries quietly carry behind them. Pray this verse over the years still coming, asking for courage and companionship for each season.
Philippians 1:3-5
3 I thank my God whenever I remember you, 4 always in every request of mine on behalf of you all, making my requests with joy, 5 for your partnership in furtherance of the Good News from the first day until now…
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Paul thanks God whenever he remembers his partners in the gospel, and he does so with joy. Think of one person who has walked alongside you for years, and let them know this week that you thank God for them.
Hebrews 13:4
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
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The writer calls marriage honorable and the marriage bed undefiled, affirming its dignity in God’s design. Use this verse to frame your celebration as a thanksgiving for a gift God intended to be honored and kept.
How to Use These Verses
You do not need to read all fifteen at once. Choose three or four that match where you and your spouse or friend are right now, and let them become the focus of the celebration rather than a long reading that drags. Writing a verse on a card inside the anniversary card, or in a shared journal, gives the words a place to return to on hard days.
Praying a verse aloud is often more meaningful than reading it silently. Take one passage, read it slowly, and then ask each other what stood out. Let the conversation become a short prayer together, naming the years and the promises you want God to keep in the years ahead.
A Short Prayer for an anniversary celebration
Lord, thank you for the years you have given us and for the faithfulness you have shown in every season. Thank you for the joy we have shared and for the patience we have needed when things were hard. Where we have failed each other, forgive us, and where we have loved well, let that love grow deeper still. Guard this relationship and keep our hearts turned toward you and toward one another. Be with us in the years ahead, and make us a home where your goodness is seen. Amen.
