This list gives you Scripture and prayers to read, speak and write as you mark an anniversary celebration, whether it is a first year, a silver jubilee or a golden fiftieth. It is written for couples, families and friends who want the day to be more than a dinner and a card, and who want to thank God for the years behind them and ask for grace for the years ahead. Each passage points to the same things: God’s faithfulness across seasons, the gift of love that grows, and the steady companionship He provides.
Verses of Thanksgiving for the Years You Have Shared
Start the celebration by naming what God has already done. These passages turn your attention backward to His faithfulness, so that the anniversary becomes a day of gratitude rather than a simple count of years. Read them slowly, and let each one remind you of a specific season you have walked through together.
Psalm 107:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
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This psalm opens with a call to give thanks because God is good and His love endures. On an anniversary, read it aloud together, then take turns naming one ordinary kindness from the past year you are grateful for.
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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The writer finds fresh mercy every morning, even in a broken season. Remember a year that was hard for you both, and thank God that His compassion met you there and did not run out.
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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Two people working side by side have a better reward than one alone. Write a short note naming how your partner has helped you up on a hard day, and keep it with the anniversary card.
Psalm 136:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever.
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The psalm repeats the same refrain again and again, a rhythm of thanks that never tires. Try repeating a simple line of praise back and forth over dinner, one of you saying it and the other answering.
Verses for Love That Grows Over Time
Love at year one and love at year twenty-five look different, and the Bible describes love as both a feeling and a steady practice. These passages speak to the patient, daily commitment that keeps a marriage or friendship warm across the decades.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
4 Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, 5 doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; 6 doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
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Paul describes love as patient, kind, and willing to bear all things. Choose one line from this passage that your partner most needs to hear from you this year, and say it out loud on the day.
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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Love is described as too strong for waters to quench. Think about one trial your love has survived, and let that memory become a quiet reminder that your commitment is still standing.
Colossians 3:14
Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.
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Paul says that love binds everything together in perfect unity. Light a candle or set a small object on the table to represent the bond you share, and name what holds it together.
Ruth 1:16-17
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. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”
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Ruth pledges her loyalty to Naomi in words that have become a classic vow of faithfulness. If you wish, read these verses as a renewal of your own promises, speaking each line to the person beside you.
Verses of Blessing and Hope for the Years Ahead
An anniversary also looks forward. These passages ask God to keep guiding and strengthening you, and they remind you that the faithfulness you have experienced so far is a promise for what is still to come.
Numbers 6:24-26
24 ‘The LORD bless you, and keep you. 25 The LORD make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. 26 The LORD lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.’
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This ancient blessing asks God to keep, shine upon and give peace to His people. Speak it over one another at the close of the celebration, with a hand placed gently on the shoulder.
Psalm 121:7-8
7 The LORD will keep you from all evil. He will keep your soul. 8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in, from this time forward, and forever more.
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The Lord keeps your going out and your coming in from now on. Write this verse on a card for the year ahead, and place it somewhere you will see on hard mornings.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says the LORD, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.
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God speaks of plans for welfare and a future with hope. Talk together about one hope you share for the next year, and pray over it before the evening ends.
Philippians 1:6
Being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
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Paul is confident that the God who began a good work will carry it on to completion. Remember that the story of your relationship is still being written, and that God is writing it with care.
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 promises to be with His people through waters and fire. Name a future challenge you fear, and speak this promise over it together as a reminder that you will not face it alone.
How to Use These Verses
Write two or three of these passages on cards and place them where you will find them: in the anniversary card, on the mirror, or tucked into a wedding album. Reading them on the morning of the celebration sets a tone of thanks before the day gets busy with plans and guests.
For shared prayer, read one thanksgiving passage, one love passage and one blessing passage in sequence, pausing after each to pray aloud. Keeping the order consistent makes the time easy to repeat each year, so the anniversary can become a yearly rhythm of gratitude and renewal.
A Short Prayer for an Anniversary Celebration
Lord, thank You for the years You have given us together. We see Your faithfulness in the ordinary days and in the hard ones, and we are grateful that You have been present through all of it. Thank You for the love that has grown between us, and for the patience and kindness You have poured into us when we fell short. Keep us close to You as we walk forward. Guard our hearts, guide our decisions, and help us to honor each other every day. Let this celebration be a place where we remember Your goodness and trust Your plans for what comes next. Amen.
A Blessing
May the Lord who has kept you through these years continue to keep you in the years ahead. May His face shine on your home, and may His peace settle over every conversation and every quiet evening. May your love deepen as your days add up, and may you always find in God the strength to keep choosing one another. Amen.
