Jewelry has been a part of human culture for centuries, and the Bible offers some profound insights on its significance. Let’s explore how scriptures depict the use of adornments, from moments of celebration to symbols of faith, and understand the values behind these accessories.
Bible Verses About Jewelry
1 Peter 3:3-4 – Adorning Yourself with Beauty from Within
“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”
Isaiah 61:10 – God Clothes Us with His Salvation
“I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”
Genesis 24:22 – Jewelry as a Sign of Betrothal
“When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.”
Exodus 35:22 – Offering Jewelry for God’s Work
“All who were willing, men and women alike, came and brought gold jewelry of all kinds: brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments. They all presented their gold as a wave offering to the Lord.”
1 Timothy 2:9 – Modesty Over Flashiness
“I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes.”
Ezekiel 16:11-13 – God Adorning His People
“I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.”
Proverbs 25:12 – Wisdom Adorns the Wise
“Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is the rebuke of a wise judge to a listening ear.”
Proverbs 11:22 – Inner Beauty Over Outward Adornment
“Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.”
Exodus 33:5-6 – Removing Jewelry as a Sign of Repentance
“For the Lord had said to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites, “You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.”’ So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.”
Hosea 2:13 – Misuse of Jewelry in Idolatry
“I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot,’ declares the Lord.”
Revelation 21:2 – The New Jerusalem Adorned as a Bride
“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”
Proverbs 3:21-22 – Wisdom Adorns the Soul
“My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck.”
Matthew 6:19-21 – Treasures in Heaven
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Song of Songs 1:10-11 – Beauty of Simple Adornment
“Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels. We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.”
Zephaniah 1:8 – Punishment for Idol Worshipers
“On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all those clad in foreign clothes.”
Ezekiel 7:19 – Uselessness of Gold and Silver
“‘They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean. Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, for it has caused them to stumble into sin.”
Isaiah 3:18-21 – Vanity of Jewelry as Adornment
“In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, the earrings and bracelets and veils, the headdresses and anklets and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, the signet rings and nose rings.”
1 Corinthians 6:20 – Use Your Body for God’s Glory
“You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
1 Samuel 16:7 – God Looks at the Heart
“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'”
Revelation 3:18 – Spiritual Wealth Over Physical Wealth
“I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”
Judges 8:24 – Jewelry as Spoils of War
“And he said, ‘I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.’ (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)”
Psalm 45:13-14 – Royal Adornment of the Bride
“All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold. In many-colored robes she is led to the king, with her virgin companions following behind her.”
Esther 2:12 – Preparation of Esther
“Before a young woman’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics.”
Genesis 35:2-4 – Purifying by Removing Idols
“So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.’ So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem.”
Luke 15:22 – Rejoicing with the Lost Found
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.”
Revelation 17:4 – Symbolism of Adulterous Nations
“The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.”
1 Chronicles 29:7 – Offering Jewelry for Temple Construction
“They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron.”
Jeremiah 2:32 – Forgotten Adornment
“Does a young woman forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.”
Isaiah 54:11-12 – God’s Promised Beauty
“Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli. I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.”
Genesis 41:42 – Honor and Authority
“Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.”
2 Kings 11:12 – The Crowning of a King
“Jehoiada brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him; he presented him with a copy of the covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him, and the people clapped their hands and shouted, ‘Long live the king!'”
Numbers 31:50 – Offering to the Lord
“So we have brought as an offering to the Lord the gold articles each of us acquired—armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”
Psalm 45:9 – Honoring with Jewelry
“Daughters of kings are among your honored women; at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.”
Songs of Solomon 4:9 – The Radiance of Love
“You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.”
Daniel 5:29 – Honor Bestowed by a King
“Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
Jeremiah 4:30 – False Reliance on Ornament
“What are you doing, you devastated one? Why dress yourself in scarlet and put on jewels of gold? Why highlight your eyes with makeup? You adorn yourself in vain. Your lovers despise you; they want to kill you.”
Amos 8:10 – Mourning Instead of Joy
“I will turn your religious festivals into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.”
Joel 2:13 – True Repentance
“Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”
Matthew 6:28-29 – Simplicity of Nature’s Adornment
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”