If a Woman Willfully Cuts or Shaves Off Her Hair but Wears a Scarf or Hat to Pray, Is She Covered?
1) Direct answer
No. If a woman willfully cuts or shaves her hair and then puts on a scarf or hat to pray, she is still uncovered before God. The only covering Scripture names is her hair. She must repent, stop cutting, and let it grow. A scarf may be worn for modesty, but it does not fulfill 1 Corinthians 11.
2) Scriptural explanation
- “Every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head… for if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn… but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered” (1 Corinthians 11:5–6). Uncovered is tied to being shorn/shaven.
- “Her hair is given her for a covering” (1 Corinthians 11:15). The Bible names the covering: hair.
- God receives the repentant: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive” (1 John 1:9).
3) Simple clarifying logic
- Willful cutting/shaving = shorn/shaven = uncovered, regardless of any hat.
- The remedy Paul gives is not a hat, but to be “covered”—and he defines that covering as hair. So obedience is to cease cutting and let the hair grow back.
- While it grows, she can pray and walk modestly, but she must not claim a scarf as the Scriptural covering. God forgives the repentant heart immediately; the visible sign returns as the hair grows.
4) Reinforcing statement
Now notice, God is not measuring hats—He honors obedience. Let the hair grow, don’t cut it again, and the God-given covering will return.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Satan's Eden
65-0829 §71
She took off the clothes that God dressed her in, back in Eden, for her journey through this wilderness---she took them off. She stripped herself down, when God had her wrapped all over in skins; she's begun to shave a little off each time. Now, she's back to where she was at the beginning. Now, she's got her Adam to wearing her underneath clothes. A man, put on them little old sissy looking shorts, and get out here, I don't think there is much man to him. He is the biggest sissy I know of. See, she's got her perve...
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54-0103E §62
She drove up in front of the house one day. The Holy Spirit moved down, and spoke to her, and told her she was going to get well, and "Thus saith the Spirit." And she stayed like that then for a few days, and then she... I went yesterday, was going to see the woman with Brother Junior and Brother Funk. And I was within a half a mile. She was standing, combing her hair which she's going to let grow out now, said, "Let the neighbors laugh and do whatever they want to." And then, the Holy Spirit wouldn't let me go ove...
Faith is the substance
47-0412 §52
I can tell it's a woman. She has a woman's hat on. She has a woman's hair; it's a woman's hand. I know it's a woman, because I feel her. You think you could out argue me? ["No."] Huh? That's directly; I know it, that that was a woman. I've got my back turned to her, but yet I know it's a woman. See? Because the sense of feeling tells me there's a woman there. You see what I mean? Now, sight told me there's one there now. I don't feel her. That's the sense of sight. I know she's standing there, because I'm looking a...
The Seal of God
54-0514 §41
Looky here. It used to be, a long time ago... And you holiness people, it was wrong for you women to cut your hair. What become right about it, when the Bible said that if any woman cuts her hair, her husband has a right to give her a divorce. Plain teaching, but that's the Bible. And you women get out here and cut your yards with overalls on and with men's garments. And the Bible said... Almighty God said, "A woman that'll put on a garment that pertains to a man, it's an abomination and filthy in the sight of God....
Questions and Answers, Part 2
64-0823E §35
Now, look, a man, there's not much to him when it comes to a body. And he, if he went half naked, it would---there wouldn't be no scandal to it. Not holding for men, but they... You know that ---what kind of a woman would be tempted by a man with his shirt off and shorts on or whatever he had? The big old burly-looking thing, it looks sloppy and sickly, I ... horrible. See these men out here... Well, I think it'd make a woman vomit to look at such a thing. If she had ... But now, you take a woman and put her like t...