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.
Jehovah-Jireh, part 2
62-0706 §9
...at women ever desired to cut their hair, dress like men, be perverted. We're at the end time. And America, anyone who knows prophecy, knows that America is represented by a woman. This is called "woman's freedom." Freedom for what? To do as she pleases---sin. A woman cannot do what she wants to do. The Bible says not. A woman is a by-product of a man. She's not even in the original creation. That's exactly right. She was took from a man. Man was both feminish and masculine, He took the feminish spirit and put it in...
Lamb and Dove
60-0805 §31
...in denominations, now we're going to come home to Pentecost just a little bit. We're going to wonder what's happening to our Pentecostal people. You know, it used to be a horrible thing for our women to cut their hair. It used to be awful. I can remember that, and I've only been with them just a few years. But now it's all right, they cut their hair. And the Bible said that the hair on a woman was for her glory. And the Bible said that if a woman cuts her hair, she dishonors her head, which is her husband. And if...
Discerning the Body of the Lord
59-0812 §29
Bobbing off their hair. The Bible said that a woman that cuts her hair, her husband has a right to give her a divorce, because she is untrue. He said that she dishonors her head. Is that right? And the man is the head of the woman. I know that's rough, but we need discernment. We need to discern it by the Word. The Word is right. Take the Word. God's Word is always right.
Questions and Answers, Part 4
64-0830E §69
...issue of women's dress (oh, oh, I'm getting it on this one, ain't I?)--- big issue of women's dressing and cutting of hair, and do---nothing said about the hair of the man or the way he dresses? Well, Sister, I'm going to agree with you one thing. First place, the Bible said that a man should not have long hair. And if he had long hair, I'd tell him, just the same as I tell you. He's wrong. But most men, lot of them's like me, don't have any at all. But most men cut their hair, look like men. And now, if they didn...
Jesus keeps all of His appointments
64-0418E §66
she didn't have no towel to wipe His feet with. So, her hair was hanging down, and she began to wipe His feet with the hair that was on her head. Wouldn't our sisters have a time doing that? They'd have to stand on their head to do it, see, our sisters today. Wonder if the women realize that God keeps all of His promises. I wonder if you realize that it's totally impossible for you to get in like that. He keeps all of His promises. Do you realize what you're doing, when you're doing that? You're denying virtue. The...