Matthew 19:1-12 - On Divorce

¹ And it came to pass when Jesus had finished these discourses, that he departed from Galilee, and came into the borders of Judea, beyond the Jordan. ² And many multitudes followed him; and he cured them there. ³ And the Pharisees came to him to tempt him, and said to him: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

⁴ He answered and said to them: Have you not read that the Creator, at the beginning, created them male and female, ⁵ and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh?

⁶ So then, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man put asunder.

⁷ They said to him: Why, then, did Moses command us to give a bill of divorce and put her away?

⁸ He said to them: Moses, on account of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not so. ⁹ But I say to you, That whoever puts away his wife, unless for lewdness, and marries another, commits adultery; and he that marries her that is put away, commits adultery.

¹⁰ His disciples said to him: If the relation of man and wife be such, it is not good to marry.

¹¹ But he said to them: All can not accept this saying; only those to whom it is given. ¹² For there are eunuchs that were born such from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs that have been made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs that have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let him accept it that is able to accept it.

¹ And he arose and went thence into the borders of Judea, by the other side of the Jordan. And the multitudes again came together to him; and, as his custom was, he taught them again. ² And the Pharisees came to him, and that they might tempt him, asked him the question: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?

³ He answered and said to them: What commandment did Moses give you?

⁴ They replied: Moses permitted us to write a bill of divorce, and put her away.

⁵ And Jesus answered and said to them: On account of the hardness of your hearts, he wrote this commandment for you. ⁶ But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.

⁷ For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife; ⁸ and the two shall be one flesh. So, then, they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man put asunder.

¹⁰ And in the house, his disciples again asked him about the same matter. ¹¹ And he said to them: Whoever puts away his wife, and marries another, commits adultery against her; ¹² and if a woman puts away her husband, and is married to another, she commits adultery.

¹⁸ Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery: and whoever marries her that is divorced, commits adultery.