Matthew 19:1-12 - On Divorce

¹ When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the territory of Judea on the other side of the Jordan. ² Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. ³ Some Pharisees came to him in order to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?"

⁴ He answered them, "Haven't you read that the one who made them at the beginning "made them male and female' ⁵ and said, "That is why a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh'?

⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must never separate."

⁷ They asked him, "Why, then, did Moses order us "to give a certificate of divorce and divorce her'?"

⁸ He told them, "It was because of your hardness of heart that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives. But from the beginning it was not this way. ⁹ I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."

¹⁰ His disciples asked him, "If that is the relationship of a man with his wife, it's not worth getting married!"

¹¹ "Not everyone can accept this saying," he replied, "except those to whom celibacy has been granted, ¹² because some men are celibate from birth, while some are celibate because they have been made that way by others. Still others are celibate because they have made themselves that way for the sake of the kingdom from heaven. Let anyone accept this who can."

¹ Then Jesus left that place and went into the territory of Judea on the other side of the Jordan. Crowds gathered around him as usual, and he began to teach them again as was his custom. ² Some Pharisees came to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"

³ "What did Moses command you?" he responded.

⁴ They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to divorce her."

⁵ But Jesus told them, "It was because of your hardness of heart that he wrote this command for you. ⁶ But from the beginning of creation, "God made them male and female.'

⁷ That's why "a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, ⁸ and the two will become one flesh.' So they're no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore, what God has joined together, man must never separate."

¹⁰ Back in the house, the disciples asked him about this again. ¹¹ So he told them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. ¹² And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery."

¹⁸ Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery."