Matthew 19:1-12 - On Divorce

¹ And it was when Jesus finished these words he removed from Galilee, and came from the bounds of Judea beyond Jordan; ² And many crowds followed him; and he cured them there. ³ And the Pharisees came to him, tempting him, and saying to him, Is it lawful for a man to loose his wife for every cause

⁴ And having answered, he said to them, Have ye not read, that he having made from the beginning, made them male and female, ⁵ And said, For this shall a man leave father and mother, and be joined to his wife: and they two shall be one flesh?

⁶ So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has yoked together, let not man separate.

⁷ They say to him, Why then did Moses charge to give a writing of divorce, and loose her?

⁸ He says to them that Moses for your hard heart permitted you to loose your wives: and from the beginning it was not so. ⁹ And I say to you, That whoever should loose his wife, except for fornication, and marry another, commits adultery; and he having married the one loosed commits adultery.

¹⁰ His disciples say to him, If the cause of a man is so with the woman, it is not profitable to marry.

¹¹ And he said to them, All have not room for this word, but to whom it is given. ¹² For there are eunuchs, who were born so from the mother's belly: and there are eunuchs, who were made eunuchs by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of the heavens. He being able to receive, let him receive.

¹ And having risen from thence, he comes into the bounds of Judea, through the other side of Jordan: and crowds came together again to him; and, as he was accustomed, again he taught them. ² And the Pharisees having come near, asked him, if it is lawful for a man to loose his wife; tempting him.

³ And he, having answered, said to them, What did Moses command you?

⁴ And they said, Moses permitted to write a bill of divorce, and to loose.

⁵ And Jesus, having answered, said to them, For your hard heart he wrote you this command. ⁶ And from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.

⁷ For this will a man leave his father and mother, and be attached to his wife; ⁸ And they two shall be in one flesh: so that they are no more two, but one flesh. ⁹ What therefore God yoked together, let not man separate.

¹⁰ And again in the house, his disciples asked him of the same. ¹¹ And he says to them, Whoever should loose his wife, and should marry another, commits adultery against her. ¹² And if a woman should loose her husband, and be married to another, she commits adultery.

¹⁸ Every one loosing his wife, and marrying another, commits adultery: and every one marrying her having been loosed from the husband commits adultery.