Matthew 19:1-12 - On Divorce

¹ And it happened, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came into the borders of Judea beyond Jordan. ² And great crowds followed Him. And He healed them there. ³ And the Pharisees came to Him, tempting Him and saying to Him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

⁴ And He answered and said to them, Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning "made them male and female", ⁵ and said, For this cause a man shall leave father and mother and shall cling to his wife, and the two of them shall be one flesh?

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

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

⁸ He said to them, Because of your hard-heartedness Moses allowed you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not so. ⁹ And I say to you, Whoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is put away commits adultery.

¹⁰ His disciples said to Him, If this is the case of the man with his wife, it is not good to marry.

¹¹ But He said to them, Not all receive this word, except those to whom it is given. ¹² For there are some eunuchs who were born so from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of Heaven's sake. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it.

¹ And He arose from there. And He came into the borders of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And again a crowd came together to Him. And as was His custom, He taught them again. ² And tempting Him, the Pharisees came to Him and asked Him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?

³ And He answered and said to them, What did Moses command you?

⁴ And they said, Moses allowed a bill of divorce to be written, and to put her away.

⁵ And Jesus answered and said to them, He wrote you this precept because of the hardness of your hearts. ⁶ But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.

⁷ For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife. ⁸ And the two of them 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 apart.

¹⁰ And in the house His disciples asked Him again about the same. ¹¹ And He said to them, Whoever shall put away his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. ¹² And if a woman shall put away her husband and marries to another, she commits adultery.

¹⁸ Everyone putting away his wife and marrying another commits adultery; and everyone marrying her who is put away from her husband commits adultery.