Matthew 19:1-12 - On Divorce

¹ And it came to pass, that when Jesus had ended these sayings, he removed from Galilee, and came into the borders of Judaea, beyond the Jordan. ² And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there. ³ And the Pharisees came to him, trying him, and saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

⁴ And he answering said, Have ye not read, that he who made them at the beginning, made them male and female? ⁵ And He said: "For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh."

⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God joined together, let not man put asunder.

⁷ They say to him, Why then did Moses ordain that a man may give his wife a writing of divorcement, and put her away?

⁸ He saith to them, Moses, on account of your hardness of heart, allowed you m put away your wives; but in the beginning it was not so. ⁹ And I say to you, Whoever putteth away his wife, except for fornication, and marrieth another, committeth adultery.

¹⁰ The disciples say to him, If such be the case of a man with his wife, it is not good to marry.

¹¹ But he said to them, All cannot receive this saying, but they only to whom it is given. ¹² For there are eunuchs, who were so born from their mothers womb; and there are eunuchs, who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs, who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

¹ And departing thence, he cometh into the borders of Judaea, and to the other side of the Jordan; and multitudes again come together to him; and, as he was wont, he again taught them. ² And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him whether it was lawful for a man to put away his wife, trying him.

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

⁴ And they said, Moses permitted to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.

⁵ And Jesus said to them, On account of your hardness of heart he wrote you this command. 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 his mother; ⁸ and the two shall become one flesh." So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ What therefore God joined together, let not man put asunder.

¹⁰ And in the house his disciples asked him again about this matter. ¹¹ And he saith to them, Whoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery against her. ¹² And if she put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

¹⁸ Whoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery; and he who marrieth a woman that hath been put away from her husband, committeth adultery.