Matthew 19:1-12 - On Divorce

¹ At the conclusion of this teaching, Jesus withdrew from Galilee, and went into that district of Judea which is on the other side of the Jordan. ² Great crowds followed him, and he cured them there. ³ Presently some Pharisees came up to him, and, to test him, said: "Has a man the right to divorce his wife for every cause?"

⁴ "Have not you read," replied Jesus, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' ⁵ And said--'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be united to his wife, and the man and his wife shall become one'?

⁶ So that they are no longer two, but one. What God himself, then, has yoked together man must not separate."

⁷ "Why, then," they said, "did Moses direct that a man should 'serve his wife with a notice of separation and divorce her'?"

⁸ "Moses, owing to the hardness of your hearts," answered Jesus, "permitted you to divorce your wives, but that was not so at the beginning. ⁹ But I tell you that any one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of her unchastity, and marries another woman, is guilty of adultery."

¹⁰ "If that," said the disciples, "is the position of a man with regard to his wife, it is better not to marry."

¹¹ "It is not every one," replied Jesus, "who can accept this teaching, but only those who have been enabled to do so. ¹² Some men, it is true, have from birth been disabled for marriage, while others have been disabled by their fellow men, and others again have disabled themselves for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let him accept it who can."

¹ On leaving that place, Jesus went into the district of Judea on the other side of the Jordan. Crowds gathered about him again; and again, as usual, he began teaching them. ² Presently some Pharisees came up and, to test him, asked: "Has a husband the right to divorce his wife?"

³ "What direction did Moses give you?" replied Jesus.

⁴ "Moses," they said, "permitted a man to 'draw up in writing a notice of separation and divorce his wife.'"

⁵ "It was owing to the hardness of your hearts," said Jesus, "that Moses gave you this direction; ⁶ But, at the beginning of the Creation, God 'made them male and female.'

⁷ 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, ⁸ And the man and his wife shall become one;' so that they are no longer two, but one. ⁹ What God himself, then, has yoked together man must not separate."

¹⁰ When they were indoors, the disciples asked him again about this, ¹¹ And he said: "Any one who divorces his wife and marries another woman is guilty of adultery against his wife; ¹² And, if the woman divorces her husband and marries another man, she is guilty of adultery."

¹⁸ Every one who divorces his wife and marries another woman is an adulterer, and the man who marries a divorced woman is an adulterer.