1 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from 1Galilee and 2entered 3the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.
2
And 4large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
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And Pharisees came up to him and 5tested him by asking, 6"Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?"
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He answered, 7"Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,
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and said, 8'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and 9the two shall become one flesh'?
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So they are no longer two but one flesh. 10What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."
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They said to him, 11"Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?"
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He said to them, "Because of your 12hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
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13And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery."[a]
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The disciples said to him, "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry."
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But he said to them, 14"Not everyone can receive this saying, but only 15those to 16whom it is given.
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For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs 17for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it."
[a].
Some manuscripts add and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery; other manuscripts except for sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.