Mark 10:1-12

Teachings about Divorce

1 Then Jesus left that place and went into the region of Judea, beyond the Jordan. Again the crowds came to Him and He taught them, as was His custom. ¹

2 Some Pharisees came to test Him. “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” they inquired.

3 “What did Moses command you?” He replied.

4 They answered, “Moses permitted a man to write his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away.” ^[a]

5 But Jesus told them, “Moses wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart.

6 However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ^[b]

7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, ^[c]

8 and the two will become one flesh.’ ^[d] So they are no longer two, but one flesh.

9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

10 When they were back inside the house, the disciples asked Jesus about this matter.

11 So He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.

12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

Cross References

• 1. (Matthew 19:1–12)

Footnotes

• [a] See Deuteronomy 24:1.
• [b] Genesis 1:27; Genesis 5:2
• [c] NE and WH do not include and be united to his wife.
• [d] Genesis 2:24 (see also LXX)