Matthew 19:3-10

3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’^[a]

5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’^[b] ?

6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.

9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

Cross References

• 1. Matthew 5:31
• 2. Genesis 1:27; Genesis 5:2
• 3. Genesis 2:24; 1 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 5:31
• 4. Deuteronomy 24:1-4; Matthew 5:31
• 5. Matthew 5:32; S Luke 16:18

Footnotes

• [a] Gen. 1:27
• [b] Gen. 2:24