Add parallel Print Page Options

Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

“Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’[a] And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’[b] Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”

“Then why did Moses say in the law that a man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away?”[c] they asked.

Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery—unless his wife has been unfaithful.[d]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 19:4 Gen 1:27; 5:2.
  2. 19:5 Gen 2:24.
  3. 19:7 See Deut 24:1.
  4. 19:9 Some manuscripts add And anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Compare Matt 5:32.

Bible Gateway Recommends

NLT Church Bible (Hardcover, Black)
NLT Church Bible (Hardcover, Black)
Retail: $12.99
Our Price: $4.67
Save: $8.32 (64%)
NLT Teen Life Application Study Bible, Softcover
NLT Teen Life Application Study Bible, Softcover
Retail: $22.99
Our Price: $14.79
Save: $8.20 (36%)
4.5 of 5.0 stars
NLT Outreach Bible, Large Print Edition
NLT Outreach Bible, Large Print Edition
Retail: $7.99
Our Price: $3.43
Save: $4.56 (57%)
4.0 of 5.0 stars
NLT Go Bible-A Life-Changing Bible for Kids, Hardcover
NLT Go Bible-A Life-Changing Bible for Kids, Hardcover
Retail: $34.99
Our Price: $20.82
Save: $14.17 (40%)