Law Concerning Divorce

24 “When a ^(A)man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some ^[a]uncleanness in her, and he writes her a ^(B)certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house,

⁷ They said to Him, ^(A)“Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”

⁸ He said to them, “Moses, because of the ^(B)hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your ^(C)wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ^9 (D)And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for ^[a]sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

⁴ They said, ^(A)“Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.”

⁵ And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this ^[a]precept. ⁶ But from the beginning of the creation, God ^(B)‘made them male and female.’ ^7 (C)‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ⁸ and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

¹⁰ In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. ¹¹ So He said to them, ^(D)“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. ¹² And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

⁸ Then I saw that ^(A)for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had ^(B)put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; ^(C)yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.

The Servant, Israel’s Hope

50 Thus says the Lord: