^24 (A)Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

³ And Pharisees came up to him and ^(A)tested him by asking, ^(B)“Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” ⁴ He answered, ^(C)“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ^(D)‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^(E)the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two but one flesh. ^(F)What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” ⁷ They said to him, ^(G)“Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” ⁸ He said to them, “Because of your ^(H)hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ^9 (I)And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”^[a]

²⁸ In the same way ^(A)husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, ³⁰ because ^(B)we are members of his body. ^31 (C)“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^(D)the two shall become one flesh.”

⁶ But ^(A)from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them ^(B)male and female.’ ^7 (C)‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,^{[a] 8} and ^(D)the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. ^9 (E)What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

¹⁰ And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. ¹¹ And he said to them, ^(F)“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, ¹² and ^(G)if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

² For ^(A)a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.^[a]

Wives and Husbands

3 Likewise, wives, ^(A)be subject to your own husbands, so that ^(B)even if some do not obey the word, ^(C)they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, ² when they see your ^(D)respectful and pure conduct. ^3 (E)Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— ⁴ but let your adorning be ^(F)the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. ⁵ For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, ⁶ as Sarah obeyed Abraham, ^(G)calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and ^(H)do not fear anything that is frightening.

⁷ Likewise, ^(I)husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker ^(J)vessel, since they are heirs with you^[a] of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

¹⁶ Or do you not know that he who is joined^[a] to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ^(A)“The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But he who is joined to the Lord ^(B)becomes one spirit with him.

The Woman Who Fears the Lord

¹⁰ To the married ^(A)I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): ^(B)the wife should not separate from her husband ¹¹ (but if she does, ^(C)she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and ^(D)the husband should not divorce his wife.