^24 (A)Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and ^(B)be^[a] joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

³ The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

⁴ And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who ^[a]made them at the beginning ^(A)‘made them male and female,’ ⁵ and said, ^(B)‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and ^(C)the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

⁷ They said to Him, ^(D)“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 ^(E)hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your ^(F)wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ^9 (G)And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for ^[b]sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

²⁸ So husbands ought to love their own 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 the Lord does the church. ³⁰ For ^(A)we are members of His body, ^[a]of His flesh and of His bones. ^31 (B)“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the ^(C)two shall become one flesh.”

⁶ But from the beginning of the creation, God ^(A)‘made them male and female.’ ^7 (B)‘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, ^(C)“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.”

² For ^(A)the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.

Submission to Husbands

3 Wives, likewise, be ^(A)submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, ^(B)they, without a word, may ^(C)be won by the conduct of their wives, ^2 (D)when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. ^3 (E)Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— ⁴ rather let it be ^(F)the hidden person of the heart, with the ^[a]incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. ⁵ For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, ⁶ as Sarah obeyed Abraham, ^(G)calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.

A Word to Husbands

^7 (H)Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, ^(I)as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, ^(J)that your prayers may not be hindered.

The Virtuous Wife

² Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. ^3 (A)Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. ⁴ The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

¹⁶ Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For ^(A)“the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” ^17 (B)But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.