^24 (A)Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to ^[a]their kind: livestock and crawling things and animals of the earth according to ^[b]their kind”; and it was so. ²⁵ God made the ^(B)animals of the earth according to ^[c]their kind, and the livestock according to ^[d]their kind, and everything that crawls on the ground according to its kind; and God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “^[e]Let ^(C)Us make ^(D)mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and ^[f]let them ^(E)rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man ^(F)in His own image, in the image of God He created him; ^(G)male and female He created them. ²⁸ God blessed them; and God said to them, “^(H)Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that ^[g]moves on the earth.”

Descendants of Adam

5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. On the day when God created man, He made him ^(A)in the likeness of God. ² He created them ^(B)male and female, and He ^(C)blessed them and named them “mankind” on the day when they were created.

³ When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. ⁴ Then the days of Adam after he fathered Seth were eight hundred years, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ⁵ So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; ^(A)I will make him a helper ^[a]suitable for him.” ^19 (B)And out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the sky, and ^(C)brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field, but for ^[b]Adam there was not found ^(D)a helper ^[c]suitable for him. ²¹ So the Lord God caused a ^(E)deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. ²² And the Lord God ^[d]fashioned into a woman ^(F)the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. ²³ Then the man said,

^24 (H)For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. ^25 (I)And the man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.

Concerning Divorce

19 ^(A)When Jesus had finished these words, He left Galilee and ^(B)came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; ² and ^[a]large crowds followed Him, and ^(C)He healed them there.

³ Some Pharisees came to ^[b]Jesus, testing Him and ^[c]asking, “^(D)Is it lawful for a man to ^[d]divorce his wife for any reason at all?” ⁴ And He answered and said, “Have you not read ^(E)that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ‘^(F)For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and ^(G)the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no person is to separate.” ⁷ They *said to Him, “^(H)Why, then, did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” ⁸ He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to ^[e]divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. ⁹ And I say to you, ^(I)whoever ^[f]divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman ^[g]commits adultery^[h].”

¹⁰ The disciples *said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” ¹¹ But He said to them, “^(J)Not all men can accept this statement, but ^(K)only those to whom it has been given. ¹² For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by people; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

Jesus’ Teaching about Divorce

10 ^(A)Setting out from there, Jesus *went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds *gathered to Him again, and, ^(B)as He was accustomed, He once more began to teach them.

² And some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began questioning Him whether it was lawful for a man to ^[a]divorce his wife. ³ And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴ They said, “^(C)Moses permitted a man to write a ^[b]certificate of divorce and ^[c]send his wife away.” ⁵ But Jesus said to them, “^[d](D)Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. ⁶ But ^(E)from the beginning of creation, God ^(F)created them male and female. ^7 (G)For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother^[e], ^8 (H)and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore, what God has joined together, no person is to separate.”

¹⁰ And in the house the disciples again began questioning Him about this. ¹¹ And He *said to them, “^(I)Whoever ^[f]divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; ¹² and ^(J)if she herself ^[g]divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”