¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden^(A) to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;^{(B) 17} but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,^(C) for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”^(D)

¹⁸ The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”^(E)

¹⁹ Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals^(F) and all the birds in the sky.^(G) He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called^(H) each living creature,^(I) that was its name. ²⁰ So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam^[a] no suitable helper^(J) was found. ²¹ So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep;^(K) and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs^[b] and then closed up the place with flesh. ²² Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib^[c](L) he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

²³ The man said,

²⁴ That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united^(P) to his wife, and they become one flesh.^(Q)

²⁵ Adam and his wife were both naked,^(R) and they felt no shame.

Divorce^(A)

19 When Jesus had finished saying these things,^(B) he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. ² Large crowds followed him, and he healed them^(C) there.

³ Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife^(D) for any and every reason?”

⁴ “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’^{[a](E) 5} and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’^[b]?^{(F) 6} So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

⁷ “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”^(G)

⁸ Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. ⁹ I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”^(H)

¹⁰ The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

¹¹ Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.^{(I) 12} For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

The Little Children and Jesus^(J)

¹³ Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them^(K) and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.

¹⁴ Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs^(L) to such as these.”^{(M) 15} When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.