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

¹⁹ Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals^(B) and all the birds in the sky.^(C) He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called^(D) each living creature,^(E) 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^(F) was found. ²¹ So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep;^(G) 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](H) 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^(L) to his wife, and they become one flesh.^(M)

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

⁴ “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’^{[a](A) 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]?^{(B) 6} So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

⁶ “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’^{[a](A) 7} ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,^{[b] 8} and the two will become one flesh.’^[c](B) So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”^{[a](A) 32} This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

¹⁰ To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.^{(A) 11} But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband.^(B) And a husband must not divorce his wife.

³⁹ A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives.^(A) But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord.^(B)

¹³ Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears.^(A) You weep and wail^(B) because he no longer looks with favor^(C) on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.^{(D) 14} You ask,^(E) “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness^(F) between you and the wife of your youth.^(G) You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.^(H)

¹⁵ Has not the one God made you?^(I) You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.^[a](J) So be on your guard,^(K) and do not be unfaithful^(L) to the wife of your youth.

¹⁶ “The man who hates and divorces his wife,^(M)” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,”^[b](N) says the Lord Almighty.

So be on your guard,^(O) and do not be unfaithful.

¹¹ He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.^(A)