²¹ And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord: my spirit that is upon you and my words that I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth or out of the mouths of your children or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from now on and forever.^(G)

¹⁵ You are aware that all who are in Asia have turned away from me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. ¹⁶ May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain;^{(A) 17} when he arrived in Rome, he eagerly^[a] searched for me and found me ¹⁸ —may the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! And you know very well how much service he rendered in Ephesus.^(B)

A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus

2 You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, ² and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.^{(C) 3} Share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ No one serving in the army gets entangled in everyday affairs; the soldier’s aim is to please the enlisting officer. ⁵ And in the case of an athlete, no one is crowned without competing according to the rules.^{(D) 6} It is the farmer who does the work who ought to have the first share of the crops. ⁷ Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in all things.

⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel, ⁹ for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained.^{(E) 10} Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.^{(F) 11} The saying is sure:

Teaching about Divorce

10 He left that place and went to the region of Judea and^[a] beyond the Jordan. And crowds again gathered around him, and, as was his custom, he again taught them.^(A)

² Some,^[b] testing him, asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” ³ He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴ They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.”^{(B) 5} But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. ⁶ But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’^{(C) 7} ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,^{[c](D) 8} and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.^{(E) 9} Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

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

Jesus Blesses Little Children

¹³ People were bringing children to him in order that he might touch them, and the disciples spoke sternly to them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”^{(G) 16} And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.^(H)