Matthew 19:1-12

Tree of Life Version

Marriage and Covenant Faithfulness

19 Now when Yeshua had finished these words, He moved on from the Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. ² Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. ³ Pharisees came up to Yeshua, testing Him and saying, “Is it permitted for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”

⁴ “Haven’t you read?” He answered. “He who created them from the beginning ‘made them male and female’ ^{[a] 5} and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ ^{[b] 6} So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate.”

⁷ They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to ‘give her a certificate of divorce and put her away?’”^[c]

⁸ Yeshua said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ⁹ Now I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”^[d]

¹⁰ The disciples said to Him, “If that’s the case for a man and his wife, it’s better not to marry!”

¹¹ But He said to them, “Not everyone can accept this saying—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 that way by men; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who can accept this, let him accept it.”