³ Some Pharisees came to him. In order to test him, they said, “Does the Law allow a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

⁴ Jesus answered, “Haven’t you read that at the beginning the creator made them male and female?^{[a] 5} And God said, ‘Because of this a man should leave his father and mother and be joined together with his wife, and the two will be one flesh.’^{[b] 6} So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, humans must not pull apart what God has put together.”

⁷ The Pharisees said to him, “Then why did Moses command us to give a divorce certificate and divorce her?”^[c]

⁸ Jesus replied, “Moses allowed you to divorce your wives because your hearts are unyielding. But it wasn’t that way from the beginning. ⁹ I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

Divorce and remarriage

10 Jesus left that place and went beyond the Jordan and into the region of Judea. Crowds gathered around him again and, as usual, he taught them. ² Some Pharisees came and, trying to test him, they asked, “Does the Law allow a man to divorce his wife?”

³ Jesus answered, “What did Moses command you?”

⁴ They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a divorce certificate and to divorce his wife.”

⁵ Jesus said to them, “He wrote this commandment for you because of your unyielding hearts. ⁶ At the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.^{[a] 7} Because of this, a man should leave his father and mother and be joined together with his wife, ⁸ and the two will be one flesh.^[b] So they are no longer two but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore, humans must not pull apart what God has put together.”

¹⁰ Inside the house, the disciples asked him again about this. ¹¹ He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; ¹² and if a wife divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

¹⁸ Any man who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and a man who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.