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’^[a]?^(A)

²¹ So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep;^(A) and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs^[a] and then closed up the place with flesh. ²² Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib^[b](B) 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^(F) to his wife, and they become one flesh.^(G)

⁴ The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife.

² But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.

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)

⁵ “It was because your hearts were hard^(A) that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. ⁶ “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’^{[a](B) 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](C) So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

¹⁶ Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”^[a](A)

Love in Action

⁹ Love must be sincere.^(A) Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.^(B)