Concerning Divorce

³¹ “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’^(A)

Unfaithful Israel

Laws concerning Marriage and Divorce

24 “Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; ² she then leaves his house and goes off to become another man’s wife.^{(A) 3} Then suppose the second man dislikes her, writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house (or the second man who married her dies): ⁴ her first husband, who sent her away, is not permitted to take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled, for that would be abhorrent to the Lord, and you shall not bring guilt on the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession.^(B)

⁷ They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?”^(A)

² Some,^[a] 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.”^{(A) 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.’^{(B) 7} ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,^{[b](C) 8} and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.^{(D) 9} Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

³ Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?”^(A)