Concerning Divorce

19 Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, He left Galilee and went into the part of Judea that is beyond the Jordan; ² and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.

³ And Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” ⁴ He replied, “Have you never read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined inseparably to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?^{(A) 6} So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” ⁷ The Pharisees said to Him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”^{(B) 8} He said to them, “Because your hearts were hard and stubborn Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. ⁹ I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery^[a].”

¹⁰ The disciples said to Jesus, “If the relationship of a man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” ¹¹ But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom [the capacity to receive] it has been given. ¹² For there are eunuchs who have been born that way from their mother’s womb [making them incapable of consummating a marriage]; and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men [for royal service]; and there are eunuchs who have ^[b]made themselves so for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”