Font Size
Matthew 19
New American Standard Bible
Matthew 19
New American Standard Bible
Concerning Divorce
19 (A)When Jesus had finished these words, He left Galilee and (B)came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; 2 and [a]large crowds followed Him, and (C)He healed them there.
3 Some Pharisees came to [b]Jesus, testing Him and [c]asking, “(D)Is it lawful for a man to [d]divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read (E)that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘(F)For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and (G)the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no person is to separate.” 7 They *said to Him, “(H)Why, then, did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to [e]divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 And I say to you, (I)whoever [f]divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman [g]commits adultery[h].”
10 The disciples *said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” 11 But He said to them, “(J)Not all men can accept this statement, but (K)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 eunuchs by people; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”
Jesus Blesses Little Children
13 (L)Then some children were brought to Him so that He would lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, “[i](M)Leave the children alone, and do not [j]forbid them to come to Me; for (N)the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.
The Rich Young Ruler
16 (O)And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do so that I may obtain (P)eternal life?” 17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but (Q)if you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 Then he *said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “(R)You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not give false testimony; 19 (S)Honor your father and mother; and (T)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man *said to Him, “All these I have kept; what am I still lacking?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be [k]complete, go and (U)sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have (V)treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.
23 And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, (W)it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, (X)it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” 26 And looking at them, Jesus said to them, “(Y)With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
The Disciples’ Reward
27 Then Peter responded and said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” 28 And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the [l]regeneration when (Z)the Son of Man will sit on [m]His glorious throne, (AA)you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And (AB)everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother [n]or children or farms on account of My name, will receive [o]many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. 30 (AC)But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.
Footnotes
- Matthew 19:2 Or many
- Matthew 19:3 Lit Him
- Matthew 19:3 Lit saying
- Matthew 19:3 Lit send away
- Matthew 19:8 Lit send away
- Matthew 19:9 Lit sends away
- Matthew 19:9 One early ms makes her commit adultery
- Matthew 19:9 One early ms adds and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery
- Matthew 19:14 Or Permit the children
- Matthew 19:14 Or prevent them from coming
- Matthew 19:21 Or perfect
- Matthew 19:28 Or renewal; i.e., the new world
- Matthew 19:28 Lit the throne of His glory
- Matthew 19:29 One early ms adds or wife
- Matthew 19:29 One early ms a hundred times
Matthew 19
The Voice
Matthew 19
The Voice
19 After Jesus had finished His teaching about forgiveness, He left Galilee and He went to the section of Judea on the other side of the Jordan River. 2 Large crowds followed Him, and when He got to Judea, He set about healing them.
The religious leaders who are eyeing the crowds and watching the healings decide it is again time to try to trip up Jesus.
3 So some Pharisees approached Jesus and asked Him this tricky question about divorce:
Pharisees: Is it ever lawful for a man to divorce his wife?
Jesus: 4 Haven’t you read that in the beginning God created humanity male and female?[a] Don’t you remember what the story of our creation tells us about marriage? 5 “For this reason, a man will leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”[b] 6 If a husband and wife are one flesh, how can they divorce? Divorce would be a bloody amputation, would it not? “What God has brought together, let no man separate.”
Pharisees: 7 Why did Moses explain that if a man leaves his wife, then he must give her a certificate of divorce and send her away, free and clear of him?
Jesus: 8 Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But divorce was an innovation, an accommodation to a fallen world. There was no divorce at creation. 9 Listen, friends: if you leave your wife, unless there is adultery, and then marry another woman, you yourself are committing adultery. Only if there is adultery can you divorce your wife.
Why? Because adultery itself is the divorce. Adultery is the thing that breaks the bond of marriage. Just as an excommunication merely recognizes the fact that someone has already been removed from the people, a divorce merely legalizes what harlotry has created. But should someone leave his wife for any other reason—because he has nothing to say to her, because she continually burns his food, because she is profligate with the household resources, because he simply cannot stand the sight of her—this is outside of the message Jesus offers here. If we behave as if a marriage has been undone—indeed, some may believe that a marriage has been undone—then we are deluding ourselves. In the eyes of God, the marriage bonds still hold a man to his wife.
Disciples: 10 If this is how it is, then it is better to avoid marrying in the first place.
Jesus: 11 Not everyone can hear this teaching, only those to whom it has been given. 12 Some people do not marry, of course. Some people are eunuchs because they are born that way, others have been made eunuchs by men, and others have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Anyone who can embrace that call should do so.
13 At this, some of Jesus’ followers brought their children before Jesus; they wanted Him to place His hands on the children and pray for them. Some of the disciples, mistakenly thinking that Jesus wouldn’t want to be bothered with the likes of children, began to rebuke the crowd.
Jesus: 14 Let the little children come to Me; do not get in their way. For the kingdom of heaven belongs to children like these.
15 He laid His hands on them, He prayed with them, and then He left that spot and went elsewhere. 16 Then a young man came up to Jesus.
Young Man: Teacher, what good deed can I do to assure myself eternal life?
Jesus: 17 Strange that you should ask Me what is good. There is only One who is good. If you want to participate in His divine life, obey the Commandments.
Young Man: 18 Which Commandments in particular?
Jesus: Well, to begin with, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.[c]
Young Man: 20 I’ve kept those Commandments faithfully. What else do I need to do?
Jesus can see the man wants to know how to participate in God’s reality, and He knows his shoulders will sag under the weight of the next hard instruction.
Jesus: 21 If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give all your money to the poor; then you will have treasure in heaven. And then come, follow Me.
22 The young man went away sad because he was very wealthy indeed.
Jesus: 23 This is the truth: it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Yes, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
25 The disciples, hearing this, were stunned.
Disciples: Who then can be saved?
Jesus: 26 People cannot save themselves. But with God, all things are possible.
Peter: 27 You just told that man to leave everything and follow You. Well, all of us have done just that. So what should we be expecting?
Jesus: 28 I tell you this. When creation is consummated and all things are renewed, when the Son of Man sits on His throne in glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on thrones. There will be twelve thrones, and you will sit and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 You who have left your house and your fields, or your brothers and sisters, or your father and mother, or even your children in order to follow Me, at that time when all is renewed, you will receive so much more: you will receive 100 times what you gave up. You will inherit eternal life. 30 Many of those who are the first will be last, and those who are the last will be first.
Matthew 19
New International Version
Matthew 19
New International Version
Divorce(A)
19 When Jesus had finished saying these things,(B) he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them(C) there.
3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife(D) for any and every reason?”
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a](E) 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’[b]?(F) 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”(G)
8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”(H)
10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”
11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.(I) 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
The Little Children and Jesus(J)
13 Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them(K) and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.
14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs(L) to such as these.”(M) 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
The Rich and the Kingdom of God(N)
16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life(O)?”(P)
17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”(Q)
18 “Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery,(R) you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’[c](S) and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”(T)
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect,(U) go, sell your possessions and give to the poor,(V) and you will have treasure in heaven.(W) Then come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich(X) to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”(Y)
27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you!(Z) What then will there be for us?”
28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne,(AA) you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.(AB) 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[e] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.(AC) 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.(AD)
Footnotes
- Matthew 19:4 Gen. 1:27
- Matthew 19:5 Gen. 2:24
- Matthew 19:19 Exodus 20:12-16; Deut. 5:16-20
- Matthew 19:19 Lev. 19:18
- Matthew 19:29 Some manuscripts do not have or wife.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Voice (VOICE)
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.