Matthew 5:31-33

Contemporary English Version

Divorce

(Matthew 19.9; Mark 10.11,12; Luke 16.18)

³¹^(A) You have been taught that a man who divorces his wife must write out divorce papers for her.^[a] ³²^(B) But I tell you not to divorce your wife unless she has committed some terrible sexual sin.^[b] If you divorce her, you will cause her to be unfaithful, just as any man who marries her is guilty of taking another man's wife.

Promises

³³^(C) You know our ancestors were told, “Don't use the Lord's name to make a promise unless you are going to keep it.”

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Footnotes

5.31 write out divorce papers for her: Jewish men could divorce their wives, but the women could not divorce their husbands. The purpose of writing these papers was to make it harder for a man to divorce his wife. Before this law was made, all a man had to do was to send his wife away and say that she was no longer his wife.
5.32 some terrible sexual sin: This probably refers to the laws about the wrong kinds of marriages that are forbidden in Leviticus 18.6-18 or to some serious sexual sin.