Matthew 19:3-12

New Matthew Bible

³ Then the Pharisees came to him, testing him and saying to him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for any reason at all? ⁴ He answered and said to them, Have you not read how it was that he who made man at the beginning made them man and woman, ⁵ and said, For this thing shall a man leave father and mother and cleave unto his wife, and the two shall be one flesh? ⁶ So then, now they are not two, but one flesh. Let not man therefore put apart that which God has joined together.

⁷ Then they said to him, Why did Moses direct to give a testimonial of divorce and to put her away? ⁸ He said to them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives. But from the beginning it was not so. ⁹ I say therefore to you, whoever puts away his wife (unless it be for fornication) and marries another, breaks wedlock. And whoever marries her who is divorced, commits adultery.

¹⁰ Then Jesus’ disciples said to him, If this is the case between man and wife, then it is not good to marry. ¹¹ He said to them, Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. ¹² Some are chaste who were so born from their mother’s womb. And others are chaste who were made so by men. And others are chaste who have made themselves chaste for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who can receive it, let him receive it.