Jesus Teaches About Divorce^(A)

³¹ “It was also said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written divorce ·paper [notice; certificate; Deut. 24:1].’ ³² But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife ·forces [causes; makes] her ·to be guilty of [commit] adultery. ·The only reason for a man to divorce his wife is if she has sexual relations with another man [^L…except in the case of sexual immorality]. And anyone who marries that divorced woman ·is guilty of [commits] adultery.

³ Some Pharisees came to Jesus ·and tried to trick [to trap/test] him. They asked, “Is it ·right [lawful; ^Caccording to the law of Moses] for a man to divorce his wife for any reason he chooses?”

⁴ Jesus answered, “·Surely you have [^LHaven’t you…?] read in the Scriptures: ·When God made the world, ‘he [^LFrom the beginning, the Creator] made them male and female’ [Gen. 1:27; 5:2]. ⁵ And God said, ‘So a man will leave his father and mother and be ·united with [joined to] his wife, and the two will become ·one body [as though they were one person; ^Tone flesh; Gen. 2:24].’ ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one. God has joined the two together, so no one should separate them.”

⁷ The Pharisees asked, “Why then did Moses give a command for a man to divorce his wife by giving her ·divorce papers [a certificate of divorce/dismissal; Deut. 24:1]?”

⁸ Jesus answered, “Moses ·allowed [permitted] you to divorce your wives because ·you refused to accept God’s teaching [^Lof your hard-heartedness], but ·divorce was not allowed in the beginning [or this was not God’s intention at creation; ^Lfrom the beginning it was not like this]. ⁹ I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman ·is guilty of [commits] adultery.^[a] ·The only reason for a man to divorce his wife is if his wife has sexual relations with another man [^L …except in the case of sexual immorality].”

¹⁰ The ·followers [disciples] said to him, “If that is the ·only reason a man can divorce his wife [situation/case between a husband and wife], it is better not to marry.”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “Not everyone can accept this ·teaching [word], but ·God has made some able to accept it [or only those given this gift of celibacy; ^Lonly to those whom it has been given]. ¹² ·There are different reasons why some men cannot marry [^LFor…]. Some men were born ·without the ability to become fathers [^Las eunuchs]. Others were made ·that way later in life [^Leunuchs] by other people [^Cmales would sometimes be castrated as punishment, or to serve in harems]. And some men have ·given up marriage because [^Lmade themselves eunuchs for the sake] of the kingdom of heaven [^Cthrough abstinence, not necessarily castration]. ·But the person who can marry should accept this teaching about marriage [or The person who can accept this teaching about not marrying should accept it].”

Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus^(A)

²³ That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus and asked him a question. (Sadducees believed that people would not rise from the dead.) ²⁴ They said, “Teacher, Moses said if a married man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and ·have children [^Lraise up offspring/seed] for him [Deut. 25:5]. ²⁵ Once there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died. Since he had no ·children [offspring], his brother married the widow. ²⁶ Then the second brother also died. The same thing happened to the third brother ·and all the other brothers [^Ldown to the seventh]. ²⁷ Finally, the woman died. ²⁸ Since all seven men had married her, ·when people rise from the dead [^Lat the resurrection], whose wife will she be?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “You ·don’t understand [are mistaken/deceived], because you don’t know what the Scriptures say, and you don’t know about the power of God. ³⁰ [^LFor] ·When people rise from the dead [^LAt the resurrection], they will not marry, nor will they be given to someone to marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. ³¹ ·Surely you have read [^LHave you not read…?] what God said to you ·about rising [concerning the resurrection] from the dead. ³² God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob [Ex. 3:6; ^CGod is still the God of the patriarchs, so they must have a continued existence after death].’ God is the God of the living, not the dead.”

²⁹ “Soon after the ·trouble [tribulation; distress] of those days,

³⁰ “At that time, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in ·the sky [or heaven]. Then all the ·peoples [tribes] of the world will ·cry [mourn]. They will see the Son of Man coming on ·clouds in the sky [or the clouds of heaven] with great power and glory. ³¹ He will use a loud trumpet to send his angels, and they will gather his ·chosen people [elect] ·from every part of the world [^Lfrom the four winds, from one end of the sky/heavens to another].

³² “Learn a ·lesson [parable; analogy] from the fig tree: When its branches ·become green and soft [become tender; sprout] and new leaves appear, you know summer is near. ³³ In the same way, when you see all these things happening, you will know that ·the time [or he] is near, ·ready to come [right at the door]. ³⁴ I tell you the truth, all these things will happen ·while the people of this time are still living [before this generation passes away; ^Ceither the generation that sees the destruction of Jerusalem (ad 70), or a future generation of the end times]. ³⁵ ·Earth and sky will be destroyed [^THeaven and earth will pass away], but the words I have said will never ·be destroyed [pass away].

When Will Jesus Come Again?^(A)

³⁶ “No one knows when that day or ·time [hour] will be, not the angels in heaven, not even the Son.^[a] Only the Father knows. ³⁷ When the Son of Man comes [Dan. 7:13–14], it will be like what happened during Noah’s time. ³⁸ [^LFor] In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving their children to be married, until the day Noah entered the boat. ³⁹ They ·knew [understood] nothing about what was happening until the flood came and ·destroyed them [^Ltook/swept them all away]. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. ⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field. One will be taken, and the other will be left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding grain with a ·mill [handmill; ^Ctwo large, round, flat rocks used for grinding grain to make flour]. One will be taken, and the other will be left.

⁴² “So ·always be ready [stay alert; keep watching], because you don’t know the day your Lord will come.

² Some Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to ·trick [test; trap] him. They asked, “Is it ·right [lawful; ^Caccording to the law of Moses] for a man to divorce his wife?”

³ Jesus answered, “What did Moses command you to do?”

⁴ They said, “Moses ·allowed [permitted] a man to write out divorce papers and send her away [Deut. 24:1].”

⁵ Jesus said, “Moses wrote that command for you because you were ·stubborn [hard hearted]. ⁶ But ·when God made the world [from the beginning of creation], ‘he made them male and female’ [Gen. 1:27; 5:2]. ⁷ ‘So a man will leave his father and mother and be ·united with [joined to] his wife,^{[a] 8} and the two will become ·one body [as though they were one person; ^Tone flesh; Gen. 2:24]’. So they are no longer two, but one. ⁹ God has joined the two together, so no one should separate them.”

¹⁰ Later, in the house, his ·followers [disciples] asked Jesus again about ·the question of divorce [^Lthis matter]. ¹¹ He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman ·is guilty of [commits] adultery against her. ¹² And the woman who divorces her husband and marries another man ·is also guilty of [commits] adultery.”

Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus^(A)

¹⁸ Then some Sadducees came to Jesus and asked him a question. (Sadducees believed that people would not rise from the dead.) ¹⁹ They said, “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, then that man must marry the widow and ·have children [^Lraise up offspring/seed] for his brother [Deut. 25:5]. ²⁰ Once there were seven brothers. The first brother ·married [^Ltook a wife] and died, leaving no children. ²¹ So the second brother married the widow, but he also died and had no children. The same thing happened with the third brother. ²² All seven brothers married her and died, and none of the brothers had any children. Finally the woman died too. ²³ Since all seven brothers had married her, ·when people rise from the dead [^Lat the resurrection], whose wife will she be?”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “·You are mistaken [^LAre you not mistaken/in error…?] because you don’t know what the Scriptures say, and don’t you know about the power of God. ²⁵ [^LFor] When people rise from the dead, they will not marry, nor will they be given to someone to marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. ²⁶ ·Surely you have read [^LHave you not read…?] what God said about people rising from the dead. In the book in which Moses wrote about the burning bush [Ex. 3:1–12], it says that God told Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob [Ex. 3:6; ^CGod is still the God of the patriarchs, so they must have a continued existence after death].’ ²⁷ God is the God of the living, not the dead. You Sadducees are ·wrong [greatly deceived; badly mistaken]!”

Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus^(A)

²⁷ Some Sadducees, who believed people would not rise from the dead, came to Jesus. ²⁸ They asked, “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, then that man must marry the widow and ·have children [^Lraise up offspring/seed] for his brother [Deut. 25:5–6]. ²⁹ Once there were seven brothers. The first brother ·married [^Ltook a wife] and died, but had no children. ³⁰ Then the second brother married the widow, and he died. ³¹ And the third brother married the widow, and he died. The same thing happened with all seven brothers; they died and had no children. ³² Finally, the woman died also. ³³ Since all seven brothers had married her, whose wife will she be ·when people rise from the dead [^Lat the resurrection]?”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “·On earth, people [^LThe children of this age] marry and are given to someone to marry. ³⁵ But those who will be worthy ·to be raised from the dead and live again [^Lof the age to come and the resurrection] will not marry, nor will they be given to someone to marry. ³⁶ [^LFor] In that life they are ·like [or equal to] angels and cannot die. They are children of God, because they ·have been raised from the dead [are children of the resurrection]. ³⁷ Even Moses clearly showed that the dead are raised to life. When he wrote about the burning bush [Ex. 3:1–12], he said that the Lord is ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob [Ex. 3:6; ^CGod is still the God of the patriarchs, so they must have a continued existence after death].’ ³⁸ God is the God of the living, not the dead, because all people are alive to him.”

Wickedness in the Church

5 It is actually being ·said [reported] that there is sexual sin among you. And it is a kind that ·does not happen [or is not tolerated] even among ·people who do not know God [pagans; Gentiles]. A man there ·has [is living in sin with; is sleeping with] his father’s wife [^Cprobably his stepmother; Lev. 18:7–8; 20:11]. ² And you are ·proud [arrogant; puffed up]! ·You should [^LShould you not…?] have been filled with ·sadness [grief; mourning] so that the man who did this should be put out of your group. ³ I am not there with you in person, but I am with you in spirit. And I have already ·judged [condemned] the man who did that sin as if I were really there. ⁴ When you meet together in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I meet with you in spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ then hand this man over to Satan. So his ·sinful self will be destroyed [sinful nature will be purged; or body/flesh will be destroyed; or body will be beaten down by sin], and his spirit will be saved on the day of the Lord.

⁴ Do we not have the right to eat and drink [^Creceive hospitality and support for their missionary work]? ⁵ Do we not have the right to ·bring a believing wife with us when we travel [or be married to a believer; ^Ltake along a wife who is a sister] as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers [Matt. 13:55; Acts 1:14] and ·Peter [^LCephas; ^CPeter’s name in Aramaic; see 1:12]? ⁶ Are Barnabas [Acts 13—14] and I the only ones who ·must work to earn our living [^Ldon’t have the authority/right not to work]? ⁷ ·No soldier [^LWho…?] ever serves in the army and pays his own salary. ·No one [^LWho…?] ever plants a vineyard without eating some of the grapes. ·No person [^LWho…?] takes care of a flock without drinking some of the milk.

⁸ I do not say this ·by human authority [from human experience; ^Laccording to man]; God’s law also says the same thing. ⁹ [^LFor] It is written in the law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox when it is ·working in [treading; threshing] the grain [Deut. 25:4].” When God said this, was he ·thinking only [concerned] about oxen? No. ¹⁰ He was ·really [surely] talking ·about us [for our benefit]. Yes, that Scripture was written for us, because it goes on to say: “The one who plows and the one who ·works in the grain [threshes] should hope to get some of the grain for their work.” ¹¹ ·Since [If] we ·planted [sowed] spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we should harvest material things from you [^Creceive support for ministry]? ¹² If others have the right to get something from you, surely we have this right, ·too [or even more so]. But we ·do not use it [have not exercised this right]. No, we put up with everything ourselves so that we will not ·keep anyone from believing [^Lput up a hindrance to] the ·Good News [Gospel] of Christ. ¹³ ·Surely [^LDon’t…?] you know that those who ·work at the Temple [perform priestly temple service] get their food from the Temple, and those who serve at the altar get part of what is offered at the altar. ¹⁴ In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who ·tell the Good News [proclaim/preach the Gospel] should get their living from ·this work [^Lthe Gospel].

¹⁵ But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this now to get anything from you. I would rather die than to have my reason for ·bragging [boasting] taken away. ¹⁶ ·Telling the Good News [Preaching the Gospel] does not give me any reason for ·bragging [boasting]. Telling the Good News is my duty—something I must do. And ·how terrible it will be for [^Lwoe to] me if I do not ·tell the Good News [preach the Gospel]. ¹⁷ If I preach ·because it is my own choice [voluntarily], I have a reward. But if I preach ·and it is not my choice to do so [without volunteering], I am ·only doing the duty that was given to me [^Lentrusted with a stewardship/responsibility]. ¹⁸ So what ·reward [payment; wages] do I get? Only this: that when I tell the ·Good News [Gospel] I can offer it ·freely [free of charge]. I do not ·use [take advantage of; or misuse] my full rights in ·my work of preaching the Good News [^Lthe Gospel].