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And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity,[a] and marries another, commits adultery.”[b]

10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.”

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 19:9 Other ancient authorities, after unchastity, read makes her commit adultery
  2. Matthew 19:9 Other ancient authorities insert and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery

And there came unto him [a]Pharisees, trying him, and saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said, Have ye not read, [b]that he who [c]made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, [d]For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh? So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, [e]Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses for your hardness of heart suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it hath not been so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, [f]except for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: [g]and he that marrieth her when she is put away committeth adultery. 10 The disciples say unto him, If the case of the man is so with his wife, it is not expedient to marry. 11 But he said unto them, Not all men can receive this saying, but they to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs, that were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are eunuchs, that were made eunuchs by men: and there are eunuchs, that made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 19:3 Many authorities, some ancient, insert the.
  2. Matthew 19:4 Gen. 1:27; 5:2.
  3. Matthew 19:4 Some ancient authorities read created.
  4. Matthew 19:5 Gen. 2:24.
  5. Matthew 19:7 Dt. 24:1–4.
  6. Matthew 19:9 Some ancient authorities read saving for the cause of fornication, maketh her an adulteress: as in 5:32.
  7. Matthew 19:9 The following words, to the end of the verse, are omitted by some ancient authorities.