On Divorce

19 And it happened that when Jesus had finished these statements, he went away from Galilee and came into the region of Judea on the other side of the Jordan. 2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3 And Pharisees came up to him in order to* test him, and asked* if it was permitted for a man to divorce his wife for any cause. 4 And he answered and* said, “Have you not read that the one who created them* from the beginning made them male and female 5 and said, ‘On account of this a man will leave his* father and his* mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?a 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us* to give a document—a certificate of divorce—and to divorce her?” 8 He said to them, “Moses, with reference to your hardness of heart, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not like this. 9 Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except on the basis of sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”b

10 The disciplesc said to him, “If this is the case of a man with his* wife, it would be better not to marry!” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this saying but those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born as such from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by people, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchsd for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this,* let him accept it.”*

Little Children Brought to Jesus

13 Then children were brought to him so that he could lay hise hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, “Allow the children, and do not forbid them to come to me, ⌊for to such belongs⌋f the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his* hands on them and* traveled on from there.