THE QUESTION OF DIVORCE

19 When Jesus had finished saying these things,r he departed from Galilee and went to the region of Judea across the Jordan.s 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.t 3 Some Pharisees approached him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife on any grounds?”u

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that he who createdS them in the beginning made them male and female,D,v 5 and he also said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?E,w 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

7 “Why then,” they asked him, “did Moses command us to give divorce papersa and to send her away?”

8 He told them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of the hardness of your hearts, but it was not like that from the beginning. 9 I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery.”* b