1 Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.

2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.

4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

5 “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

1 And he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again. 2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. 3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? 4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. 5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. 7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; 8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. 9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

1 Then Jesus left Capernaum and went down to the region of Judea and into the area east of the Jordan River. Once again crowds gathered around him, and as usual he was teaching them.

2 Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife?”

3 Jesus answered them with a question: “What did Moses say in the law about divorce?”

4 “Well, he permitted it,” they replied. “He said a man can give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away.”

5 But Jesus responded, “He wrote this commandment only as a concession to your hard hearts. 6 But ‘God made them male and female’ from the beginning of creation. 7 ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, 8 and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, 9 let no one split apart what God has joined together.”

1 Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again.

2 The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him.

3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”

4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.”

5 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

1 Then Jesus left that place and went into the area of Judea and across the Jordan River. Again, crowds came to him, and he taught them as he usually did.

2 Some Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to trick him. They asked, “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife?”

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

4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write out divorce papers and send her away.”

5 Jesus said, “Moses wrote that command for you because you were stubborn. 6 But when God made the world, ‘he made them male and female.’ 7 ‘So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, 8 and the two will become one body.’ So there are not two, but one. 9 God has joined the two together, so no one should separate them.”

1 And he arose from thence and cometh into the borders of Judaea and beyond the Jordan: and multitudes come together unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again.

2 And there came unto him Pharisees, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? trying him. 3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? 4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. 5 But Jesus said unto them, For your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, Male and female made he them. 7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; 8 and the two shall become one flesh: so that they are no more two, but one flesh. 9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

1 And rising up thence he comes into the coasts of Judaea, and the other side of the Jordan. And again crowds come together to him, and, as he was accustomed, again he taught them. 2 And Pharisees coming to him asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? (tempting him). 3 But he answering said to them, What did Moses command you? 4 And they said, Moses allowed to write a bill of divorce, and to put away. 5 And Jesus answering said to them, In view of your hard-heartedness he wrote this commandment for you; 6 but from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. 7 For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be united to his wife, 8 and the two shall be one flesh: so that they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.

1 Jesus left there and went into the territory of Judea along the other side of the Jordan River. Crowds gathered around him again, and he taught them as he usually did. 

2 Some Pharisees came to test him. They asked, “Can a husband divorce his wife?” 

3 Jesus answered them, “What command did Moses give you?” 

4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to give his wife a written notice to divorce her.” 

5 Jesus said to them, “He wrote this command for you because you’re heartless. 6 But God made them male and female in the beginning, at creation. 7 That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and will remain united with his wife, 8 and the two will be one. So they are no longer two but one. 9 Therefore, don’t let anyone separate what God has joined together.” 

1 He set out from there and went to the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Then crowds converged on Him again and, as He usually did, He began teaching them once more. 2 Some Pharisees approached Him to test Him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

3 He replied to them, “What did Moses command you?”

4 They said, “Moses permitted us to write divorce papers and send her away.”

5 But Jesus told them, “He wrote this command for you because of the hardness of your hearts. 6 But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.

7 For this reason a man will leave

his father and mother

[and be joined to his wife],

8 and the two will become one flesh.

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate.”

1 He left that place and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan. And crowds again gathered around him; and, as was his custom, he again taught them.

2 Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

1 And from there he set out and came to the region of Judea and the other side of the Jordan, and again crowds came together to him. And again, as he was accustomed to do, he began to teach them. 2 And they asked him if it was permitted for a man to divorce his wife, in order to test him. 3 And he answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 So they said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “He wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart. 6 But from the beginning of creation ‘he made them male and female. 7 Because of this a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh,’ so that they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate.”

1 Jesus left that place and went into the area of Judea and across the Jordan River. Again crowds of people came to him. As usual, he taught them.

2 Some Pharisees came to put him to the test. They asked, “Does the Law allow a man to divorce his wife?”

3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.

4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a letter of divorce and send her away.”

5 “You were stubborn. That’s why Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. 8 The two of them will become one.’ They are no longer two, but one. 9 So a man must not separate what God has joined together.”

1 Getting up, He went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more began to teach them.

2 Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.

3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”

4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.

6 “But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.

7 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother,

8 and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh.

9 “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”