19And 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. ²And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. ³And 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. ⁴And he answered and^* said, “Have you not read that the one who created them^* from the beginning made them male and female ⁵and 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 ⁶So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate.” ⁷They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us^* to give a document—a certificate of divorce—and to divorce her?” ⁸He 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. ⁹Now 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

¹⁰The disciples^c said to him, “If this is the case of a man with his^* wife, it would be better not to marry!” ¹¹But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this saying but those to whom it has been given. ¹²For 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 eunuchs^d 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

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

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Footnotes

*Here “in order to” is supplied as a component of the participle (“test”) which is understood as purpose
*Here the participle (“asked”) is translated as a finite verb because of English style
*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
*Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
*Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
aA quotation from Gen 2:24
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
bSome manuscripts omit “and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery”
cSome manuscripts have “His disciples”
*Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
dAn understood repetition of the term from earlier in the verse
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
eLiterally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
fLiterally “for of such is”
*Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“laid”) has been translated as a finite verb