Matthew 19:1-8 ▼

1 And it happened that, when Jesus had completed these words, he moved away from Galilee, and he arrived within the borders of Judea, across the Jordan.

2 And great crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3 And the Pharisees approached him, testing him, and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to separate from his wife, no matter what the cause?”

4 And he said to them in response, “Have you not read that he who made man from the beginning, made them male and female?” And he said:

5 “For this reason, a man shall separate from father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife, and these two shall become one flesh.

6 And so, now they are not two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.”

7 They said to him, “Then why did Moses command him to give a bill of divorce, and to separate?”

8 He said to them: “Although Moses permitted you to separate from your wives, due to the hardness of your heart, it was not that way from the beginning.