Matthew 19:1-8 ▼

1 And it came to pass that, when Jesus finished these words, He departed from Galilee, and came into the borders of Judaea, beyond the Jordan.

2 And large multitudes followed Him; and He healed them there.

3 And the Pharisees came to Him, tempting Him, and saying, "Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause"

4 And He, answering, said, "Did you not read that He Who made them from the beginning made them 'male and female,'

5 and said, 'For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh?"

6 so that they are no longer two, but one flesh. What, therefore, God joined together, let not man put asunder."

7 They say to Him, "Why, then, did Moses command to give her a bill of divorcement, and to put her away?"

8 He saith to them, "Moses, in view of the hardness of your heart, permitted you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it has not been so.