Matthew 19:1-9 ▼

1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, He left Galilee and went into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.

2 Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.

3 Then some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?

4 Jesus answered, “ Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’

5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’

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

7 “Why then, they asked, “did Moses order a man to give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hardness of heart; but it was not this way from the beginning.

9 Now I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman, commits adultery.