Matthew 19:1-12

Concerning Divorce

¹When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; 2 and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.

³Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” ⁴And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” ⁷They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” ⁸He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. ⁹And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

¹⁰The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” ¹¹But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. ¹²For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”