Mark 10:1-16

Jesus’ Teaching about Divorce

¹Getting up, He went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more began to teach them.

²Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife. ³And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” ⁵But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. ⁶But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. ⁷For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, ⁸and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

¹⁰In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. ¹¹And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; ¹²and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

¹³And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” ¹⁶And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.