Teachings about Divorce

(Mark 10:1–12)

19 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,’[fn] 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’[fn]? 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?[fn]”

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.[fn]”

10 His disciples said to Him, “If this is the case between a man and his wife, it is better not to marry.”

11 “Not everyone can accept this word,” He replied, “but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way; others were made that way by men; and still others live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”