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].”