Questions About Divorce

19 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3 Then [fn]the Pharisees came up to Jesus and tested him by asking [fn]him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?” 4 He answered [fn]them, “Have you not read that he who [fn]made them from the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for fornication, and marries another, commits adultery. [fn]And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

10 [fn]His disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But Jesus said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever is able to accept this should accept it.”