Mat 19:1-12 | ISV | STEP | Teaching about Divorce When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the territory of Judea on the other side of the Jordan.

Matthew 19:1-12

1 Teaching about Divorce Mark 10:1-12When Jesus had finished saying these things, ^{▼▼Lit. finished these sayings} he left Galilee and went to the territory of Judea on the other side ^{▼▼I.e., the east side} of the Jordan.Mark 10:1; John 10:40 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.Matt 12:15

3 Some Pharisees came to him in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man ^{▼▼Other mss. lack for a man} to divorce his wife for any reason?”

4 He answered them, “Haven't you read that the one who made ^{▼▼Other mss. read created} them at the beginning ‘made them male and female’ ^{▼▼Gen 1:27; 5:2}Gen 1:27; 5:2; Mal 2:15 5 and said, ‘That is why a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? ^{▼▼Gen 2:24}Gen 2:24; Mark 10:5-9; 1Cor 6:16; 7:2; Eph 5:31 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must never separate.”

7 They asked him, “Why, then, did Moses order us ‘to give a certificate of divorce and divorce her’?” ^{▼▼Deut 24:1, 3}Deut 24:1; Matt 5:31

8 He said to them, “It was because of your hardness of heart that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives. But from the beginning it was not this way. 9 I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” ^{▼▼Other mss. read adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery}Matt 5:32; Mark 10:11; Luke 16:18; 1Cor 7:10-11

10 His disciples said to him, “If that is the relationship of a man with his wife, it's not worth getting married!”Prov 21:19

11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this saying, except those to whom celibacy ^{▼▼Lit. it} has been granted.1Cor 7:2, 7, 9, 17 12 For some men are celibate from birth, ^{▼▼Lit. from the mother's womb} while others are celibate because they have been made that way by others. Still others are celibate because they have made themselves that way for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”1Cor 7:32, 34