Mal 2:14-16, Mat 19:3-9, Mar 10:6-12, Rom 7:2, 1Cor 6:16-17, 7:2-4, 10 | ESV | STEP | But you say , Why does he not? Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth , to whom you have been faithless , though she is your companion and your wife by covenant .

14 ^aBut you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord ^bwas witness between you and the wife of your youth, ^cto whom ^dyou have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 ^eDid he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? ^{▼▼Hebrew in it} And what was the one God ^{▼▼Hebrew the one} seeking? ^{▼▼Or And not one has done this who has a portion of the Spirit. And what was that one seeking?} ⁱGodly offspring. So guard yourselves ^{▼▼Or So take care; also verse 16} in your spirit, and let none of you be ^kfaithless to the wife of your youth. 16 “For ^lthe man who does not love his wife but divorces her, ^{▼▼Hebrew who hates and divorces} says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers ^{▼▼Probable meaning (compare Septuagint and Deuteronomy 24:1–4); or “The Lord, the God of Israel, says that he hates divorce, and him who covers} his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and ^odo not be faithless.”

Matthew 19:3-9

3 And Pharisees came up to him and ^ptested him by asking, ^q“Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, ^r“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ^s‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^tthe two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. ^uWhat therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, ^v“Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your ^whardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 ^xAnd I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery; other manuscripts except for sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery}

Mark 10:6-12

6 But ^zfrom the beginning of creation, ‘God made them ^aamale and female.’ 7 ^ab‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts omit and hold fast to his wife} 8 and ^adthe two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 ^aeWhat therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, ^af“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and ^agif she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Romans 7:2

2 For ^aha married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. ^{▼▼Greek law concerning the husband}

1 Corinthians 6:16-17

16 Or do you not know that he who is joined ^{▼▼Or who holds fast (compare Genesis 2:24 and Deuteronomy 10:20); also verse 17} to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ^ak“The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord ^albecomes one spirit with him.

1 Corinthians 7:2-4

2 But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3 ^amThe husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

1 Corinthians 7:10

10 To the married ^anI give this charge (not I, but the Lord): ^aothe wife should not separate from her husband