Mark 10:1-12

Contemporary English Version

Teaching about Divorce

(Matthew 19.1-12; Luke 16.18)

10 After Jesus left, he went to Judea and then on to the other side of the Jordan River. Once again large crowds came to him, and as usual, he taught them.

² Some Pharisees wanted to test Jesus. So they came up to him and asked if it was right for a man to divorce his wife. ³ Jesus asked them, “What does the Law of Moses say about this?”

^4 (A) They answered, “Moses allows a man to write out divorce papers and send his wife away.”

⁵ Jesus replied, “Moses gave you this law because you are so heartless. ^6 (B) But in the beginning God made a man and a woman. ^7 (C) That's why a man leaves his father and mother and gets married. ⁸ He becomes like one person with his wife. Then they are no longer two people, but one. ⁹ And no one should separate a couple that God has joined together.”

¹⁰ When Jesus and his disciples were back in the house, they asked him about what he had said. ^11 (D) He told them, “A man who divorces his wife and marries someone else is unfaithful to his wife. ¹² A woman who divorces her husband^[a] and marries again is also unfaithful.”