Concerning Divorce

³¹ ‘It was also said, “Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.” ³² But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Laws concerning Marriage and Divorce

24 Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; she then leaves his house ² and goes off to become another man’s wife. ³ Then suppose the second man dislikes her, writes her a bill of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house (or the second man who married her dies); ⁴ her first husband, who sent her away, is not permitted to take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that would be abhorrent to the Lord, and you shall not bring guilt on the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession.

³ Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?’ ⁴ He answered, ‘Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning “made them male and female”, ⁵ and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? ⁶ So 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 a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?’ ⁸ He said to them, ‘It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but at the beginning it was not so. ⁹ And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery.’^[a]

¹⁰ His disciples said to him, ‘If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.’ ¹¹ But he said to them, ‘Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. ¹² For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.’