Divorce

³¹ “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’^{[a](A) 32} But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.^(B)

Oaths

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath,^(C) but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’^{(D) 34} But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all:^(E) either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;^{(F) 35} or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.^{(G) 36} And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. ³⁷ All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’;^(H) anything beyond this comes from the evil one.^[b](I)

³ Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife^(A) for any and every reason?”

⁴ “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’^{[a](B) 5} and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’^[b]?^{(C) 6} So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

⁷ “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”^(D)

⁸ Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. ⁹ I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”^(E)