VERSE STUDY • KJV

Matthew 19:3-9

³ The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? ⁴ And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made [them] at the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? ⁶ Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. ⁷ They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? ⁸ He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. ⁹ And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except [it be] for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

³ The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? ⁴ And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made [them] at the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? ⁶ Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. ⁷ They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? ⁸ He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. ⁹ And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except [it be] for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

BSB Berean Standard Bible

³ Then some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?” ⁴ Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 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’? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” ⁷ “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses order a man to give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” ⁸ Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hardness of heart. But it was not this way from the beginning. ⁹ Now I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

WEB World English Bible

³ Pharisees came to him, testing him, and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?” ⁴ He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall join to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?’ ⁶ So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.” ⁷ They asked him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a bill of divorce, and divorce her?” ⁸ He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so. ⁹ I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery.”

ASV American Standard Version

³ And there came unto him Pharisees, trying him, and saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? ⁴ And he answered and said, Have ye not read, that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh? ⁶ So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. ⁷ They say unto him, Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorcement, and to put her away? ⁸ He saith unto them, Moses for your hardness of heart suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it hath not been so. ⁹ And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery : and he that marrieth her when she is put away committeth adultery.

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

³ And the Pharisees came near to him, tempting him, and saying to him, ‘Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?’ ⁴ And he answering said to them, ‘Did ye not read, that He who made them, from the beginning a male and a female made them, ⁵ and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they shall be—the two—for one flesh? ⁶ so that they are no more two, but one flesh; what therefore God did join together, let no man put asunder.’ ⁷ They say to him, ‘Why then did Moses command to give a roll of divorce, and to put her away?’ ⁸ He saith to them—‘Moses for your stiffness of heart did suffer you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it hath not been so. ⁹ ‘And I say to you, that, whoever may put away his wife, if not for whoredom, and may marry another, doth commit adultery; and he who did marry her that hath been put away, doth commit adultery.’

Surrounding context — Matthew 19

1 And it came to pass, [that] when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan;

2 And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there.

3 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made [them] at the beginning made them male and female,

5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?

8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except [it be] for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

10 His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with [his] wife, it is not good to marry.

11 But he said unto them, All [men] cannot receive this saying, save [they] to whom it is given.

12 For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from [their] mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive [it], let him receive [it].

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