1. NOW WHEN Jesus had finished saying these things, He left Galilee and went into the part of Judea that is beyond the Jordan;
2. And great throngs accompanied Him, and He cured them there.
3. And Pharisees came to Him and put Him to the test by asking, Is it lawful and right to dismiss and repudiate and divorce one's wife for any and every cause?
4. He replied, Have you never read that He Who made them from the beginning made them male and female,
5. And said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be united firmly (joined inseparably) to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? [Gen. 1:27; 2:24.]
6. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder (separate).
7. They said to Him, Why then did Moses command [us] to give a certificate of divorce and thus to dismiss and repudiate a wife? [Deut. 24:1-4.]
8. He said to them, Because of the hardness (stubbornness and perversity) of your hearts Moses permitted you to dismiss and repudiate and divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been so [ordained].
9. I say to you: whoever dismisses (repudiates, divorces) his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
10. The disciples said to Him, If the case of a man with his wife is like this, it is neither profitable nor advisable to marry.
11. But He said to them, Not all men can accept this saying, but it is for those to whom [the capacity to receive] it has been given.
12. For there are eunuchs who have been born incapable of marriage; and there are eunuchs who have been made so by men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves incapable of marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let him who is able to accept this accept it.
13. Then little children were brought to Jesus, that He might put His hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
14. But He said, Leave the children alone! Allow the little ones to come to Me, and do not forbid or restrain or hinder them, for of such [as these] is the kingdom of heaven composed.