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

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?

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

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

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.

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“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a](A) 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]?(B) So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

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

Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 19:4 Gen. 1:27
  2. Matthew 19:5 Gen. 2:24