₂Some Pharisees came to him and tried to trap him. “Tell us,” they asked, “does our Law allow a man to divorce his wife?”

₃Jesus answered with a question, “What law did Moses give you?”

₄Their answer was, “Moses gave permission for a man to write a divorce notice and send his wife away.”

₅Jesus said to them, “Moses wrote this law for you because you are so hard to teach. ₆But in the beginning, at the time of creation, ‘God made them male and female,’ as the scripture says. ₇‘And for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, ₈and the two will become one.’ So they are no longer two, but one. ₉No human being then must separate what God has joined together.”

₁₀When they went back into the house, the disciples asked Jesus about this matter. ₁₁He said to them, “A man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against his wife. ₁₂In the same way, a woman who divorces her husband and marries another man commits adultery.”

₁₃Some people brought children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples scolded the people. ₁₄When Jesus noticed this, he was angry and said to his disciples, “Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ₁₅I assure you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” ₁₆Then he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on each of them, and blessed them.