He set out from there and went to the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Then crowds converged on him again, and as was his custom he taught them again.

²Some Pharisees came to test him, asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

³He replied to them, “What did Moses command you?”

⁴They said, “Moses permitted us to write divorce papers and send her away.”

⁵But Jesus told them, “He wrote this command for you because of the hardness of your hearts. ⁶But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. ⁷For this reason a man will leave his father and mother ⁸and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

¹⁰When they were in the house again, the disciples questioned him about this matter. ¹¹He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. ¹²Also, if she divorces her husband and marries another she commits adultery.”

Mark 10:1–12

So God created man in his own image;
he created him in the image of God;
he created them male and female.

Genesis 1:27

Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man
into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³And the man said:

This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called “woman,” for she was taken from man.

²⁴This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and
they become one flesh. ²⁵Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.

Genesis 2:22–25

“If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, he may write her a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her away from his house. ²If after leaving his house she goes and becomes another man’s wife, ³and the second man hates her, writes her a divorce certificate, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house or if he dies, ⁴the first husband who sent her away may not marry her again after she has been defiled, because that would be detestable to the Lord.”

Deuteronomy 24:1-4

If a man who has married a slave wife takes another wife for himself, he must not neglect the rights of the first wife to food, clothing, and sexual intimacy. ¹¹If he fails in any of these three obligations, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment.

Exodus 21:10–11, NLT

¹³Here is another thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn’t accept them with pleasure. ¹⁴You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows. ¹⁵Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. ¹⁶“For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”

Malachi 2:13-16

No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. ⁴The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.

⁵Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

1 Corinthians 7:3-5, NLT

“You know the next commandment pretty well, too: ‘Don’t go to bed with another’s spouse.’ But don’t think you’ve preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think nobody notices—they also corrupt.”

Matthew 5:27–28, The Message