Mark 10:1-16

Mark 10

Marriage and Divorce

¹ Jesus got up and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. Crowds gathered around him again and, as he usually did, he taught them. ² Some Pharisees came to test him and asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

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

⁴ They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” ^[1]

⁵ But Jesus told them, “He wrote this command for you because of your hard hearts. ⁶ But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. ^{[2] 7} For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ⁸ and the two will become one flesh. ^[3] So they are no longer two but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

¹⁰ In the house his disciples asked him about this again. ¹¹ He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. ¹² If she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Jesus Loves Little Children

¹³ Some people began bringing little children to Jesus so that he would touch them. But the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said, “Let the little children come to me! Do not hinder them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Amen I tell you: Whoever will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took the little children in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.