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- When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan.
- Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
- Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?"
- "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,'
- 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'?
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- So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
- "Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?"
- Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.
- I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."
- The disciples said to him, "If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry."
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- Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.
- For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriagebecause of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it."
- Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
- Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
- When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
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