Start with the text.
World English Bible Updated · public domain. The passages below are source text, not AI quotations.
Matthew 19:3-9 Read passage
3Pharisees came to him, testing him and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”
4He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,
5and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh’?
6So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.”
7They asked him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and divorce her?”
8He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so.
9I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery.”
Mark 10:2-12 Read passage
2Pharisees came to him testing him, and asked him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
3He answered, “What did Moses command you?”
4They said, “Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be written, and to divorce her.”
5But Jesus said to them, “For your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment.
6But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.
7For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will join to his wife,
8and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.
9What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
10In the house, his disciples asked him again about the same matter.
11He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.
12If a woman herself divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
1 Corinthians 7:10-16 Read passage
10But to the married I command—not I, but the Lord—that the wife not leave her husband
11(but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband not leave his wife.
12But to the rest I—not the Lord—say, if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is content to live with him, let him not leave her.
13The woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he is content to live with her, let her not leave her husband.
14For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
15Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace.
16For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
Read this in context.
Matthew and Mark place Jesus’ words within a question posed by Pharisees, including appeal to Moses’ permission. First Corinthians 7 answers a church’s questions and distinguishes several marital circumstances. Read the actual situations being addressed.
What we can observe.
Matthew 19:9 includes an exception phrase involving sexual immorality. Mark 10:11-12 does not state that exception in the same way. First Corinthians 7:15 discusses an unbelieving spouse who departs.
A reading to consider.
A short guide cannot determine a particular marriage’s moral or legal situation. Abuse and immediate danger require appropriate support and safety measures. Do not use a generated answer to pressure a person to remain exposed to harm.
Where Christians differ.
Some Protestant readings permit divorce and remarriage in specified circumstances, engaging Matthew 19:9 and 1 Corinthians 7:15. Catholic teaching emphasizes the enduring bond of a valid sacramental marriage and distinguishes separation and annulment. Orthodox practice also takes permanence seriously while allowing pastoral responses to marital breakdown in some cases. These brief summaries require fuller tradition-specific guidance.
Read it for yourself.
Which passage and circumstance needs clearer understanding before applying a conclusion to a real person?
A question of your own?
Take what you have read into a guided study. Begin with the passages, explore their context, and keep room for your own reflection.