divorce and separation
What does the Bible say about divorce and separation? These are the passages readers found most helpful — tap any citation to read it in context.
20 passages · most helpful first
10But to those who have been joined in matrimony, it is not I who commands you, but the Lord: a wife is not to separate from her husband. 11But if she has separated from him, she must remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband should not divorce his wife.
2And approaching, the Pharisees questioned him, testing him: “Is it lawful for a man to dismiss his wife?” 3But in response, he said to them, “What did Moses instruct you?” 4And they said, “Moses gave permission to write a bill of divorce and to dismiss her.” 5But Jesus responded by saying: “It was due to the hardness of your heart that he wrote that precept for you. 6But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. 7Because of this, a man shall leave behind his father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife.
15But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart. For a brother or sister cannot be made subject to servitude in this way. For God has called us to peace.
16If you would hold hatred, dismiss her, says the Lord, the God of Israel. But iniquity will cover his garment, says the Lord of hosts. Preserve your spirit, and do not be willing to despise.
18Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. And whoever marries her who has been divorced by her husband commits adultery.
9And I say to you, that whoever will have separated from his wife, except because of fornication, and who will have married another, commits adultery, and whoever will have married her who has been separated, commits adultery.”
8But if anyone has no concern for his own, and especially for those of his own household, he has denied the faith, and he is worse than an unbeliever.
10But to those who have been joined in matrimony, it is not I who commands you, but the Lord: a wife is not to separate from her husband. 11But if she has separated from him, she must remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband should not divorce his wife. 12Concerning the rest, I am speaking, not the Lord. If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13And if any woman has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce her husband. 14For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through the believing wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through the believing husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, whereas instead they are holy. 15But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart. For a brother or sister cannot be made subject to servitude in this way. For God has called us to peace.
4May marriage be honorable in every way, and may the marriage bed be immaculate. For God will judge fornicators and adulterers.
1“If a man takes a wife, and he has her, and she does not find favor before his eyes because of some vileness, then he shall write a bill of divorce, and he shall give it to her hand, and he shall dismiss her from his house. 2And when, having departed, she has married another, 3and if he likewise hates her, and has given her a bill of divorce, and has dismissed her from his house, or if indeed he has died, 4then the former husband cannot take her back as a wife. For she has been polluted and has become abominable in the sight of the Lord. Otherwise, you may cause your land, which the Lord your God will deliver to you as a possession, to sin.
32But I say to you, that anyone who will have dismissed his wife, except in the case of fornication, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever will have married her who has been dismissed commits adultery.
39A woman is bound under the law for as long as her husband lives. But if her husband has died, she is free. She may marry whomever she wishes, but only in the Lord.
6And so, now they are not two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.”
31And it has been said: ‘Whoever would dismiss his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce.’ 32But I say to you, that anyone who will have dismissed his wife, except in the case of fornication, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever will have married her who has been dismissed commits adultery.
12Concerning the rest, I am speaking, not the Lord. If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13And if any woman has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce her husband. 14For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through the believing wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through the believing husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, whereas instead they are holy. 15But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart. For a brother or sister cannot be made subject to servitude in this way. For God has called us to peace. 16And how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
15Did not One make her, and is she not the remainder of his spirit? And what does one seek, except offspring of God? So then, preserve your spirit, and do not despise the wife of your youth.
22He who has found a good wife has found goodness, and he shall draw contentment from the Lord. He who expels a good wife expels goodness. But he who holds on to an adulteress is foolish and impious.
1Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2But, because of fornication, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. 3A husband should fulfill his obligation to his wife, and a wife should also act similarly toward her husband. 4It is not the wife, but the husband, who has power over her body. But, similarly also, it is not the husband, but the wife, who has power over his body. 5So, do not fail in your obligations to one another, except perhaps by consent, for a limited time, so that you may empty yourselves for prayer. And then, return together again, lest Satan tempt you by means of your abstinence. 6But I am saying this, neither as an indulgence, nor as a commandment.
4And he said to them in response, “Have you not read that he who made man from the beginning, made them male and female?” And he said: 5“For this reason, a man shall separate from father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife, and these two shall become one flesh. 6And so, now they are not two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.”
1And it happened that, when Jesus had completed these words, he moved away from Galilee, and he arrived within the borders of Judea, across the Jordan. 2And great crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3And the Pharisees approached him, testing him, and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to separate from his wife, no matter what the cause?” 4And he said to them in response, “Have you not read that he who made man from the beginning, made them male and female?” And he said: 5“For this reason, a man shall separate from father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife, and these two shall become one flesh. 6And so, now they are not two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.”