grounds for divorce
What does the Bible say about grounds for divorce? These are the passages readers found most helpful — tap any citation to read it in context.
17 passages · most helpful first
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
2For example, a woman who is subject to a husband is obligated by the law while her husband lives. But when her husband has died, she is released from the law of her husband.
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.
31And it has been said: ‘Whoever would dismiss his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce.’
6And so, now they are not two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.”
7Similarly, you husbands should live with them in accord with knowledge, bestowing honor on the female as the weaker vessel and as co-heirs of the life of grace, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
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.” 7They said to him, “Then why did Moses command him to give a bill of divorce, and to separate?” 8He said to them: “Although Moses permitted you to separate from your wives, due to the hardness of your heart, it was not that way from the beginning.
8He said to them: “Although Moses permitted you to separate from your wives, due to the hardness of your heart, it was not that way from the beginning.
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.
8He said to them: “Although Moses permitted you to separate from your wives, due to the hardness of your heart, it was not that way from the beginning. 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.”
24For this reason, a man shall leave behind his father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife; and the two shall be as one flesh.