(Matt. xix, 1-12; Mark x, 1-12.) And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these words, he departed from Galilee and came into the coasts of Judea beyond the Jordan; and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them there. And the Pharisees came to him, tempting him and saying: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for any cause whatsoever? Who answering said to them: Have you not read that he who made man from the beginning made them male and female (Gen. i, 27)? And he said: For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they two shall be in one flesh (Gen. ii, 24). Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. They say to him: Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorce (Deut. xxiv, 1)
and to put her away? He saith to them: Because of the hardness of your heart Moses permitted you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not so. But I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery; and he that shall marry her that is put away committeth adultery. His disciples say to him: If the case of a man with his wife be so, it is not expedient to marry. Who said to them: Not all receive this word, but they to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who were so born from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who were made so by men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can receive it, let him receive it.