Mark 10:1-16

1Then Jesus left that place and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan River. Again crowds gathered to him, and again, as was his custom, he taught them.

2Then some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

3He answered them, “What did Moses command you?”

4They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.”

5But Jesus said to them, “He wrote this commandment for you because of your hard hearts.

6But from the beginning of creation he made them male and female.

7For this reason a man will leave his father and mother,

8and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh.

9Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

10In the house once again, the disciples asked him about this.

11So he told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.

12And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

13Now people were bringing little children to him for him to touch, but the disciples scolded those who brought them.

14But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

15I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

16After he took the children in his arms, he placed his hands on them and blessed them.