What does the Bible say about remarriage after divorce?
Bible Topic · WEB
The Bible teaches that marriage is a lifelong covenant, so divorce and remarriage are never to be treated lightly, yet Christ recognizes that human sin can grievously rupture marriages. Genesis 2:24 and Matthew 19:6 ground marriage in God’s design of one man and one woman becoming one flesh. Jesus warns in Matthew 5:31-32, Luke 16:18, and Mark 10:11-12 that divorcing and marrying another ordinarily involves adultery, while Matthew 19:9 identifies sexual immorality as a serious exception. Romans 7:2 and 1 Corinthians 7:39 affirm that death ends the marriage bond. Churches should uphold marital faithfulness, pursue reconciliation where possible, and extend truth, repentance, forgiveness, and pastoral care to those affected by divorce.
Top passages, ranked by readers
Rankings: OpenBible.info Topical Bible (CC BY) · Scripture: World English Bible
- Matthew 19:6 5 votes
So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.”
- Romans 7:2 5 votes
For the woman that has a husband is bound by law to the husband while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is discharged from the law of the husband.
- 1 Corinthians 7:39 4 votes
A wife is bound by law for as long as her husband lives; but if the husband is dead, she is free to be married to whomever she desires, only in the Lord.
- Luke 16:18 4 votes
“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. He who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.
- Matthew 5:32 4 votes
but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.
- Matthew 19:9 3 votes
I 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 10:6-9 3 votes
But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will join to his wife, and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
- Genesis 2:24 3 votes
Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.
- Matthew 5:31-32 3 votes
“It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’ but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.
- Mark 10:11-12 3 votes
He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. If a woman herself divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
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