To the others I say (I, myself, not the Lord): if a Christian man has a wife who is an unbeliever and she agrees to go on living with him, he must not divorce her.

Now, concerning what you wrote about unmarried people: I do not have a command from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is worthy of trust.

She will be happier, however, if she stays as she is. That is my opinion, and I think that I too have God's Spirit.

However, if the one who is not a believer wishes to leave the Christian partner, let it be so. In such cases the Christian partner, whether husband or wife, is free to act. God has called you to live in peace.

But like an unfaithful wife, you have not been faithful to me. I, the LORD, have spoken."

You ask why he no longer accepts them. It is because he knows you have broken your promise to the wife you married when you were young. She was your partner, and you have broken your promise to her, although you promised before God that you would be faithful to her.

"I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel. "I hate it when one of you does such a cruel thing to his wife. Make sure that you do not break your promise to be faithful to your wife."

But now I tell you: if a man divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he is guilty of making her commit adultery if she marries again; and the man who marries her commits adultery also.

So they are no longer two, but one. No human being must separate, then, what God has joined together."

Jesus answered, "Moses gave you permission to divorce your wives because you are so hard to teach. But it was not like that at the time of creation.

He said to them, "A man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against his wife.

In the same way, a woman who divorces her husband and marries another man commits adultery."

"Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery; and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.