What does the Bible say about divorce and getting married again?

Jesus teaches that marriage is meant to be a lifelong union, and he treats divorce seriously, not casually. In Matthew's Gospel, he names one specific exception: sexual immorality within the marriage.

Paul adds another situation in his letters: if a spouse who isn't a believer chooses to leave the marriage, the remaining spouse "is not bound" in that case.

Beyond these, Christians genuinely disagree. Some hold that only these two specific situations permit divorce and remarriage. Many pastors and theologians today also extend this reasoning to abandonment through abuse, for safety reasons, even though the text doesn't name that scenario directly. Others hold stricter views that discourage remarriage entirely while a former spouse is alive.

There isn't one single view every Christian tradition shares on every specific case. What is shared is that marriage matters deeply to Scripture, divorce is never treated lightly, and grace and restoration remain real even where a marriage has ended.