Deuteronomy 22:13-21

New English Translation

Purity in the Marriage Relationship

¹³ Suppose a man marries a woman, sleeps with her,^[a] and then rejects^[b] her, ¹⁴ accusing her of impropriety^[c] and defaming her reputation^[d] by saying, “I married this woman but when I approached her for marital relations^[e] I discovered she was not a virgin!” ¹⁵ Then the father and mother of the young woman must produce the evidence of virginity^[f] for the elders of the city at the gate. ¹⁶ The young woman’s father must say to the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man and he has rejected^[g] her. ¹⁷ Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety by saying, ‘I discovered your daughter was not a virgin,’ but this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity!” The cloth must then be spread out^[h] before the city’s elders. ¹⁸ The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish^[i] him. ¹⁹ They will fine him 100 shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation^[j] ruined the reputation^[k] of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.

²⁰ But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin, ²¹ the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing^[l] in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge^[m] the evil from among you.