^22 (A)“If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.

²³ “If a young woman who is a virgin is ^(B)betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, ²⁴ then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he ^(C)humbled his neighbor’s wife; ^(D)so you shall put away the evil from among you.

Adultery in the Heart

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said ^[a]to those of old, ^(A)‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say to you that whoever ^(B)looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ^29 (C)If your right eye causes you to ^[b]sin, ^(D)pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to ^[c]sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Sin’s Advantage in the Law

⁷ What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, ^(A)I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ^(B)“You shall not covet.” ⁸ But ^(C)sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For ^(D)apart from the law sin was dead. ⁹ I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. ¹⁰ And the commandment, ^(E)which was to bring life, I found to bring death. ¹¹ For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. ¹² Therefore ^(F)the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

Law Cannot Save from Sin

¹³ Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, ^(G)sold under sin. ¹⁵ For what I am doing, I do not understand. ^(H)For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. ¹⁶ If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. ¹⁷ But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that ^(I)in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. ¹⁹ For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. ²⁰ Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

²¹ I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. ²² For I ^(J)delight in the law of God according to ^(K)the inward man. ²³ But ^(L)I see another law in ^(M)my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me ^(N)from this body of death? ^25 (O)I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Love Your Neighbor^(A)

⁸ Owe no one anything except to love one another, for ^(B)he who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments, ^(C)“You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” ^[a]“You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ^(D)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore ^(E)love is the fulfillment of the law.

Put on Christ

¹¹ And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time ^(F)to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ¹² The night is far spent, the day is at hand. ^(G)Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and ^(H)let us put on the armor of light. ^13 (I)Let us walk ^[b]properly, as in the day, ^(J)not in revelry and drunkenness, ^(K)not in lewdness and lust, ^(L)not in strife and envy. ¹⁴ But ^(M)put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and ^(N)make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

¹⁵ Do you not know that ^(A)your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! ¹⁶ Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For ^(B)“the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” ^17 (C)But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

^18 (D)Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins ^(E)against his own body. ¹⁹ Or ^(F)do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, ^(G)and you are not your own? ²⁰ For ^(H)you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body ^[a]and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Walking in the Spirit

¹⁶ I say then: ^(A)Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷ For ^(B)the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, ^(C)so that you do not do the things that you wish.

¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, ^(A)when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, ^(B)brings forth death.

¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. ^17 (C)Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, ^(D)with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. ^18 (E)Of His own will He brought us forth by the ^(F)word of truth, ^(G)that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.