Laws on Morality

13 (A)If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then [a]turns against her, 14 and he charges her with shameful behavior and [b]publicly defames her, and says, ‘I took this woman, but when I came near her, I did not find her to have evidence of virginity,’ 15 then the girl’s father and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of the girl’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. 16 And the girl’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he [c]turned against her; 17 and behold, he has charged her with shameful behavior, saying, “I did not find your daughter to have evidence of virginity.” But [d]this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread out the garment before the elders of the city. 18 Then (B)the elders of that city shall take the man and rebuke him, 19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give it to the girl’s father, because he [e]publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he is not allowed to [f]divorce her all his days.

20 “But if this [g](C)charge is true, and they did not find the girl to have evidence of virginity, 21 then they shall bring the girl out to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her [h]to death, because she has (D)committed a disgraceful sin in Israel by playing the prostitute in her father’s house; so (E)you shall eliminate the evil from among you.

22 (F)If a man is found sleeping with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who slept with the woman, and the woman; so you shall eliminate the evil from Israel.

23 (G)If there is a girl who is a virgin [i]betrothed to a man, and another man finds her in the city and sleeps with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them [j]to death: the girl, because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man, because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall eliminate the evil from among you.

25 “But if the man finds the girl who is betrothed in the field, and the man seizes her and [k]rapes her, then only the man who [l]raped her shall die. 26 And you are not to do anything to the girl; there is no sin in the girl worthy of death, for just as a man rises against his neighbor and murders him, [m]so is this case. 27 When he found her in the field, the betrothed girl [n]cried out, but there was no one to save her.

28 (H)If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and has sexual relations with her, and they are discovered, 29 then the man who had sexual relations with her shall give the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall become his wife, because he has violated her; he is not allowed to divorce her all his days.

30 [o](I)A man shall not take [p]his father’s wife in marriage, so that he does not [q]uncover his father’s garment.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 22:13 Lit hates her
  2. Deuteronomy 22:14 Lit brings out an evil reputation against her
  3. Deuteronomy 22:16 Lit hated her
  4. Deuteronomy 22:17 Lit these are
  5. Deuteronomy 22:19 Lit brought out an evil reputation against a virgin
  6. Deuteronomy 22:19 Lit send her away
  7. Deuteronomy 22:20 Lit matter
  8. Deuteronomy 22:21 Lit with stones so that she dies
  9. Deuteronomy 22:23 A betrothed couple was considered legally married, but did not yet live together
  10. Deuteronomy 22:24 Lit with stones so that they die
  11. Deuteronomy 22:25 Lit lies down with
  12. Deuteronomy 22:25 Lit lies down with
  13. Deuteronomy 22:26 I.e., she is only a victim
  14. Deuteronomy 22:27 I.e., presumably did so
  15. Deuteronomy 22:30 Ch 23:1 in Heb
  16. Deuteronomy 22:30 I.e., a stepmother, not his birth mother
  17. Deuteronomy 22:30 Idiom for violating his father’s marriage

Integrity in Marriage

13 “Suppose a man marries a wife, but after having sexual relations with her, he despises her, 14 invents charges against her, and defames her by saying, ‘I have married this woman, but when I had sexual relations with her I found that she wasn’t a virgin.’ 15 Then the father of the young lady, along with her mother, is to bring evidence of the young lady’s virginity to the elders at the gate. 16 The father of the young lady is to then say to the elders: ‘I have given my daughter to this man as a wife, but he despises her. 17 Now look, he has invented charges against her by saying, “I haven’t found your daughter to be a virgin.” But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.’ Then they are to spread the cloth before the elders of the city. 18 The elders of that city will then take the man, punish him, 19 fine him 100 shekels of silver, and then give them to the young lady’s father, because he defamed a virgin of Israel. She is to remain his wife and he can’t divorce her as long as he lives. 20 But if this charge is true, and the evidence of the young lady’s virginity wasn’t found, 21 they are to bring her to the door of her father’s house. Then the men of the city are to stone her with boulders until she dies for doing a detestable thing in Israel—acting like a prostitute while in her father’s house. By doing this, you will remove this evil from among you.

22 “If a man is caught having sexual relations with a married woman, then both of them must die—the man who had sex with the woman and the woman herself—so that this evil will be removed from Israel.

23 “If a man meets a young virgin lady in the city who is engaged to be married and has sexual relations with her, 24 then the two must be brought to the city gate and there they must be stoned to death—the girl because she was in a city but did not cry out for help, and the man who abused a woman who was engaged to another man. By doing this you are to remove this evil from among you.

25 “If a man meets a girl in the country who is engaged to be married and then rapes[a] her, the man alone—the one who had sexual relations with her—must die. 26 As for the young lady, don’t do anything to her. The young lady did nothing worthy of death. This case is similar to when a man attacks his countryman and kills him. 27 Since he found her in the country, the engaged girl may have cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.

28 “However, if a man meets a girl who isn’t engaged to be married, and he seizes her, rapes her, and is later found out, 29 then the man who raped her must give 50 shekels of silver to the girl’s father. Furthermore, he must marry her. Because he violated her, he is to not divorce her as long as he lives.

30 [b]“A man must not marry his father’s wife, so that he will not dishonor his father’s memory.”[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 22:25 Lit. overwhelms
  2. Deuteronomy 22:30 This v. is 23:1 in MT
  3. Deuteronomy 22:30 Lit. wing; or skirt