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

Marriage Violations

13 If a man takes a wife and, after sleeping with her(A), dislikes her 14 and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,” 15 then the young woman’s father and mother shall bring to the town elders at the gate(B) proof that she was a virgin. 16 Her father will say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. 17 Now he has slandered her and said, ‘I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.’ But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.” Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, 18 and the elders(C) shall take the man and punish him. 19 They shall fine him a hundred shekels[a] of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.

20 If, however, the charge is true(D) and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found, 21 she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done an outrageous thing(E) in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you.

22 If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept(F) with her and the woman must die.(G) You must purge the evil from Israel.

23 If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, 24 you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.(H)

25 But if out in the country a man happens to meet a young woman pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. 26 Do nothing to the woman; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor, 27 for the man found the young woman out in the country, and though the betrothed woman screamed,(I) there was no one to rescue her.

28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered,(J) 29 he shall pay her father fifty shekels[b] of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

30 A man is not to marry his father’s wife; he must not dishonor his father’s bed.[c](K)

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 22:19 That is, about 2 1/2 pounds or about 1.2 kilograms
  2. Deuteronomy 22:29 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams
  3. Deuteronomy 22:30 In Hebrew texts this verse (22:30) is numbered 23:1.