¹⁸ for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”

¹⁰ But for those who are married, I have a command that comes not from me, but from the Lord.^[a] A wife must not leave her husband. ¹¹ But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to him. And the husband must not leave his wife.

¹² And if a woman divorces her husband and marries someone else, she commits adultery.”

³ So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.

³² Yes, you are an adulterous wife who takes in strangers instead of her own husband.

¹⁰ And with the land I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite widow of Mahlon, to be my wife. This way she can have a son to carry on the family name of her dead husband and to inherit the family property here in his hometown. You are all witnesses today.”

²⁹ “This is the ritual law for dealing with suspicion. If a woman goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority,

³¹ “But why should we let him treat our sister like a prostitute?” they retorted angrily.

⁷ Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the field as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious that their sister had been raped. Shechem had done a disgraceful thing against Jacob’s family,^[a] something that should never be done.

⁸ Hamor tried to speak with Jacob and his sons. “My son Shechem is truly in love with your daughter,” he said. “Please let him marry her.