Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

112 Praise the Lord! For all who fear God and trust in him are blessed beyond expression. Yes, happy is the man who delights in doing his commands.

² His children shall be honored everywhere, for good men’s sons have a special heritage. ³ He himself shall be wealthy, and his good deeds will never be forgotten. ⁴ When darkness overtakes him, light will come bursting in. He is kind and merciful— ⁵ and all goes well for the generous man who conducts his business fairly.

⁶ Such a man will not be overthrown by evil circumstances. God’s constant care of him will make a deep impression on all who see it. ⁷ He does not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may happen. For he is settled in his mind that Jehovah will take care of him. ⁸ That is why he is not afraid but can calmly face his foes. ⁹ He gives generously to those in need. His deeds will never be forgotten.^[a] He shall have influence and honor.

¹⁰ Evil-minded men will be infuriated when they see all this; they will gnash their teeth in anger and slink away, their hopes thwarted.

^13-14 “If a man marries a girl, then after sleeping with her accuses her of having had premarital intercourse with another man, saying, ‘She was not a virgin when I married her,’ ¹⁵ then the girl’s father and mother shall bring the proof of her virginity to the city judges.

¹⁶ “Her father shall tell them, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, and now he despises her ^17-18 and has accused her of shameful things, claiming that she was not a virgin when she married; yet here is the proof.’ And they shall spread before the judges the blood-stained sheet from her marriage bed. The judges shall sentence the man to be whipped, ¹⁹ and fine him one hundred dollars^[a] to be given to the girl’s father, for he has falsely accused a virgin of Israel. She shall remain his wife and he may never divorce her. ²⁰ But if the man’s accusations are true, and she was not a virgin, ²¹ the judges shall take the girl to the door of her father’s home where the men of the city shall stone her to death. She has defiled Israel by flagrant crime, being a prostitute while living at home with her parents; and such evil must be cleansed from among you.

²² “If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the other man’s wife must be killed; in this way evil will be cleansed from Israel. ^23-24 If a girl who is engaged is seduced within the walls of a city, both she and the man who seduced her shall be taken outside the gates and stoned to death—the girl because she didn’t scream for help, and the man because he has violated the virginity of another man’s fiancée. ^25-27 In this way you will reduce crime among you. But if this deed takes place out in the country, only the man shall die. The girl is as innocent as a murder victim; for it must be assumed that she screamed, but there was no one to hear and rescue her out in the field. ^28-29 If a man rapes a girl who is not engaged and is caught in the act, he must pay a fine^[b] to the girl’s father and marry her; he may never divorce her. ³⁰ A man shall not sleep with his father’s widow^[c] since she belonged to his father.

7 Now about those questions you asked in your last letter: my answer is that if you do not marry, it is good. ² But usually it is best to be married, each man having his own wife, and each woman having her own husband, because otherwise you might fall back into sin.

³ The man should give his wife all that is her right as a married woman, and the wife should do the same for her husband: ⁴ for a girl who marries no longer has full right to her own body, for her husband then has his rights to it, too; and in the same way the husband no longer has full right to his own body, for it belongs also to his wife. ⁵ So do not refuse these rights to each other. The only exception to this rule would be the agreement of both husband and wife to refrain from the rights of marriage for a limited time, so that they can give themselves more completely to prayer. Afterwards, they should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt them because of their lack of self-control.

⁶ I’m not saying you must marry, but you certainly may if you wish. ⁷ I wish everyone could get along without marrying, just as I do. But we are not all the same. God gives some the gift of a husband or wife, and others he gives the gift of being able to stay happily unmarried. ⁸ So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—better to stay unmarried if you can, just as I am. ⁹ But if you can’t control yourselves, go ahead and marry. It is better to marry than to burn with lust.