Deuteronomy 22:13-28

Common English Bible

Virgin bride

¹³ Suppose a man gets married and consummates the marriage but subsequently despises his wife. ¹⁴ He then spreads false claims about her to the point that she has a bad reputation, because he said such things as, “I married this woman, but when I went to have sex with her, I couldn’t find any proof that she was a virgin.”

¹⁵ At that point, the young woman’s father and mother will bring proof of her virginity to the city’s elders at the city gate. ¹⁶ The young woman’s father will say to the elders: “I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, but he doesn’t like her anymore. ¹⁷ That’s why he has spread false claims about her, saying, ‘I couldn’t find any proof that your daughter was a virgin.’ But look! Here’s proof of my daughter’s virginity.” At that point they will spread out the blanket in front of the city’s elders. ¹⁸ The city’s elders must then take that husband and punish him. ¹⁹ They will fine him one hundred silver shekels, giving that to the young woman’s father, because that husband gave one of Israel’s virgin daughters a bad reputation. Moreover, she must remain his wife; he is never allowed to divorce her.

²⁰ However, if the claim is true and proof of the young woman’s virginity can’t be produced, ²¹ then the city’s elders will bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house. The citizens of that city must stone her until she dies because she acted so sinfully in Israel by having extramarital sex while still in her father’s house.

Remove^[a] such evil from your community!

Inappropriate sexual behavior

²² If a man is found having sex with a woman who is married to someone else, both of them must die—the man who was having sex with the woman and the woman herself.

Remove such evil from Israel!

²³ If a young woman who is a virgin is engaged to one man and another man meets up with her in a town and has sex with her, ²⁴ you must bring both of them to the city gates there and stone them until they die—the young woman because she didn’t call for help in the city, and the man because of the fact that he humiliated his neighbor’s wife.

Remove such evil from your community!

²⁵ But if the man met up with the engaged woman in a field, grabbing her and having sex with her there, only the man will die. ²⁶ Don’t do anything whatsoever to the young woman. She hasn’t committed any capital crime—rather, this situation is exactly like the one where someone attacks his neighbor and kills him.^{[b] 27} Since the man met up with her in a field, the engaged woman may well have called out for help, but there was no one to rescue her.

²⁸ If a man meets up with a young woman who is a virgin and not engaged, grabs her and has sex with her, and they are caught in the act,