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)

Exclusion From the Assembly

23 ^[d]No one who has been emasculated^(L) by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord.

Abraham and Abimelek^(A)

20 Now Abraham moved on from there^(B) into the region of the Negev^(C) and lived between Kadesh^(D) and Shur.^(E) For a while^(F) he stayed in Gerar,^{(G) 2} and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.^(H)” Then Abimelek^(I) king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.^(J)

³ But God came to Abimelek^(K) in a dream^(L) one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead^(M) because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”^(N)

⁴ Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?^{(O) 5} Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,^(P)’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience^(Q) and clean hands.^(R)”

⁶ Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept^(S) you from sinning against me.^(T) That is why I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet,^(U) and he will pray for you^(V) and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”^(W)

⁸ Early the next morning Abimelek summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. ⁹ Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.^(X)” ¹⁰ And Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”

¹¹ Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God^(Y) in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’^{(Z) 12} Besides, she really is my sister,^(AA) the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³ And when God had me wander^(AB) from my father’s household,^(AC) I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

¹⁴ Then Abimelek^(AD) brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham,^(AE) and he returned Sarah his wife to him. ¹⁵ And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.”^(AF)

¹⁶ To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels^[a] of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham prayed to God,^(AG) and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, ¹⁸ for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.^(AH)

⁷ and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”^(A)

⁸ But he refused.^(B) “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.^{(C) 9} No one is greater in this house than I am.^(D) My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”^{(E) 10} And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused^(F) to go to bed with her or even be with her.

¹¹ One day he went into the house to attend to his duties,^(G) and none of the household servants^(H) was inside. ¹² She caught him by his cloak^(I) and said, “Come to bed with me!”^(J) But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.^(K)

¹³ When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, ¹⁴ she called her household servants.^(L) “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew^(M) has been brought to us to make sport of us!^(N) He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed.^{(O) 15} When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”^(P)

¹⁶ She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him this story:^(Q) “That Hebrew^(R) slave^(S) you brought us came to me to make sport of me. ¹⁸ But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

¹⁹ When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger.^{(T) 20} Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison,^(U) the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.

But while Joseph was there in the prison,

²⁰ “‘Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife^(A) and defile yourself with her.

¹⁰ “‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife^(A)—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.^(B)

David and Bathsheba

11 In the spring,^(A) at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab^(B) out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.^(C) They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.^(D) But David remained in Jerusalem.

² One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof^(E) of the palace. From the roof he saw^(F) a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, ³ and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba,^(G) the daughter of Eliam^(H) and the wife of Uriah^(I) the Hittite.” ⁴ Then David sent messengers to get her.^(J) She came to him, and he slept^(K) with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.)^(L) Then she went back home. ⁵ The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

⁶ So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah^(M) the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. ⁷ When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. ⁸ Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.”^(N) So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. ⁹ But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.

¹⁰ David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”

¹¹ Uriah said to David, “The ark^(O) and Israel and Judah are staying in tents,^[a] and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love^(P) to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”

¹² Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.

¹⁴ In the morning David wrote a letter^(Q) to Joab and sent it with Uriah. ¹⁵ In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down^(R) and die.^(S)”

¹⁶ So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. ¹⁷ When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

¹⁸ Joab sent David a full account of the battle. ¹⁹ He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, ²⁰ the king’s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? ²¹ Who killed Abimelek^(T) son of Jerub-Besheth^[b]? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall,^(U) so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then say to him, ‘Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”

²² The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. ²³ The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. ²⁴ Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”

²⁵ David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab.”

²⁶ When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. ²⁷ After the time of mourning^(V) was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased^(W) the Lord.

Nathan Rebukes David^(X)

12 The Lord sent Nathan^(Y) to David.^(Z) When he came to him,^(AA) he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

⁴ “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

⁵ David^(AB) burned with anger^(AC) against the man^(AD) and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives,^(AE) the man who did this must die! ⁶ He must pay for that lamb four times over,^(AF) because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!^(AG) This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed^(AH) you^(AI) king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you,^(AJ) and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why did you despise^(AK) the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down^(AL) Uriah^(AM) the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed^(AN) him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword^(AO) will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

¹¹ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household^(AP) I am going to bring calamity on you.^(AQ) Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.^{(AR) 12} You did it in secret,^(AS) but I will do this thing in broad daylight^(AT) before all Israel.’”

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned^(AU) against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away^(AV) your sin.^(AW) You are not going to die.^{(AX) 14} But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for^[c] the Lord,^(AY) the son born to you will die.”

¹⁵ After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck^(AZ) the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. ¹⁶ David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying^(BA) in sackcloth^[d] on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused,^(BB) and he would not eat any food with them.^(BC)

¹⁸ On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”

¹⁹ David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.

“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

²⁰ Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed,^(BD) put on lotions and changed his clothes,^(BE) he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

²¹ His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept,^(BF) but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”

²² He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows?^(BG) The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’^{(BH) 23} But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him,^(BI) but he will not return to me.”^(BJ)

²⁴ Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba,^(BK) and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon.^(BL) The Lord loved him; ²⁵ and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.^[e](BM)

⁹ “‘Will you steal^(A) and murder,^(B) commit adultery^(C) and perjury,^[a](D) burn incense to Baal^(E) and follow other gods^(F) you have not known,