Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 317
22:17–23:5
D e u teronom y
305
He has accused her of shameful conduct, saying, “I discovered that your
daughter was not a virgin.” But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.’
Then they must spread her bed sheet before the elders. The e lders must
then take the man and punish him. They must also fine him 100 pieces
of silver, which he must pay to the woman’s father because he publicly
accused a virgin of Israel of shameful conduct. The woman will then
remain the man’s wife, and he may never divorce her.
“But suppose the man’s accusations are true, and he can show that she
was not a virgin. The woman must be taken to the door of her father’s
home, and there the men of the town must stone her to death, for she has
committed a disgraceful crime in Israel by being promiscuous while living
in her parents’ home. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you.
“If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must
die. In this way, you will purge Israel of such evil.
“Suppose a man meets a young woman, a virgin who is engaged to be
married, and he has sexual intercourse with her. If this happens within a
town, you must take both of them to the gates of that town and stone them
to death. The woman is guilty because she did not scream for help. The
man must die because he violated another man’s wife. In this way, you will
purge this evil from among you.
“But if the man meets the engaged woman out in the country, and he
rapes her, then only the man must die. Do nothing to the young woman;
she has committed no crime worthy of death. She is as innocent as a murder victim. Since the man raped her out in the country, it must be assumed
that she screamed, but there was no one to rescue her.
“Suppose a man has intercourse with a young woman who is a virgin but
is not engaged to be married. If they are discovered, he must pay her father
fifty pieces of silver. Then he must marry the young woman because he
violated her, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.
“A man must not marry his father’s former wife, for this would violate
his father.
“If a man’s testicles are crushed or his penis is cut off, he may not be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.
“If a person is illegitimate by birth, neither he nor his descendants for
ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.
“No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants for ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the Lord. These nations did not
welcome you with food and water when you came out of Egypt. Instead,
they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in distant Aram-naharaim to
curse you. But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam. He turned
