Deuteronomy 22:13–29

Purity in the Marriage Relationship

^22:13Suppose a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her,²⁵ and then rejects²⁶ her, ^22:14accusing her of impropriety²⁷ and defaming her reputation²⁸ by saying, “I married this woman but when I had sexual relations²⁹ with her I discovered she was not a virgin!” ^22:15Then the father and mother of the young woman must produce the evidence of virginity³⁰ for the elders of the city at the gate. ^22:16The young woman’s father must say to the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man and he has rejected³¹ her. ^22:17Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety by saying, ‘I discovered your daughter was not a virgin,’ but this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity!” The cloth must then be spread out³² before the city’s elders. ^22:18The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish³³ him. ^22:19They will fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation³⁴ ruined the reputation³⁵ of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.

^22:20But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin, ^22:21the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing³⁶ in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge³⁷ evil from among you.

^22:22If a man is caught having sexual relations with³⁸ a married woman³⁹ both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge⁴⁰ evil from Israel.

^22:23If a virgin is engaged to a man and another man meets⁴¹ her in the city and has sexual relations with⁴² her, ^22:24you must bring the two of them to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry out though in the city and the man because he violated⁴³ his neighbor’s fiancée;⁴⁴ in this way you will purge⁴⁵ evil from among you. ^22:25But if the man came across⁴⁶ the engaged woman in the field and overpowered her and raped⁴⁷ her, then only the rapist⁴⁸ must die. ^22:26You must not do anything to the young woman—she has done nothing deserving of death. This case is the same as when someone attacks another person⁴⁹ and murders him, ^22:27for the man⁵⁰ met her in the field and the engaged woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.

^22:28Suppose a man comes across a virgin who is not engaged and overpowers and rapes⁵¹ her and they are discovered. ^22:29The man who has raped her must pay her father fifty shekels of silver and she must become his wife because he has violated her; he may never divorce her as long as he lives.