CHAPTER VII.

Chapter 563,648 wordsPublic domain

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT.

EXODUS XX, 14: _Thou shalt not commit adultery._

1. THE STATEMENT OF THE LAW.

EX. XX, 14. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

MARK X, 19. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honor thy father and mother.

JAMES II, 11. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

DEUT. XXIII, 17. There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.

LEV. XIX, 29. Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.

2. THREATENINGS AGAINST FORNICATION, ADULTERY, ETC.

EX. XXII, 16. And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.

17. If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

LEV. XVIII, 20. Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbor's wife, to defile thyself with her.

LEV. XX, 10. And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

LEV. XXI, 7. They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.

DEUT. XXII, 22. If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.

23. If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto a husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;

24. Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbor's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.

25. But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her; then the man only that lay with her shall die:

26. But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbor, and slayeth him, even so is this matter:

27. For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.

28. If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;

29. Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.

DEUT. XXIII, 17. There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.

18. Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the Lord thy God.

PROV. V, 3. For the lips of a strange woman drop as a honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

4. But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

5. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

PROV. VI, 24. To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

25. Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

26. For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.

27. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

28. Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?

29. So he that goeth in to his neighbor's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

PROV. VI, 32. But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

33. A wound and dishonor shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.

34. For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

35. He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

PROV. VII, 6. For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,

7. And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,

8. Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,

9. In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:

10. And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot, and subtile of heart.

11. (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:

12. Now she is without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)

13. So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,

14. I have peace-offerings with me; this day have I paid my vows.

15. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

16. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.

17. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

18. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.

19. For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:

20. He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.

21. With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.

22. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;

23. Till a dart strike through his liver: as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

PROV. IX, 13. A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.

14. For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,

15. To call passengers who go right on their ways:

16. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

17. Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

18. But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

PROV. XXII, 14. The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.

PROV. XXIII, 27. For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

28. She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.

PROV. XXXI, 3. Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.

ECCL. VII, 26. And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.

HOSEA IV, 2. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.

3. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

MAL. III, 5. And I will come near to you to judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.

ROM. I, 28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

29. Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity.

1 COR. IV, 16. Wherefore I beseech you be ye followers of me.

17. For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every Church.

1 COR. V, 1. It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.

1 COR. V, 11. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no not to eat.

1 COR. VI, 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

10. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

1 COR. X, 8. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

NUM. XXV, 1. And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.

2. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.

3. And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor; and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.

4. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.

5. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal-peor.

6. And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

7. And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;

8. And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was staid from the children of Israel.

9. And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.

2 COR. XII, 20. For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

21. And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness, and fornication, and lasciviousness which they have committed.

GAL. V, 19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20. Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

21. Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

EPH. V, 5. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

6. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

1 COR. VI, 15. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid.

COL. III, 5. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

6. For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.

HEB. XIII, 4. Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

JUDE, 7. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

2 PET. II, 14. Having eyes full of adultery, and that can not cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: a heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children.

1 TIM. I, 10. For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.

REV. XXI, 8. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

3. IMPURE THOUGHTS CONDEMNED.

MATT. V, 28. But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

MATT. XV, 19. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

4. POLYGAMY FORBIDDEN.

MAL. II, 15. And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the Spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

16. For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.

1 COR. VII, 2. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

LEV. XVIII, 18. Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her lifetime.

DEUT. XVII, 15. Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.

16. But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.

17. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

1 KINGS XI, 1. But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites.

1 KINGS XI, 3. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.

4. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

MATT. XIX, 9. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

MARK X, 6. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.

7. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;

8. And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.

9. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

10. And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.

11. And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.

12. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

1 TIM. III, 2. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach.

1 TIM. III, 12. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

5. AGAINST DIVORCE.

1 COR. VII, 10. And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:

11. But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

ROM. VII, 2. For the woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

3. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

MATT. XIX, 3. The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

4. And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,

5. And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

6. Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

7. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?

8. He said unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

1 TIM. III, 2. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach.

MARK X, 1. And he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again.

2. And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.

3. And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?

4. And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.

5. And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.