There was a famine in the country, and
Abram went down to Egypt to stay there for a time, since the
famine in the country was severe. 11When he was about
to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, 'Look, I know you are a beautiful
woman. 12When the Egyptians see you they will say,
"That is his wife," and they will kill me but leave you alive. 13Therefore please tell them you are my sister, so that
they may treat me well because of you and spare my life out
of regard for you.' 14When Abram arrived in Egypt the Egyptians did indeed see that the woman was very beautiful. 15When
Pharaoh's officials saw her they sang her praises to Pharaoh and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's household. 16And Abram was very well treated because of her and
received flocks, oxen, donkeys, men and women slaves, she-donkeys and camels. 17But Yahweh inflicted severe plagues on Pharaoh
and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. 18So
Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, 'What is this you have done to me? Why did you
not tell me she was your wife? 19Why did you say,
"She is my sister," so that I took her to be my wife? Now, here is
your wife. Take her and go!' 20And Pharaoh gave his
people orders about him; they sent him on his way with his wife and all his
possessions.
Abraham
left there for the region of the Negeb, and settled between Kadesh and Shur.
While staying in Gerar, 2Abraham said of his wife Sarah, 'She is my
sister,' and Abimelech the king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him. 3But
God visited Abimelech in a dream one night. 'You are to die,' he told him,
'because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.' 4Abimelech,
however, had not gone near her; so he said, 'Lord, would you kill someone even
if he is upright? 5Did he not tell me himself, "She is my
sister"? And she herself said, "He is my brother." I did this
with a clear conscience and clean hands.' 6'Yes, I know,' God
replied in the dream, 'that you did this with a clear conscience and I myself
prevented you from sinning against me. That was why I 7 Now send the
man's wife back; for he is a prophet and can intercede on your behalf for your
life. But understand that if you do not send her back, this means death for you
and all yours.'
8Early next morning, Abimelech summoned his
full court and told 9Then summoning Abraham, Abimelech said to
him, 'What have you done to us? What wrong have I done you, for you to bring
such guilt on me and on my kingdom? You had no right to treat me like this.' 10Abimelech then said to Abraham, 'What possessed you to do such a thing?'
11'Because', Abraham replied, 'I thought there would be no fear of
God here and that I should be killed for the sake of my wife. 12Anyway,
she really is my sister, my father's daughter though not my mother's, besides
being my wife. 13So when God made me wander far from my father's
home I said to her, "There is an act of love you can do me: everywhere we
go, say of me that I am your brother." '
14Abimelech took sheep, cattle, men and women
slaves, and presented them to Abraham, and gave him back his wife Sarah.15And
Abimelech said, 'Look, my land is open to you. Settle wherever you please.'16To
Sarah he said, 'Look, I am giving your brother a thousand pieces of silver.
This will allay suspicions about you, as far as all the people round you are
concerned; you have been completely vindicated.' 17Abraham then
interceded with God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave-girls, so
that they could have children, 18for Yahweh had made all the women
of Abimelech's household barren on account of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
Genesis 26:1-11
There was a famine in the country -- different from the previous famine which took place in the time of Abraham -- and Isaac went to Abimelech, the Philistine king at Gerar. 2Yahweh had appeared to him and said, 'Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the country which I shall point out to you. 3Remain for the present in that country; I shall be with you and bless you, for I shall give all these countries to you and your descendants in fulfilment of the oath I swore to your father Abraham.4I shall make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven, and I shall give them all these countries, and all nations on earth will bless themselves by your descendants 5in return for Abraham's obedience; for he kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and my laws.'6So Isaac stayed at Gerar.
There was a famine in the country -- different from the previous famine which took place in the time of Abraham -- and Isaac went to Abimelech, the Philistine king at Gerar. 2Yahweh had appeared to him and said, 'Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the country which I shall point out to you. 3Remain for the present in that country; I shall be with you and bless you, for I shall give all these countries to you and your descendants in fulfilment of the oath I swore to your father Abraham.4I shall make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven, and I shall give them all these countries, and all nations on earth will bless themselves by your descendants 5in return for Abraham's obedience; for he kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and my laws.'6So Isaac stayed at Gerar.
7When the people of the place
asked him about his wife he replied, 'She is my sister,' for he was afraid to
say, 'She is my wife,' thinking, 'The people of the place will kill
me because of Rebekah, since she is beautiful.'8When
he had been there some time, Abimelech the Philistine king happened to look out
of the window and saw Isaac fondling
his wife Rebekah. 9Abimelech summoned Isaac and said to him, 'Surely she must be
your wife! How could you have said, "She is my sister"?' Isaac replied, 'Because I thought I might be
killed on her account.'10Abimelech said, 'What a
thing to do to us! One of the people might easily have slept with your wife. We
should have incurred guilt, thanks to you.'11Then Abimelech issued
this order to all the people: 'Whoever touches this man or
his wife will be put to death.'
Genesis 39:6-10
Now Joseph was well built and handsome, 7and it happened some time later that his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, 'Sleep with me.' 8But he refused. 'Look,' he said to his master's wife, 'with me here, my master does not concern himself with what happens in the house, having entrusted all his possessions to me.9He himself wields no more authority in this house than I do. He has exempted nothing from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How could I do anything so wicked, and sin against God?' 10Although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not agree to sleep with her or be with her.
Now Joseph was well built and handsome, 7and it happened some time later that his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, 'Sleep with me.' 8But he refused. 'Look,' he said to his master's wife, 'with me here, my master does not concern himself with what happens in the house, having entrusted all his possessions to me.9He himself wields no more authority in this house than I do. He has exempted nothing from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How could I do anything so wicked, and sin against God?' 10Although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not agree to sleep with her or be with her.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not set your heart on your neighbor’s
spouse
You will not have intercourse with your
fellow-citizen's wife; you would become unclean by doing so.
The man who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife will be put to death, he and the woman.
You must not commit adultery.
You must not set your heart on your neighbor’s
spouse
If a man is caught having sexual intercourse with
another man's wife, both must be put to death: the man who has slept with her and the woman herself. You must banish this evil from Israel.
I had made an agreement with my eyes not to
linger on any virgin.
To keep you, too, from the woman who belongs to another, from the
stranger, with her wheedling words; 17she has left the partner of
her younger days, she has forgotten the covenant of her God; 18her
house is tilting towards Death, down to the Shades go her paths. 19Of
those who go to her not one returns, they never regain the paths of life.
My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen carefully
to what I know; 2so that you may preserve discretion and your lips
may guard knowledge.
Take no notice of a loose-living woman, 3for
the lips of the adulteress drip with honey, her palate is more unctuous than
oil, 4but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged
sword.
5Her feet go down to death, Sheol the goal of her
steps; 6far from following the path of life, her course is uncertain
and she does not know it.
7And now, son, listen to me, never deviate from what
I say: 8set your course as far from her as possible, go nowhere near
the door of her house, 9or she will hand
over your honor to others, the years of your life to
a man without pity, 10and
strangers will batten on your property, and your
produce go to the house of a stranger,11 and, at your ending, your body and
flesh having been consumed, you will groan12and exclaim, 'Alas,
I hated discipline, my heart spurned all correction; 13I would not
attend to the voice of my masters, I would not listen to those who tried to
teach me.14Now I have come to nearly every kind of misery,
in the assembly and in the community.'
Find joy with the wife you married in
your youth, 19fair as a hind, graceful as a fawn: hers the breasts
that ever fill you with delight, hers the love that ever holds you captive.
Why be seduced, my son, by someone
else's wife, and fondle the breast of a woman who belongs to another?
21For the eyes of Yahweh observe human ways, and survey all
human paths. 22The wicked is snared in his own
misdeeds, is caught in the meshes of his own sin.23For
want of discipline, he dies, led astray by his own excessive folly.
For the precept is a lamp, the teaching is a light;
correction and discipline are the way to life, 24preserving
you from the woman of bad character, from the wheedling
talk of a woman who belongs to another.
25Do not covet
her beauty in your heart or let her captivate you with the play of her eyes; 26a prostitute can be bought for a hunk of bread, but a
married woman aims to snare a precious life.
29Just so, the man who
makes love to his neighbor’s wife: no one who touches her will get
off unpunished.
30People attach
but little blame to a thief who steals only to satisfy his hunger;
31yet even he, if caught, will have to repay sevenfold and hand over
all his family resources.
34For jealousy inflames the husband who will show
no mercy when the day comes for revenge; 35he will not
consider any compensation; lavish what gifts you may, he will not
be placated.
While I was at the window of my house,
I was looking out through the lattice 7and I saw, among the callow
youths, I noticed among the lads, one boy who had no sense. 8Going
along the lane, near the corner where she lives, he reaches the path to her
house, 9at twilight when day is declining, at dead of night and in
the dark.
10And look, a woman is coming to meet him, dressed like a
prostitute, false of heart.11She is loud and brazen; her feet cannot
rest at home. 12Once in the street, once in the square, she lurks at
every corner. 13She catches hold of him, she kisses him, the
bold-faced creature says to him,14'I had to offer a communion
sacrifice, I have discharged my vows today; 15that is why I came
out to meet you, to look for you, and now I have found you. 16I have
spread coverlets over my divan, embroidered stuff, Egyptian material,17I
have sprinkled my bed with myrrh, with aloes and cinnamon. 18Come
on, we'll make love as much as we like, till morning. Let us enjoy the delights
of love! 19For my husband is not at home, he has gone on a very long
journey, 20taking his moneybags with him; he will not
be back till the moon is full.' 21With her persistent coaxing she
overcomes him, lures him on with her wheedling patter.
22Forthwith he follows her, like
an ox on its way to the slaughterhouse, like a madman on his way to the stocks,
23until an arrow pierces him to the liver, like the bird that dashes
into the net without realizing that its life is at stake.
24And now, son, listen to me, pay
attention to the words I have to say: 25do not let your heart stray
into her ways, or wander into her paths; 26she has done so many to
death, and the strongest have all been her victims. 27Her house is
the way to Sheol, the descent to the courts of death.
The
mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit, into it falls the man whom Yahweh rebukes.
My child, pay attention to me, let
your eyes take pleasure in my way: 27a prostitute is a deep pit, a
narrow well, the woman who belongs to another. 28Yes,
like a brigand, she lies in wait, increasing the number of law-breakers.
The patron of prostitutes fritters his wealth
away.
This is how an adulteress
behaves: she eats, then wipes her mouth and says, 'I have done nothing wrong!'
Do not keep company with a prostitute,
in case you get entangled in her snares.
4Do not dally with a singing
girl, in case you get caught by her wiles.
5Do not stare at a pretty girl,
in case you and she incur the same punishment.
6Do not give your heart to
whores, or you will ruin your inheritance.
7Keep your eyes to yourself in
the streets of a town, do not prowl about its unfrequented quarters. 8Turn
your eyes away from a handsome woman, do not stare at a beauty belonging to
someone else. Because of a woman's beauty, many have been undone; this makes
passion flare up like a fire.
9Never sit down with a married
woman, or sit at table with her drinking wine, in case you let your heart
succumb to her and you lose all self-control and slide to disaster.
Before the truth and covenant of God, be ashamed of … 22gazing
at a loose woman… paying court to another man's wife…24making
advances to his servant-girl -- do not go near her bed.
Have
respect for your own life then, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.
You have heard how it was said, you
shall not commit adultery. 28But I say this to you, if a man looks
at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart.29If
your right eye should be your downfall, tear it
out and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of
yourself than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30And if
your right hand should be your downfall, cut it
off and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of
yourself than to have your whole body go to hell.
Do
you not realize that people who do evil will never inherit the kingdom of God? Make
no mistake -- the sexually immoral … adulterers, the self-indulgent, sodomites …10none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.
You
can be quite certain that nobody who indulges in sexual immorality or impurity …
can inherit the kingdom of God.
Marriage
must be honored by all, and marriages must be kept undefiled, because the
sexually immoral and adulterers will come under God's judgement.
