Journey - October 4th, 21

Psalm 112; Deuteronomy 22:13-30; 1 Corinthians 7:1-9

Psalm 112^a]">[a]

Regulations for Sexual Purity

¹³ “Suppose a man marries a woman, but after sleeping with her, he turns against her ¹⁴ and publicly accuses her of shameful conduct, saying, ‘When I married this woman, I discovered she was not a virgin.’ ¹⁵ Then the woman’s father and mother must bring the proof of her virginity to the elders as they hold court at the town gate. ¹⁶ Her father must say to them, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, and now he has turned against her. ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ The elders must then take the man and punish him. ¹⁹ They must also fine him 100 pieces of silver,^a]">[a] 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.

²⁰ “But suppose the man’s accusations are true, and he can show that she was not a virgin. ²¹ 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.

²² “If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must die. In this way, you will purge Israel of such evil.

²³ “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, ²⁴ 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.

²⁵ “But if the man meets the engaged woman out in the country, and he rapes her, then only the man must die. ²⁶ Do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no crime worthy of death. She is as innocent as a murder victim. ²⁷ Since the man raped her out in the country, it must be assumed that she screamed, but there was no one to rescue her.

²⁸ “Suppose a man has intercourse with a young woman who is a virgin but is not engaged to be married. If they are discovered, ²⁹ he must pay her father fifty pieces of silver.^b]">[b] Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.

^30 c]">[c]“A man must not marry his father’s former wife, for this would violate his father.

Instruction on Marriage

7 Now regarding the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations.^a]">[a] 2 But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

³ The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. ⁴ The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.

⁵ Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶ I say this as a concession, not as a command. ⁷ But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another.

⁸ So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—it’s better to stay unmarried, just as I am. ⁹ But if they can’t control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It’s better to marry than to burn with lust.