I met a beautiful dark-haired woman wearing a brilliant red dress that was ankle length.  I was wearing a beautiful, slinky ankle length black dress and I was blonde.  Side by side, we looked really elegant together.

We walked side-by-side towards the bar and met my husband on the way.  He was walking closely behind us.  He made a comment about us and started to laugh. 

I didn't think what he said was funny at all, so I reached back and grabbed his left arm and squeezed it tightly so it had to hurt and said, "Don't say things only 'you' think are funny."

I let go of his arm and the three of us continued walking.  Then a really rough, ruddy-looking pock-skinned man came up and called my husband aside.  He looked very Mafioso to me and I wondered if he was drunk.

My husband and the man stopped to talk and then went through some very heavy wooden doors into the bar.

I and the woman dressed in red got down to the bar door also and I decided I didn't want to drink afterall, so I let her go in and I walked back home alone.

Back at the house, which was large, was divided in half.  I, my husband and children lived in the front half and a woman with children (all girls) lived upstairs in the back half. They had their own back entrance.

The girls preferred to go in and out the front door, which was okay when they played with my children or if I was taking care of them while their mother was gone.  I actually spent a lot of time with them, played with them, and entertained them. They were cute.

During the afternoon, I played with the girls, and one of them spent some time brushing my hair for me for fun, and I blew fake bubbles on the babies tummy to make her laugh.

But this particular day, the older two girls decided to put all their shoes on my side of the connecting door between my house and their house.  So, I bent down and picked up their shoes and put them on their side of the door and told them to keep their shoes on their own side of the door.

I then went back outside to go find my husband who hadn't yet come home from the bar and see if he was drunk.  I walked out onto the plaza and there were quite a few people out there going in different directions.

Over aways was a tall, black man, dressed in a greyish coarse foot length robe with a white pasty mask all over his face. He seemed to be talking or mumbling to himself.

I was worried that he was crazy in the head, but on the other side of him was a young boy wearing similar clothing, leading a donkey that was pulling a little cart behind it.

So, I thought that maybe the black man was talking to the young boy.

I didn't want to talk to the man because of his pasty white mask and his constant mumbling - it felt very uncomfortable, but he was moving in a direction that wasn't quite parallel to mine but kept moving slightly closer the farther I walked. 

I kept my eye on the young boy with the donkey.  His skin was darker than mine, but not black like the tall man. I couldn't be sure they were together and I couldn't be sure the black man was talking to him either, but the black man continued talking either to himself or to that boy or to the donkey.  I couldn't hear what he was saying but they both were going to cross my path and were getting closer and closer.

Finally, my path was blocked by a large patch of grass that someone had pulled all the sod off of and left only deeply rutted dirt and sand behind. 

At first I thought maybe I could walk on it, but then I realized I would sink deep down into the sand and couldn't get out again, so I decided it would be better not to take a chance and walk around it.

To do that, I would have to cross the path of the black man and the boy with the donkey and cart or backtrack and walk around them.

I finally decided it would be better if I walked way around them and the grass patch pit.

The roadway down to the bar looked awfully far and I wasn't sure I wanted to walk that far either because if my husband wasn't there, I'd have to walk back home in the dark all alone too - the whole way by myself.

So I woke up instead

.

Harlot

1. Hebrew: zonah (Gen. 34:31; 38:15). In verses 21, 22 the Hebrew word used in kedeshah, i.e., a woman consecrated or devoted to prostitution in connection with the abominable worship of Asherah or Astarte, the Syrian Venus. This word is also used in Deut. 23:17; Hos. 4:14. Thus Tamar sat by the wayside as a consecrated kedeshah. It has been attempted to show that Rahab, usually called a "harlot" (Josh. 2:1; 6:17; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25), was only an innkeeper. This interpretation, however, cannot be maintained.

   Jephthah's mother is called a "strange woman" (Judg. 11:2). This, however, merely denotes that she was of foreign extraction.

   In the time of Solomon harlots appeared openly in the streets, and he solemnly warns against association with them (Prov. 7:12; 9:14. See also Jer. 3:2; Ezek. 16:24, 25, 31). The Revised Version, following the LXX., has "and the harlots washed," etc., instead of the rendering of the Authorized Version, "now they washed," of 1 Kings 22:38.

   To commit fornication is metaphorically used for to practice idolatry (Jer. 3:1; Ezek. 16:15; Hos. throughout); hence Jerusalem is spoken of as a harlot (Isa. 1:21).

   Hebrew: nokriyah, the "strange woman" (1 Kings 11:1; Prov. 5:20; 7:5; 23:27). Those so designated were Canaanites and other Gentiles (Josh. 23:13). To the same class belonged the "foolish", i.e., the sinful, "woman."

   In the New Testament the Greek pornai, plural, "harlots," occurs in Matt. 21:31,32, where they are classed with publicans; Luke 15:30; 1 Cor. 6:15,16; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25. It is used symbolically in Rev. 17:1, 5, 15, 16; 19:2.

   BRIDE = the Church in covenant relationship with Christ
    

   BALAAM'S DONKEY

   Numbers
   Chapter 22

   1

   ¹ Then the Israelites moved on and encamped in the plains of Moab on the other side of the Jericho stretch of the Jordan.

   2

   Now Balak, son of Zippor, saw all that Israel did to the Amorites.

   3

   Indeed, Moab feared the Israelites greatly because of their numbers, and detested them.

   4

   So Moab said to the elders of Midian, "Soon this horde will devour all the country around us as an ox devours the grass of the field." And Balak, Zippor's son, who was king of Moab at that time,

   5

   sent messengers to Balaam, son of Beor, at Pethor on the Euphrates, in the land of the Amawites, summoning him with these words, "A people has come here from Egypt who now cover the face of the earth and are settling down opposite us!

   6

   ² Please come and curse this people for us; they are stronger than we are. We may then be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed and whoever you curse is cursed."

   7

   Then the elders of Moab and of Midian left with the divination fee in hand and went to Balaam. When they had given him Balak's message,

   8

   he said to them in reply, "Stay here overnight, and I will give you whatever answer the LORD gives me." So the princes of Moab lodged with Balaam.

   9

   Then God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men visiting you?"

   10

   Balaam answered God, "Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me the message:

   11

   'This people that came here from Egypt now cover the face of the earth. Please come and lay a curse on them for us; we may then be able to give them battle and drive them out.'"

   12

   But God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them and do not curse this people, for they are blessed."

   13

   The next morning Balaam arose and told the princes of Balak, "Go back to your own country, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you."

   14

   So the princes of Moab went back to Balak with the report, "Balaam refused to come with us."

   15

   Balak again sent princes, who were more numerous and more distinguished than the others.

   16

   On coming to Balaam they told him, "This is what Balak, son of Zippor, has to say: Please do not refuse to come to me.

   17

   I will reward you very handsomely and will do anything you ask of me. Please come and lay a curse on this people for me."

   18

   But Balaam replied to Balak's officials, "Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, small or great, contrary to the command of the LORD, my God.

   19

   But, you too shall stay here overnight, till I learn what else the LORD may tell me."

   20

   That night God came to Balaam and said to him, "If these men have come to summon you, you may go with them; yet only on the condition that you do exactly as I tell you."

   21

   So the next morning when Balaam arose, he saddled his ass, and went off with the princes of Moab.

   22

   ³ But now the anger of God flared up at him for going, and the angel of the LORD stationed himself on the road to hinder him as he was riding along on his ass, accompanied by two of his servants.

   23

   When the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing on the road with sword drawn, she turned off the road and went into the field, and Balaam had to beat her to bring her back on the road.

   24

   Then the angel of the LORD took his stand in a narrow lane between vineyards with a stone wall on each side.

   25

   When the ass saw the angel of the LORD there, she shrank against the wall; and since she squeezed Balaam's leg against it, he beat her again.

   26

   The angel of the LORD then went ahead, and stopped next in a passage so narrow that there was no room to move either to the right or to the left.

   27

   When the ass saw the angel of the LORD there, she cowered under Balaam. So, in anger, he again beat the ass with his stick.

   28

   But now the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she asked Balaam, "What have I done to you that you should beat me these three times?"

   29

   "You have acted so willfully against me," said Balaam to the ass, "that if I but had a sword at hand, I would kill you here and now."

   30

   But the ass said to Balaam, "Am I not your own beast, and have you not always ridden upon me until now? Have I been in the habit of treating you this way before?" "No," replied Balaam.

   31

   Then the LORD removed the veil from Balaam's eyes, so that he too saw the angel of the LORD standing on the road with sword drawn; and he fell on his knees and bowed to the ground.

   32

   But the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why have you beaten your ass these three times? It is I who have come armed to hinder you because this rash journey of yours is directly opposed to me.

   33

   When the ass saw me, she turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, I would have killed you; her I would have spared."

   34

   Then Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned. Yet I did not know that you stood against me to oppose my journey. Since it has displeased you, I will go back home."

   35

   But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men; but you may say only what I tell you." So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.

   36

   When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the boundary city Ir-Moab on the Arnon at the end of the Moabite territory.

   37

   And he said to Balaam, "I sent an urgent summons to you! Why did you not come to me? Did you think I could not reward you?"

   38

   Balaam answered him, "Well, I have come to you after all. But what power have I to say anything? I can speak only what God puts in my mouth."

   39

   Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.

   40

   Here Balak slaughtered oxen and sheep, and sent portions to Balaam and to the princes who were with him.

   41

   The next morning Balak took Balaam up on Bamoth-baal, and from there he saw some of the clans.

   Footnotes

   ¹ [1] The plains of Moab: the lowlands to the northeast of the Dead Sea, between the Jordan and the foothills below Mount Nebo. Here the Israelites remained until they crossed the Jordan, as told in Joshua 1-4. Jericho lay to the west of the Jordan.

   ² [6] Curse this people for us: Balak believed that if Balaam forecast an evil omen for Israel, this evil would come to pass, as if by magic. Balaam was a soothsayer or foreteller; cf Joshua 13:22.

   ³ [22] The anger of God flared up: not merely because Balaam was going to Balak, for he had God's permission for the journey (Numbers 22:20), but perhaps because he was tempted by avarice to curse Israel against God's command. "They have followed the way of Balaam, son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing" (2 Peter 2:15); "and have rushed on thoughtlessly into the error of Balaam for the sake of gain" (Judges 1:11). Cf Numbers 22:32 and compare Exodus 4:18-26.

   Numbers
   Chapter 23

   1

   Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars, and prepare seven bullocks and seven rams for me here."

   2

   So he did as Balaam had ordered, offering a bullock and a ram on each altar. And Balak said to him, "I have erected the seven altars, and have offered a bullock and a ram on each."

   3

   Balaam then said to him, "Stand here by your holocaust while I go over there. Perhaps the LORD will meet me, and then I will tell you whatever he lets me see." He went out on the barren height,

   4

   and God met him.

   5

   When he had put an utterance in Balaam's mouth, the LORD said to him, "Go back to Balak, and speak accordingly."

   6

   So he went back to Balak, who was still standing by his holocaust together with all the princes of Moab.

   7

   ¹ Then Balaam gave voice to his oracle: From Aram has Balak brought me here, Moab's king, from the Eastern Mountains: "Come and lay a curse for me on Jacob, come and denounce Israel."

   8

   How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?

   9

   ² For from the top of the crags I see him, from the heights I behold him. Here is a people that lives apart and does not reckon itself among the nations.

   10

   ³ Who has ever counted the dust of Jacob, or numbered Israel's wind-borne particles? May I die the death of the just, may my descendants be as many as theirs!

   11

   "What have you done to me?" cried Balak to Balaam. "It was to curse my foes that I brought you here; instead, you have even blessed them."

   12

   Balaam replied, "Is it not what the LORD puts in my mouth that I must repeat with care?"

   13

   ⁴ Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from which you can see only some and not all of them, and from there curse them for me."

   14

   So he brought him to the lookout field on the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bullock and a ram on each of them.

   15

   Balaam then said to Balak, "Stand here by your holocaust, while I seek a meeting over there."

   16

   Then the LORD met Balaam, and having put an utterance in his mouth, he said to him, "Go back to Balak, and speak accordingly."

   17

   So he went back to Balak, who was still standing by his holocaust together with the princes of Moab. When Balak asked him, "What did the LORD say?"

   18

   Balaam gave voice to his oracle: Be aroused, O Balak, and hearken; give ear to my testimony, O son of Zippor!

   19

   God is not man that he should speak falsely, nor human, that he should change his mind. Is he one to speak and not act, to decree and not fulfill?

   20

   It is a blessing I have been given to pronounce; a blessing which I cannot restrain.

   21

   ⁵ Misfortune is not observed in Jacob, nor misery seen in Israel. The LORD, his God, is with him; with him is the triumph of his King.

   22

   ⁶ It is God who brought him out of Egypt, a wild bull of towering might.

   23

   No, there is no sorcery against Jacob, nor omen against Israel. It shall yet be said of Jacob, and of Israel, "Behold what God has wrought!"

   24

   Here is a people that springs up like a lioness, and stalks forth like a lion; It rests not till it has devoured its prey and has drunk the blood of the slain.

   25

   "Even though you cannot curse them," said Balak to Balaam, "at least do not bless them."

   26

   But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not warn you that I must do all that the LORD tells me?"

   27

   Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come, let me bring you to another place; perhaps God will approve of your cursing them for me from there."

   28

   So he took Balaam to the top of Peor, that overlooks Jeshimon.

   29

   Balaam then said to him, "Here build me seven altars; and here prepare for me seven bullocks and seven rams."

   30

   And Balak did as Balaam had ordered, offering a bullock and a ram on each altar.

   Footnotes

   ¹ [7] Aram: the ancient name of the region later known as Syria. The Eastern Mountains: the low ranges in the Syrian desert near the Euphrates and Balaam's town of Pethor; cf Numbers 22:5.

   ² [9] A people that lives apart: Israel, as the chosen people of God, occupied a unique place among the nations, from which they kept themselves aloof.

   ³ [10] The dust of Jacob . . . Israel's wind-borne particles: the Israelites will be as numerous as dust in a desert sandstorm. May I . . . as many as theirs: a formula by which Balaam swears he is speaking the truth; he sees the reward of virtue in having numerous descendants.

   ⁴ [13] To another place: Balak thought that if Balaam would view Israel from a different site, he could forecast a different kind of omen.

   ⁵ [21] Misfortune . . . misery: Balaam admits that he is unable to predict any evils for Israel.

   ⁶ [22] A wild bull of towering might: the reference is to Israel, rather than to God.

   Numbers
   Chapter 24

   1

   Balaam, however, perceiving that the LORD was pleased to bless Israel, did not go aside as before to seek omens, but turned his gaze toward the desert.

   2

   When he raised his eyes and saw Israel encamped, tribe by tribe, the spirit of God came upon him,

   3

   and he gave voice to his oracle: The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor, the utterance of the man whose eye is true,

   4

   The utterance of one who hears what God says, and knows what the Most High knows, Of one who sees what the Almighty sees, enraptured, and with eyes unveiled:

   5

   How goodly are your tents, O Jacob; your encampments, O Israel!

   6

   They are like gardens beside a stream, like the cedars planted by the LORD.

   7

   His wells shall yield free-flowing waters, he shall have the sea within reach; His king shall rise higher than. . . . and his royalty shall be exalted.

   8

   It is God who brought him out of Egypt, a wild bull of towering might. He shall devour the nations like grass, their bones he shall strip bare.

   9

   He lies crouching like a lion, or like a lioness; who shall arouse him? Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you!

   10

   ¹ Balak beat his palms together in a blaze of anger at Balaam and said to him, "It was to curse my foes that I summoned you here; yet three times now you have even blessed them instead!

   11

   Be off at once, then, to your home. I promised to reward you richly, but the LORD has withheld the reward from you!"

   12

   Balaam replied to Balak, "Did I not warn the very messengers whom you sent to me,

   13

   'Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I could not of my own accord to anything, good or evil, contrary to the command of the LORD'? Whatever the LORD says I must repeat.

   14

   "But now that I am about to go to my own people, let me first warn you what this people will do to your people in the days to come."

   15

   Then Balaam gave voice to his oracle: The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor, the utterance of the man whose eye is true,

   16

   The utterance of one who hears what God says, and knows what the Most High knows, Of one who sees what the Almighty sees, enraptured and with eyes unveiled.

   17

   ² I see him, though not now; I behold him, though not near: A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel, That shall smite the brows of Moab, and the skulls of all the Shuthites,

   18

   Till Edom is dispossessed, and no fugitive is left in Seir. Israel shall do valiantly,

   19

   and Jacob shall overcome his foes.

   20

   ³ Upon seeing Amalek, Balaam gave voice to his oracle: First of the peoples was Amalek, but his end is to perish forever.

   21

   ⁴ Upon seeing the Kenites, he gave voice to his oracle: Your abode is enduring, O smith, and your nest is set on a cliff;

   22

   Yet destined for burning-- even as I watch--are your inhabitants.

   23

   ⁵ Upon seeing. . . . he gave voice to his oracle: Alas, who shall survive of Ishmael,

   24

   to deliver his people from the hands of the Kittim? When they have conquered Asshur and conquered Eber, He too shall perish forever.

   25

   Then Balaam set out on his journey home; and Balak also went his way.

   Footnotes

   ¹ [10] Balak beat his palms: a sign of disclaiming any responsibility for paying the promised reward.

   ² [17] A star . . . a staff: many of the Fathers have understood this as a Messianic prophecy, although it is not referred to anywhere in the New Testament; in this sense the star is Christ himself, just as he is the staff from Israel; cf Isaiah 11:1. But it is doubtful whether this passage is to be connected with the "star of the Magi" in Matthew 2:1-12. The Shuthites: mentioned in other documents of this period as nomads on the borders of Palestine.

   ³ [20] First: literally "the beginning." Amalek was an aboriginal people in Palestine and therefore considered as of great antiquity. There is a deliberate contrast here between the words first and end.

   ⁴ [21] The Kenites lived in high strongholds in the mountains of southern Palestine and the Sinai Peninsula, and were skilled in working the various metals found in their territory. Their name is connected, at least by popular etymology, with the Hebrew word for "smith"; of similar sound is the Hebrew word for "nest"-hence the play on words in the present passage.

   ⁵ [23-24] The translation of this short oracle is based on a reconstructed text and is rather uncertain. Ishmael: the survival of Ishmael is indicated in Genesis 17:20; 21:13, 18.

   
    

   New American Bible Copyright © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. All rights reserved.

   HARLOT VERSES

Genesis
Chapter 38

1

¹ About that time Judah parted from his brothers and pitched his tent near a certain Adullamite named Hirah.

2

There he met the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua, married her, and had relations with her.

3

She conceived and bore a son, whom she named Er.

4

Again she conceived and bore a son, whom she named Onan.

5

² Then she bore still another son, whom she named Shelah. They were in Chezib when he was born.

6

Judah got a wife named Tamar for his first-born, Er.

7

But Er, Judah's first-born, greatly offended the LORD; so the LORD took his life.

8

³ Then Judah said to Onan, "Unite with your brother's widow, in fulfillment of your duty as brother-in-law, and thus preserve your brother's line."

9

Onan, however, knew that the descendants would not be counted as his; so whenever he had relations with his brother's widow, he wasted his seed on the ground, to avoid contributing offspring for his brother.

10

What he did greatly offended the LORD, and the LORD took his life too.

11

Thereupon Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Stay as a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah grows up"--for he feared that Shelah also might die like his brothers. So Tamar went to live in her father's house.

12

Years passed, and Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah completed the period of mourning, he went up to Timnah for the shearing of his sheep, in company with his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

13

When Tamar was told that her father-in-law was on his way up to Timnah to shear his sheep,

14

she took off her widow's garb, veiled her face by covering herself with a shawl, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah; for she was aware that, although Shelah was now grown up, she had not been given to him in marriage.

15

When Judah saw her, he mistook her for a harlot, since she had covered her face.

16

So he went over to her at the roadside, and not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he said, "Come, let me have intercourse with you." She replied, "What will you pay me for letting you have intercourse with me?"

17

He answered, "I will send you a kid from the flock." "Very well," she said, "provided you leave a pledge until you send it."

18

⁴ Judah asked, "What pledge am I to give to you?" She answered, "Your seal and cord, and the staff you carry." So he gave them to her and had intercourse with her, and she conceived by him.

19

When she went away, she took off her shawl and put on her widow's garb again.

20

Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite to recover the pledge from the woman; but he could not find her.

21

⁵ So he asked the men of the place, "Where is the temple prostitute, the one by the roadside in Enaim?" But they answered, "There has never been a temple prostitute here."

22

He went back to Judah and told him, "I could not find her; and besides, the men of the place said there was no temple prostitute there."

23

"Let her keep the things," Judah replied; "otherwise we shall become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her the kid, even though you were unable to find her."

24

About three months later, Judah was told that his daughter-in-law Tamar had played the harlot and was then with child from her harlotry. "Bring her out," cried Judah; "she shall be burned."

25

But as they were bringing her out, she sent word to her father-in-law, "It is by the man to whom these things belong that I am with child. Please verify," she added, "whose seal and cord and whose staff these are."

26

Judah recognized them and said, "She is more in the right than I am, since I did not give her to my son Shelah." But he had no further relations with her.

27

When the time of her delivery came, she was found to have twins in her womb.

28

While she was giving birth, one infant put out his hand; and the midwife, taking a crimson thread, tied it on his hand, to note that this one came out first.

29

⁶ But as he withdrew his hand, his brother came out; and she said, "What a breach you have made for yourself!" So he was called Perez.

30

⁷ Afterward his brother came out; he was called Zerah.

HARLOTS VERSES

Deuteronomy
Chapter 22

1

"You shall not see your kinsman's ox or sheep driven astray without showing concern about it; see to it that it is returned to your kinsman.

2

If this kinsman does not live near you, or you do not know who he may be, take it to your own place and keep it with you until he claims it; then give it back to him.

3

You shall do the same with his ass, or his garment, or anything else which your kinsman loses and you happen to find; you may not be unconcerned about them.

4

You shall not see your kinsman's ass or ox foundering on the road without showing concern about it; see to it that you help him lift it up.

5

"A woman shall not wear an article proper to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's dress; for anyone who does such things is an abomination to the LORD, your God.

6

"If, while walking along, you chance upon a bird's nest with young birds or eggs in it, in any tree or on the ground, and the mother bird is sitting on them, you shall not take away the mother bird along with her brood;

7

you shall let her go, although you may take her brood away. It is thus that you shall have prosperity and a long life.

8

"When you build a new house, put a parapet around the roof; otherwise, if someone falls off, you will bring bloodguilt upon your house.

9

¹ "You shall not sow your vineyard with two different kinds of seed; if you do, its produce shall become forfeit, both the crop you have sown and the yield of the vineyard.

10

You shall not plow with an ox and an ass harnessed together.

11

You shall not wear cloth of two different kinds of thread, wool and linen, woven together.

12

² "You shall put twisted cords on the four corners of the cloak that you wrap around you.

13

"If a man, after marrying a woman and having relations with her, comes to dislike her,

14

and makes monstrous charges against her and defames her by saying, 'I married this woman, but when I first had relations with her I did not find her a virgin,'

15

³ the father and mother of the girl shall take the evidence of her virginity and bring it to the elders at the city gate.

16

There the father of the girl shall say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to this man in marriage, but he has come to dislike her,

17

and now brings monstrous charges against her, saying: I did not find your daughter a virgin. But here is the evidence of my daughter's virginity!' And they shall spread out the cloth before the elders of the city.

18

⁴ Then these city elders shall take the man and chastise him,

19

besides fining him one hundred silver shekels, which they shall give to the girl's father, because the man defamed a virgin in Israel. Moreover, she shall remain his wife, and he may not divorce her as long as he lives.

20

"But if this charge is true, and evidence of the girl's virginity is not found,

21

they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her father's house and there her townsmen shall stone her to death, because she committed a crime against Israel by her unchasteness in her father's house. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.

22

"If a man is discovered having relations with a woman who is married to another, both the man and the woman with whom he has had relations shall die. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.

23

⁵ "If within the city a man comes upon a maiden who is betrothed, and has relations with her,

24

you shall bring them both out to the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.

25

"If, however, it is in the open fields that a man comes upon such a betrothed maiden, seizes her and has relations with her, the man alone shall die.

26

You shall do nothing to the maiden, since she is not guilty of a capital offense. This case is like that of a man who rises up against his neighbor and murders him:

27

it was in the open fields that he came upon her, and though the betrothed maiden may have cried out for help, there was no one to come to her aid.

28

"If a man comes upon a maiden that is not betrothed, takes her and has relations with her, and their deed is discovered,

29

the man who had relations with her shall pay the girl's father fifty silver shekels and take her as his wife, because he has deflowered her. Moreover, he may not divorce her as long as he lives.

Footnotes

¹ [9] Become forfeit: to the sanctuary; cf Lev 19:19; Joshua 6:19.

² [12] Twisted cords: referred to as "tassels" on "violet cords" in Numbers 15:38. See note there.

³ [15] The evidence of her virginity: the bridal garment or sheet stained with a little blood from the first nuptial relations.

⁴ [18] Chastise him: flog him, as prescribed in Deut 25:1-3.

⁵ [23] A maiden who is betrothed: a girl who is married but not yet brought to her husband's home and whose marriage is therefore still unconsummated.

Deuteronomy
Chapter 23

1

¹ "A man shall not marry his father's wife, nor shall he dishonor his father's bed.

2

"No one whose testicles have been crushed or whose penis has been cut off may be admitted into the community of the LORD.

3

No child of an incestuous union may be admitted into the community of the LORD, nor any descendant of his even to the tenth generation.

4

No Ammonite or Moabite may ever be admitted into the community of the LORD, nor any descendants of theirs even to the tenth generation,

5

because they would not succor you with food and water on your journey after you left Egypt, and because Moab hired Balaam, son of Beor, from Pethor in Aram Naharaim, to curse you;

6

though the LORD, your God, would not listen to Balaam and turned his curse into a blessing for you, because he loves you.

7

Never promote their peace and prosperity as long as you live.

8

But do not abhor the Edomite, since he is your brother, nor the Egyptian, since you were an alien in his country.

9

Children born to them may in the third generation be admitted into the community of the LORD.

10

"When you are in camp during an expedition against your enemies, you shall keep yourselves from everything offensive.

11

If one of you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he shall go outside the camp, and not return until,

12

toward evening, he has bathed in water; then, when the sun has set, he may come back into the camp.

13

Outside the camp you shall have a place set aside to be used as a latrine.

14

You shall also keep a trowel in your equipment and with it, when you go outside to ease nature, you shall first dig a hole and afterward cover up your excrement.

15

Since the LORD, your God, journeys along within your camp to defend you and to put your enemies at your mercy, your camp must be holy; otherwise, if he sees anything indecent in your midst, he will leave your company.

16

"You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has taken refuge from him with you.

17

² Let him live with you wherever he chooses, in any one of your communities that pleases him. Do not molest him.

18

³ "There shall be no temple harlot among the Israelite women, nor a temple prostitute among the Israelite men.

19

You shall not offer a harlot's fee or a dog's price as any kind of votive offering in the house of the LORD, your God; both these things are an abomination to the LORD, your God.

20

"You shall not demand interest from your countrymen on a loan of money or of food or of anything else on which interest is usually demanded.

21

You may demand interest from a foreigner, but not from your countryman, so that the LORD, your God, may bless you in all your undertakings on the land you are to enter and occupy.

22

"When you make a vow to the LORD, your God, you shall not delay in fulfilling it; otherwise you will be held guilty, for the LORD, your God, is strict in requiring it of you.

23

Should you refrain from making a vow, you will not be held guilty.

24

But you must keep your solemn word and fulfill the votive offering you have freely promised to the LORD.

25

"When you go through your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat as many of his grapes as you wish, but do not put them in your basket.

26

When you go through your neighbor's grainfield, you may pluck some of the ears with your hand, but do not put a sickle to your neighbor's grain.