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What does the Bible say about adultery?

Bible Topic · WEB

The Bible teaches that adultery is a serious sin against God’s holy design for marriage, condemning both unfaithful actions and lustful desires while calling sinners to repentance, purity, and faith in Christ. Exodus 20:14 forbids adultery, and Leviticus 20:10 shows its gravity under Israel’s civil law. Jesus deepens the command in Matthew 5:27-28, exposing lust as adultery of the heart, and he upholds the covenant permanence of marriage in Matthew 19:9. Hebrews 13:4 honors marriage and warns that God judges sexual immorality, while 1 Corinthians 6:18 calls believers to flee it. Though this sin is grievous, the gospel offers cleansing, forgiveness, and new obedience to all who turn to Christ.

Top passages, ranked by readers

Rankings: OpenBible.info Topical Bible (CC BY) · Scripture: World English Bible

  • Exodus 20:14

    "You shall not commit adultery.

  • Hebrews 13:4

    Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

  • Proverbs 6:32

    He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul.

  • Matthew 19:9

    I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery."

  • Matthew 5:27-28

    [27] "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery;' [28] but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.

  • Matthew 5:28

    but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.

  • Leviticus 20:10

    "'The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

  • 1 Corinthians 6:18

    Flee sexual immorality! "Every sin that a man does is outside the body," but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

  • Luke 16:18

    Everyone who divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery. He who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.

  • Matthew 5:32

    but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.

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