Dear Friends,
Adultery is a significant theme in the Bible, addressed extensively in both the Old and New Testaments. It is often depicted as a serious moral transgression, undermining the sanctity of marriage and the trust that forms its foundation. The Bible not only condemns the act of adultery but also provides guidance on maintaining fidelity and the consequences of infidelity.
Understanding these verses helps believers grasp the profound importance of marital faithfulness and the spiritual and social implications of violating this covenant. This article explores various Bible verses about adultery, offering insights into how scripture addresses this pervasive issue.
Bible Verses About Adultery
Old Testament Teachings on Adultery
1. Exodus 20:14
“You shall not commit adultery.”
2. Leviticus 18:20
“Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her.”
3. Deuteronomy 5:18
“You shall not commit adultery.”
4. Proverbs 6:32
“But a man who commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself.”
5. Jeremiah 3:9
“Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood.”
6. Ezekiel 16:32
“You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband!”
7. Hosea 4:2
“There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.”
8. Malachi 3:5
“So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.”
New Testament Warnings Against Adultery
1. Matthew 5:27-28
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
2. Matthew 19:9
“I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
3. Mark 10:11-12
“He answered, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.'”
4. Luke 16:18
“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
5. Romans 13:9
“The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”
6. 1 Corinthians 6:9
“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men.”
7. Galatians 5:19
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery.”
8. Hebrews 13:4
“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”
Adultery and the Ten Commandments
1. Exodus 20:14
“You shall not commit adultery.”
2. Deuteronomy 5:18
“You shall not commit adultery.”
3. Matthew 5:27
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’”
4. Matthew 19:18
“‘Which ones?’ he inquired. Jesus replied, ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony.'”
5. Mark 10:19
“You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
6. Luke 18:20
“You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”
7. Romans 13:9
“The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”
8. James 2:11
“For he who said, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘You shall not murder.’ If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.”
Consequences of Adultery in the Bible
1. Leviticus 20:10
“If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.”
2. Proverbs 6:29
“So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.”
3. Proverbs 6:32-33
“But a man who commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself. Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away.”
4. Ezekiel 23:37
“For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They committed adultery with their idols; they even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to me, as food for them.”
5. Jeremiah 29:23
“For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and in my name they have uttered lies—which I did not authorize. I know it and am a witness to it,” declares the Lord.”
6. Hebrews 13:4
“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”
7. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
8. Revelation 2:22
“So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways.”
Forgiveness and Redemption for Adultery
1. John 8:3-11
“Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?’ This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.
But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.
And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, ‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.'”
2. 1 Corinthians 6:11
“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
3. Isaiah 1:18
“‘Come now, let us settle the matter,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.'”
4. Psalm 51:1-2
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”
5. Ephesians 1:7
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”
6. 1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
7. Psalm 103:12
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
8. Micah 7:18-19
“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”
Adultery in Biblical Parables and Stories
1. John 8:3-11
“Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?’ This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.
But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.
And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, ‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.'”
2. 2 Samuel 11:2-4
“One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, ‘She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.’ Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home.”
3. Hosea 3:1
“The Lord said to me, ‘Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.'”
4. Matthew 1:18-19
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”
5. Ezekiel 16:32-34
“‘You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! All prostitutes receive gifts, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.'”
6. Proverbs 7:18-19
“‘Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with love! My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey.'”
7. Genesis 39:7-9
“And after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ But he refused. ‘With me in charge,’ he told her, ‘my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?'”
8. Numbers 5:11-13
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “If a man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him so that another man has sexual relations with her, and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act.'”
Moral Lessons on Adultery from Scripture
1. Proverbs 6:32
“But a man who commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself.”
2. Matthew 5:27-28
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
3. Hebrews 13:4
“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”
4. James 4:4
“You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”
5. 1 Corinthians 6:18
“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.”
6. Proverbs 5:3-4
“For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword.”
7. Galatians 5:19-21
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
8. Proverbs 6:24-25
“Keeping you from your neighbor’s wife, from the smooth talk of a wayward woman. Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.”
Prayer for To Overcome Adultery
Dear God
I come to You with a heavy heart, seeking Your guidance and forgiveness. Help me to overcome the struggles I face and heal the wounds caused by my choices. Grant me the strength to resist temptation and the wisdom to rebuild trust and integrity.
Lord, fill me with Your love and grace. Help me to focus on what truly matters in my life and relationships. Guide me toward a path of healing, restoration, and commitment.
May Your spirit lead me to make better choices and cultivate a heart of faithfulness. Surround me with supportive people who encourage my journey toward healing.
Thank You for Your mercy and love. I trust in Your plan for my life.
Amen.
Conclusion
The Bible’s teachings on adultery underscore the importance of fidelity and the sanctity of marriage. These scriptures serve as a reminder of the moral and spiritual consequences of infidelity, emphasizing the need for trust and commitment in marital relationships.
By adhering to these principles, individuals can foster healthier, more stable relationships that align with biblical values. Whether viewed as a moral guideline or a spiritual mandate, the Bible’s stance on adultery remains a vital aspect of its broader teachings on human relationships and ethical conduct.
Reflecting on these scriptures encourages a deeper appreciation of the virtues of loyalty and integrity within the covenant of marriage.
