27 Bible Verses about Adultery

Most Relevant Verses

Job 31:11

For that would be a heinous crime. Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges:

Job 31:12

For it is a fire that consumes to destruction, and would root out all my increase.

Job 24:15

The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye shall see me.' He disguises his face.

Proverbs 6:32

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

Ezekiel 18:11

and who does not any of those duties, but even has eaten on the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife,

Ezekiel 18:6

and has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither has defiled his neighbor's wife, neither has come near to a woman in her impurity,

Ezekiel 18:15

who has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbor's wife,

Deuteronomy 22:23-25

If there is a young lady who is a virgin pledged to be married to a husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones; the lady, because she did not cry, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor's wife: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you. But if the man find the lady who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her; then the man only who lay with her shall die:

Leviticus 19:20

"'If a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave girl, pledged to be married to another man, and not ransomed, or given her freedom; they shall be punished. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free.

Numbers 5:12-14

"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: If any man's wife goes astray, and is unfaithful to him, and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and is kept close, and she is defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she isn't taken in the act; and the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she isn't defiled:

From Thematic Bible


Abomination » Things that are, to God » Adultery

Adultery » A type of the apostate church when disobedient » Characterized as an adulteress

Judges 2:17

Yet they did not listen to their judges; for they played the prostitute after other gods, and bowed themselves down to them: they turned aside quickly out of the way in which their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not do so.

Judges 8:27

Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel prostituted themselves after it there; and it became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.

1 Chronicles 5:25

They trespassed against the God of their fathers, and prostituted themselves after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God destroyed before them.

Psalm 106:39

Thus were they defiled with their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds.

Ezekiel 6:9

Those of you that escape shall remember me among the nations where they shall be carried captive, how that I have been broken with their lewd heart, which has departed from me, and with their eyes, which play the prostitute after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

Adultery » Adulterers and adulteresses

Proverbs 6:24-34

to keep you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the foreign woman. Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her captivate you with her eyelids. For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life. read more.
Can a man scoop fire into his lap, and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be scorched? So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished. Men do not despise a thief, if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry: but if he is found, he shall restore seven times. He shall give all the wealth of his house. He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul. He will get wounds and dishonor. His reproach will not be wiped away. For jealousy arouses the fury of the husband. He won't spare in the day of vengeance.

Proverbs 30:18-20

"There are three things which are too amazing for me, four which I do not understand: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent on a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maiden. "So is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats and wipes her mouth, and says, 'I have done nothing wrong.'

John 8:3-5

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery. Having set her in the midst, they told him, "Teacher, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such. So what do you say?"

Adultery » General references to

Job 24:15

The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye shall see me.' He disguises his face.

Adultery » Not committing adultery

Matthew 19:18

He said to him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, "'You shall not murder.' 'You shall not commit adultery.' 'You shall not steal.' 'You shall not offer false testimony.'

Romans 13:8-9

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not covet," and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

More verses: James 2:11

Adultery » Who commits adultery

Matthew 5:31-32

"It was also said, 'Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,' but I tell you that everyone who 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.

Mark 10:11-12

He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery against her. If she herself divorces her husband, and marries another, she commits adultery."

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.

Romans 7:1-3

Or do you not know, brothers (for I speak to men who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man for as long as he lives? For the woman that has a husband is bound by law to the husband while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is discharged from the law of the husband. So then if, while the husband lives, she is joined to another man, she would be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she is joined to another man.

Adultery » Instances of » israelites

Exodus 32:6

They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

Exodus 32:25

When Moses saw that the people had broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies),

Jeremiah 29:23

because they have worked folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I did not command them; and I am he who knows, and am witness,' says the LORD."

Ezekiel 22:9-11

Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood; and in you they have eaten on the mountains: in the midst of you they have committed lewdness. In you have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in you have they humbled her who was unclean in her impurity. One has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter.

Ezekiel 33:26

You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbor's wife: and shall you possess the land?"'

More verses: Hosea 7:4

Adultery » Instances of » Herod

Matthew 14:3-4

For Herod had arrested John, and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. For John said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her."

Mark 6:17-18

For Herod himself had sent out and arrested John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, for he had married her. For John said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."

Luke 3:19

but Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done,

Adultery » Figurative

Jeremiah 3:2

"Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see. Where have you not been lain with? You have sat for them by the ways, as an Arabian in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness.

Ezekiel 16:15-16

"'But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by; his it was. You took of your garments, and made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the prostitute on them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.

Adultery » Forgiveness of. Instances of

Judges 19:1-4

It happened in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim, who took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem Judah. His concubine was unfaithful to him and went away from him to her father's house in Bethlehem of Judah, and was there about four months. Her husband arose, and went after her, to speak kindly to her, to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father's house; and when the father of the young lady saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. read more.
His father-in-law, the young lady's father, welcomed him; and he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and stayed there.

John 8:10-11

Jesus, standing up, said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" She said, "No one, Lord." Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more."

Adultery » Instances of » Heathen

Ephesians 4:17-19

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts; who having become callous gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Adultery » Who commits adultery in their heart

Adultery » Who does not commit adultery

Romans 7:2-3

For the woman that has a husband is bound by law to the husband while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is discharged from the law of the husband. So then if, while the husband lives, she is joined to another man, she would be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she is joined to another man.

Adultery » Instances of » The samaritan woman

John 4:17-18

The woman answered and said to him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You said well, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly."

Adultery » Instances of » The gibeahites

Judges 19:22-25

As they were enjoying themselves, behold, the men of the city, some wicked men of the city surrounded the house, beating at the door. And they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, "Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may have sex with him." The man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said to them, "No, my brothers, please do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house. Do not do this folly. Behold, here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. I will bring them out now. Ravish them and do with them what seems good to you; but do not do any such a disgraceful thing to this man." read more.
But the men wouldn't listen to him: so the man laid hold of his concubine, and brought her out to them. And they raped her and abused her all night until the morning, and when the day began to dawn they let her go.

Adultery » Instances of » Amnon

2 Samuel 13:1-20

It happened after this, that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her. Amnon was so troubled that he fell sick because of his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and it seemed hard to Amnon to do anything to her. But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a very subtle man. read more.
He said to him, "Why, son of the king, are you so sad from day to day? Won't you tell me?" Amnon said to him, "I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister." Jonadab said to him, "Lie down on your bed, and pretend to be sick. When your father comes to see you, tell him, 'Please let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and dress the food in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it from her hand.'" So Amnon lay down and faked being sick. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, "Please let my sister Tamar come, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand." Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, "Go now to your brother Amnon's house, and prepare food for him." So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house; and he was laid down. She took dough, and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes. She took the pan, and poured them out before him; but he refused to eat. Amnon said, "Have all men leave me." Every man went out from him. Amnon said to Tamar, "Bring the food into the room, that I may eat from your hand." Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them into the room to Amnon her brother. When she had brought them near to him to eat, he took hold of her, and said to her, "Come, lie with me, my sister." She answered him, "No, my brother, do not force me. For no such thing ought to be done in Israel. Do not do this folly. I, where would I carry my shame? And as for you, you will be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from you." However he would not listen to her voice; but being stronger than she, he forced her, and lay with her. Then Amnon hated her with exceeding great hatred; for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. Amnon said to her, "Arise, be gone." She said to him, "Not so, because this great wrong in sending me away is worse than the other that you did to me." But he would not listen to her. Then he called his servant who ministered to him, and said, "Put now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her." She had a garment of various colors on her; for with such robes were the king's daughters who were virgins dressed. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her. Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore her garment of various colors that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head, and went her way, crying aloud as she went. Absalom her brother said to her, "Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now hold your peace, my sister. He is your brother. Do not take this thing to heart." So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house.

Adultery » Instances of » Lot

Genesis 19:31-38

The firstborn said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let's make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father's seed." They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down, nor when she arose. read more.
It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, "Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine again, tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father's seed." They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He did not know when she lay down, nor when she got up. Thus both of Lot's daughters were with child by their father. The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.

Adultery » The reward for committing adultery

Hosea 4:1-3

Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel; for the LORD has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land. There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed. Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells therein will waste away, all living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky; yes, the fish of the sea also die.

Adultery » Instances of » The woman brought to jesus in the temple

John 8:4-11

they told him, "Teacher, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such. So what do you say?" They said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of. But Jesus stooped down, and wrote on the ground with his finger. read more.
But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her." Again he stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground. They, when they heard it, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Jesus was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle. Jesus, standing up, said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" She said, "No one, Lord." Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more."

Adultery » Instances of » Potiphar's wife

Genesis 39:7-12

It happened after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph; and she said, "Lie with me." But he refused, and said to his master's wife, "Behold, my master doesn't know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand. He isn't greater in this house than I, neither has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" read more.
As she spoke to Joseph day by day, he did not listen to her, to lie by her, or to be with her. About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside. She caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me." He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside.

Adultery » Instances of » David

2 Samuel 11:1-5

It happened, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. It happened at evening, that David arose from off his bed, and walked on the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look on. David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" read more.
David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, "I am with child."

Adultery » Instances of » Judah

Genesis 38:1-24

It happened at that time, that Judah went down from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her, and went in to her. She conceived, and bore a son; and he named him Er. read more.
She conceived again, and bore a son; and she named him Onan. She yet again bore a son, and named him Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bore him. Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD. The LORD killed him. Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her, and raise up seed to your brother." Onan knew that the seed wouldn't be his; and it happened, when he went in to his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother. The thing which he did was evil in the sight of the LORD, and he killed him also. Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, "Remain a widow in your father's house, until Shelah, my son, is grown up;" for he said, "Lest he also die, like his brothers." Tamar went and lived in her father's house. After many days, Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died. Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah, the Adullamite. It was told Tamar, saying, "Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep." She took off of her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she wasn't given to him as a wife. When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. He turned to her by the way, and said, "Please come, let me come in to you," for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, "What will you give me, that you may come in to me?" He said, "I will send you a kid of the goats from the flock." She said, "Will you give me a pledge, until you send it?" He said, "What pledge will I give you?" She said, "Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand." He gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him. She arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand, but he did not find her. Then he asked the men of her place, saying, "Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the road?" They said, "There has been no prostitute here." He returned to Judah, and said, "I haven't found her; and also the men of the place said, 'There has been no prostitute here.'" Judah said, "Let her keep it, lest we be shamed. Behold, I sent this kid, and you haven't found her." It happened about three months later, that it was told Judah, saying, "Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute; and moreover, behold, she is with child by prostitution." Judah said, "Bring her forth, and let her be burnt."

Adultery » Instances of » Corinthians

1 Corinthians 5:1-5

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even among the Gentiles, that one has his father's wife. You are puffed up, and did not rather mourn, that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you. For I most certainly, as being absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as though I were present, judged him who has done this thing. read more.
In the name of our Lord Jesus, you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

Adultery » Instances of » Sodomites

Genesis 19:5-8

They called to Lot, and said to him, "Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them." Lot went out to them to the door, and shut the door after him. He said, "Please, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. read more.
See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only do not do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof."

Adultery » Instances of » Absalom

2 Samuel 16:22

So they spread Absalom a tent on the top of the house; and Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.

Adultery » Instances of » Sons of eli

1 Samuel 2:22

Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and how that they lay with the women who served at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

Adultery » Instances of » Reuben

Genesis 35:22

It happened, while Israel lived in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.

Adultery » Instances of » The levite's concubine

Judges 19:2

His concubine was unfaithful to him and went away from him to her father's house in Bethlehem of Judah, and was there about four months.

Adultery » Instances of » Shechem

Genesis 34:2

Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her.

Adultery » Instances of » Gilead

Judges 11:1

Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a prostitute. And Gilead became the father of Jephthah.

Adultery » Instances of » Samson

Judges 16:1

Samson went to Gaza, and saw a prostitute there, and went in to her.

Divorce » Forbidden » Except » Adultery

Foes of the home » Adultery

Job 24:15

The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye shall see me.' He disguises his face.

Home » Foes of the home » Adultery

Job 24:15

The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye shall see me.' He disguises his face.

Punishment » Death penalty » Mosaic law » Adultery

Deuteronomy 22:24

then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones; the lady, because she did not cry, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor's wife: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you.

Spiritual » Adoption » Adultery

Judges 2:17

Yet they did not listen to their judges; for they played the prostitute after other gods, and bowed themselves down to them: they turned aside quickly out of the way in which their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not do so.

Judges 8:27

Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel prostituted themselves after it there; and it became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.

1 Chronicles 5:25

They trespassed against the God of their fathers, and prostituted themselves after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God destroyed before them.

Psalm 106:39

Thus were they defiled with their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds.

Ezekiel 6:9

Those of you that escape shall remember me among the nations where they shall be carried captive, how that I have been broken with their lewd heart, which has departed from me, and with their eyes, which play the prostitute after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

Temptation » Yielding to temptation » David » Adultery

2 Samuel 11:2-5

It happened at evening, that David arose from off his bed, and walked on the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look on. David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house. read more.
The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, "I am with child."

Topics on Adultery

Adultery, Consequences Of

Proverbs 6:32-34

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

Adultery, Examples Of

Genesis 19:31-38

The firstborn said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth.

Adultery, Spiritual

1 John 2:15-17

Do not love the world, neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father's love is not in him.

Those Who Committed Adultery

Jeremiah 5:7

"How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes' houses.

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Theasaurus: Adultery