content/08/17.md
---
pagetitle: What are the sins forbidden in the seventh commandment?
date: February 19, 2020
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#### Shorter Catechism
<span class="q">Q 72.</span> What is forbidden in the seventh commandment?
<span class="q">A.</span> The seventh commandment forbiddeth all unchaste thoughts, words, and actions.[^fnref:wsc1]
[^fnref:wsc1]: <div class="esv"><h5>Matthew 5:28</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p40005028.01-1"><span class="woc">But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.</span></p> </div><h5>Ephesians 5:3-4</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p49005003.01-2">But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
#### Larger Catechism
<span class="q">Q 139.</span> What are the sins forbidden in the seventh commandment?
<span class="q">A.</span> The sins forbidden in the seventh commandment, besides the neglect of the duties required,[^fnref:wlc1] are, adultery, fornication,[^fnref:wlc2] rape, incest,[^fnref:wlc3] sodomy, and all unnatural lusts;[^fnref:wlc4] all unclean imaginations, thoughts, purposes, and affections;[^fnref:wlc5] all corrupt or filthy communications, or listening thereunto;[^fnref:wlc6] wanton looks,[^fnref:wlc7] impudent or light behavior, immodest apparel;[^fnref:wlc8] prohibiting of lawful,[^fnref:wlc9] and dispensing with unlawful marriages;[^fnref:wlc10] allowing, tolerating, keeping of stews, and resorting to them;[^fnref:wlc11] entangling vows of single life,[^fnref:wlc12] undue delay of marriage,[^fnref:wlc13] having more wives or husbands than one at the same time;[^fnref:wlc14] unjust divorce,[^fnref:wlc15] or desertion;[^fnref:wlc16] idleness, gluttony, drunkenness,[^fnref:wlc17] unchaste company;[^fnref:wlc18] lascivious songs, books, pictures, dancings, stage plays;[^fnref:wlc19] and all other provocations to, or acts of uncleanness, either in ourselves or others.[^fnref:wlc20]
[^fnref:wlc1]: <div class="esv"><h5>Proverbs 5:7</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p20005007.01-1">And now, O sons, listen to me,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and do not depart from the words of my mouth.</p> </div> </div><h5>Proverbs 4:23</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p20004023.01-2">Keep your heart with all vigilance,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>for from it flow the springs of life.</p> </div> </div><h5>Proverbs 4:27</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p20004027.01-3">Do not swerve to the right or to the left;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>turn your foot away from evil. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc2]: <div class="esv"><h5>Hebrews 13:4</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p58013004.01-1">Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.</p> </div><h5>Ephesians 5:5</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p49005005.01-2">For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.</p> </div><h5>Galatians 5:19</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p48005019.01-3">Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc3]: <div class="esv"><h5>2 Samuel 13:14</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p10013014.01-1">But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.</p> </div><h5>1 Corinthians 5:1</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <p id="p46005001.06-2"><span class="chapter-num" id="v46005001-2">5:1 </span>It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife.</p> </div><h5>Mark 6:18</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p41006018.01-3">For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc4]: <div class="esv"><h5>Romans 1:24</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p45001024.01-1">Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,</p> </div><h5>Romans 1:26-27</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p45001026.01-2">For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.</p> </div><h5>Leviticus 20:15-16</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p03020015.01-3">If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc5]: <div class="esv"><h5>Matthew 5:28</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p40005028.01-1"><span class="woc">But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.</span></p> </div><h5>Matthew 15:19</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p40015019.01-2"><span class="woc">For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.</span></p> </div><h5>Colossians 3:5</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p51003005.01-3">Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc6]: <div class="esv"><h5>Ephesians 5:3-4</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p49005003.01-1">But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.</p> </div><h5>Proverbs 7:5</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p20007005.01-2">to keep you from the forbidden woman,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>from the adulteress with her smooth words.</p> </div> </div><h5>Proverbs 7:21-22</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p20007021.01-3">With much seductive speech she persuades him;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>with her smooth talk she compels him.<br /> All at once he follows her,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>as an ox goes to the slaughter,<br /> or as a stag is caught fast (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc7]: <div class="esv"><h5>Isaiah 3:16</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p23003016.01-1">The <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> said:<br /> Because the daughters of Zion are haughty<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and walk with outstretched necks,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>glancing wantonly with their eyes,<br /> mincing along as they go,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>tinkling with their feet,</p> </div> </div><h5>2 Peter 2:14</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p61002014.01-2">They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc8]: <div class="esv"><h5>Proverbs 7:10</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p20007010.01-1">And behold, the woman meets him,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.</p> </div> </div><h5>Proverbs 7:13</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p20007013.01-2">She seizes him and kisses him,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and with bold face she says to him, (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc9]: <div class="esv"><h5>1 Timothy 4:3</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p54004003.01-1">who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc10]: <div class="esv"><h5>Mark 6:18</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p41006018.01-1">For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.”</p> </div><h5>Malachi 2:11-12</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p39002011.01-2">Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span>, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. May the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> of hosts!</p> </div><h5>Leviticus 18:1-21</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <p id="p03018001.04-3"><span class="chapter-num" id="v03018001-3">18:1 </span>And the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span>.</p> <p id="p03018006.01-3">“None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span>. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is your father's nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter or of your daughter's daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, brought up in your father's family, since she is your sister. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is your father's relative. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is your mother's relative. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son's wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.</p> <p id="p03018019.01-3">“You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor's wife and so make yourself unclean with her. You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span>. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc11]: <div class="esv"><h5>1 Kings 15:12</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p11015012.01-1">He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.</p> </div><h5>2 Kings 23:7</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p12023007.01-2">And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span>, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.</p> </div><h5>Leviticus 19:29</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p03019029.01-3">“Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity.</p> </div><h5>Jeremiah 5:7</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p24005007.01-4">“How can I pardon you?<br /> <span class="indent"></span>Your children have forsaken me<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and have sworn by those who are no gods.<br /> When I fed them to the full,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>they committed adultery<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and trooped to the houses of whores.</p> </div> </div><h5>Deuteronomy 23:17-18</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p05023017.01-5">“None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute. You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog into the house of the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> your God.</p> </div><h5>Proverbs 7:24-27</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p20007024.01-6">And now, O sons, listen to me,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and be attentive to the words of my mouth.<br /> Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>do not stray into her paths,<br /> for many a victim has she laid low,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and all her slain are a mighty throng.<br /> Her house is the way to Sheol,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>going down to the chambers of death. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc12]: <div class="esv"><h5>Matthew 19:10-11</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p40019010.01-1">The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” But he said to them, <span class="woc">“Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given.</span> (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc13]: <div class="esv"><h5>1 Corinthians 7:7-9</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p46007007.01-1">I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.</p> <p id="p46007008.01-1">To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.</p> </div><h5>Genesis 38:26</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p01038026.01-2">Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc14]: <div class="esv"><h5>Malachi 2:14-15</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p39002014.01-1">But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.</p> </div><h5>Matthew 19:5</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p40019005.01-2"><span class="woc">and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?</span> (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc15]: <div class="esv"><h5>Malachi 2:16</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p39002016.01-1">“For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span>, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”</p> </div><h5>Matthew 5:32</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p40005032.01-2"><span class="woc">But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.</span></p> </div><h5>Matthew 19:8-9</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p40019008.01-3">He said to them, <span class="woc">“Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.</span> <span class="woc">And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”</span> (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc16]: <div class="esv"><h5>1 Corinthians 7:12-13</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p46007012.01-1">To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc17]: <div class="esv"><h5>Ezekiel 16:49</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p26016049.01-1">Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.</p> </div><h5>Proverbs 23:30-33</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p20023030.01-2">Those who tarry long over wine;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>those who go to try mixed wine.<br /> Do not look at wine when it is red,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>when it sparkles in the cup<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and goes down smoothly.<br /> In the end it bites like a serpent<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and stings like an adder.<br /> Your eyes will see strange things,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and your heart utter perverse things. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc18]: <div class="esv"><h5>Genesis 39:19</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p01039019.01-1">As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled.</p> </div><h5>Proverbs 5:8</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p20005008.01-2">Keep your way far from her,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and do not go near the door of her house, (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc19]: <div class="esv"><h5>Ephesians 5:4</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p49005004.01-1">Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.</p> </div><h5>Romans 13:13</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p45013013.01-2">Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.</p> </div><h5>1 Peter 4:3</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p60004003.01-3">For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.</p> </div><h5>Ezekiel 23:14-16</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p26023014.01-4">But she carried her whoring further. She saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.</p> </div><h5>Isaiah 3:16</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p23003016.01-5">The <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> said:<br /> Because the daughters of Zion are haughty<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and walk with outstretched necks,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>glancing wantonly with their eyes,<br /> mincing along as they go,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>tinkling with their feet,</p> </div> </div><h5>Isaiah 23:15-17</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p class="same-paragraph" id="p23023015.01-6">In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:</p> <div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p23023016.01-6">“Take a harp;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>go about the city,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>O forgotten prostitute!<br /> Make sweet melody;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>sing many songs,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>that you may be remembered.”</p> </div> <p class="same-paragraph" id="p23023017.01-6">At the end of seventy years, the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.</p> </div><h5>Mark 6:22</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p41006022.01-7">For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc20]: <div class="esv"><h5>2 Kings 9:30</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <p id="p12009030.04-1">When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window.</p> </div><h5>Jeremiah 4:30</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p24004030.01-2">And you, O desolate one,<br /> what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>that you enlarge your eyes with paint?<br /> In vain you beautify yourself.<br /> <span class="indent"></span>Your lovers despise you;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>they seek your life.</p> </div> </div><h5>Ezekiel 23:40</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p26023040.01-3">They even sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>