Q.137. Which is the seventh commandment?

A. The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery.[y]

[y] Exod. 20:14.

Q.138. What are the duties required in the seventh commandment?

A. The duties required in the seventh commandment are, chastity in body, mind, affections,[z] words,[a] and behaviour;[b] and the preservation of it in ourselves and others;[c] watchfulness over the eyes and all the senses;[d] temperance,[e] keeping of chaste company,[f] modesty in apparel;[g] marriage by those that have not the gift of continency,[h] conjugal love,[i] and cohabitation;[k] diligent labour in our callings;[l] shunning all occasions of uncleanness, and resisting temptations thereunto.[m]

[z] 1 Thess. 4:4. Job 31:1. 1 Cor. 7:34.

[a] Col. 4:6.

[b] 1 Pet. 2:3.

[c] 1 Cor. 7:2,35,36.

[d] Job 31:1.

[e] Acts 24:24,25.

[f] Prov. 2:16-20.

[g] 1 Tim. 2:9.

[h] 1 Cor. 7:2,9.

[i] Prov. 5:19,20.

[k] 1 Pet. 3:7.

[l] Prov. 31:11,27,28.

[m] Prov. 5:8. Gen. 39:8-10.

Q.139. What are the sins forbidden in the seventh commandment?

A. The sins forbidden in the seventh commandment, besides the neglect of the duties required,[n] are, adultery, fornication,[o] rape, incest,[p] sodomy, and all unnatural lusts;[q] all unclean imaginations, thoughts, purposes, and affections;[r] all corrupt or filthy communications, or listening thereunto;[s] wanton looks,[t] impudent or light behaviour, immodest apparel;[v] prohibiting of lawful,[w] and dispensing with unlawful marriages;[x] allowing, tolerating, keeping of stews, and resorting to them;[y] entangling vows of single life,[z] undue delay of marriage;[a] having more wives or husbands than one at the same time;[b] unjust divorce[c] or desertion;[d] idleness, gluttony, drunkenness,[e] unchaste company;[f] lascivious songs, books, pictures, dancings, stage plays;[g] and all other provocations to, or acts of uncleanness, either in ourselves or others.[h]

[n] Prov. 5:7.

[o] Heb. 13:4. Gal. 5:19.

[p] 2 Sam. 13:14. 1 Cor. 5:1.

[q] Rom. 1:24,26,27. Lev. 20:15,16.

[r] Matt. 5:28. Matt. 15:19. Col. 3:5.

[s] Eph. 5:3,4. Prov. 7:5,21,22.

[t] Isa. 3:16. 2 Pet. 2:14.

[v] Prov. 7:10,13.

[w] 1 Tim. 4:3.

[x] Lev. 18:1-21. Mark 6:18. Mal. 2:11,12.

[y] 1 Kings 15:12. 2 Kings 23:7. Deut. 23:17,18. Lev. 19:29. Jer. 5:7. Prov. 7:24-27.

[z] Matt. 19:10,11.

[a] 1 Cor. 7:7-9. Gen. 38:26.

[b] Mal. 2:14,15. Matt. 19:5.

[c] Mal. 2:16. Matt. 5:32.

[d] 1 Cor. 7:12,13.

[e] Ezek. 16:49. Prov. 23:30-33.

[f] Gen. 39:10. Prov. 5:8.

[g] Eph. 5:4. Ezek. 23:14-16. Isa. 23:15-17. Isa. 3:16. Mark 6:22. Rom. 13:13. 1 Pet. 4:3.

[h] 2 Kings 9:30. Compared with Jer. 4:30 and with Ezek. 23:40.