What are the sins forbidden in the seventh commandment?
The sins forbidden in the seventh commandment, besides the neglect of the duties required,1 are, adultery, fornication,2 rape, incest,3 sodomy, and all unnatural lusts;4 all unclean imaginations, thoughts, purposes, and affections;5 all corrupt or filthy communications, or listening thereunto;6 wanton looks,7 impudent or light behavior, immodest apparel;8 prohibiting of lawful,9 and dispensing with unlawful marriages;10 allowing, tolerating, keeping of stews, and resorting to them;11 entangling vows of single life,12 undue delay of marriage;13 having more wives or husbands than one at the same time;14 unjust divorce,15 or desertion;16 idleness, gluttony, drunkenness,17 unchaste company;18 lascivious songs, books, pictures, dancings, stage plays;19 and all other provocations to, or acts of uncleanness, either in ourselves or others.20
Scripture proofs
The Westminster Assembly's proof texts (KJV). The bracketed numbers in the answer above mark the clause each set of references supports; expand a row to read the verses.
1 Prov. 5:7
Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
2 Heb. 13:4; Gal. 5:19
Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
3 2 Sam. 13:14; 1 Cor. 5:1
Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her.
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
4 Rom. 1:24, 26–27; Lev. 20:15–16
Rom. 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Rom. 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Rom. 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Lev. 20:15 And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
Lev. 20:16 And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
5 Matt. 5:28; Matt. 15:19; Col. 3:5
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
6 Eph. 5:3–4; Prov. 7:5, 21–22
Eph. 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
Eph. 5:4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
Prov. 7:5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
Prov. 7:21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
Prov. 7:22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
7 Isa. 3:16; 2 Pet. 2:14
Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
8 Prov. 7:10, 13
Prov. 7:10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
Prov. 7:13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,
9 1 Tim. 4:3
Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
10 Lev. 18:1–21; Mark 6:18; Mal. 2:11–12
Lev. 18:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev. 18:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God.
Lev. 18:3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.
Lev. 18:4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God.
Lev. 18:5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.
Lev. 18:6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.
Lev. 18:7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Lev. 18:8 The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.
Lev. 18:9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.
Lev. 18:10 The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.
Lev. 18:11 The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Lev. 18:12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman.
Lev. 18:13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman.
Lev. 18:14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.
Lev. 18:15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Lev. 18:16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.
Lev. 18:17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.
Lev. 18:18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
Lev. 18:19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
Lev. 18:20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.
Lev. 18:21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.
Mal. 2:11 Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.
Mal. 2:12 The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts.
11 1 Kings 15:12; 2 Kings 23:7; Deut. 23:17–18; Lev. 19:29; Jer. 5:7; Prov. 7:24–27
And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
Deut. 23:17 There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
Deut. 23:18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.
How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
Prov. 7:24 Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
Prov. 7:25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
Prov. 7:26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
Prov. 7:27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
12 Matt. 19:10–11
Matt. 19:10 His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.
Matt. 19:11 But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.
13 1 Cor. 7:7–9; Gen. 38:26
1 Cor. 7:7 For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.
1 Cor. 7:8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.
1 Cor. 7:9 But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.
And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.
14 Mal. 2:14–15; Matt. 19:5
Mal. 2:14 Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
Mal. 2:15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
15 Mal. 2:16; Matt. 5:32
For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.
But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
16 1 Cor. 7:12–13
1 Cor. 7:12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.
1 Cor. 7:13 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.
17 Ezek. 16:49; Prov. 23:30–33
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
Prov. 23:30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
Prov. 23:31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
Prov. 23:32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
Prov. 23:33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
18 Gen. 39:10; Prov. 5:8
And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
19 Eph. 5:4; Ezek. 23:14–16; Isa. 3:16; Isa. 23:15–17; Mark 6:22; Rom. 13:13; 1 Pet. 4:3
Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
Ezek. 23:14 And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion,
Ezek. 23:15 Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity:
Ezek. 23:16 And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
Isa. 23:15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
Isa. 23:16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
Isa. 23:17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.
Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
20 2 Kings 9:30; Jer. 4:30; Ezek. 23:40
And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.
And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,
This doctrine across the Standards
Where the Confession and the Westminster Shorter Catechism treat the same matter, so the question can be studied alongside its parallel statements.
In the Westminster Confession
XIX.1 God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which he bound him and all …
God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which he bound him and all his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it; and endued him with power and ability to keep it.
→ XIX.1 · Of the Law of GodXIX.2 This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness; and, as such, was delivered …
This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness; and, as such, was delivered by God upon mount Sinai in ten commandments, and written in two tables; the first four commandments containing our duty towards God, and the other six our duty to man.
→ XIX.2 · Of the Law of GodXIX.3 Beside this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a …
Beside this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a Church under age, ceremonial laws, containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly holding forth divers instructions of moral duties. All which ceremonial laws are now abrogated under the New Testament.
→ XIX.3 · Of the Law of GodXIX.4 To them also, as a body politic, he gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the State …
To them also, as a body politic, he gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the State of that people, not obliging any other, now, further than the general equity thereof may require.
→ XIX.4 · Of the Law of GodXIX.5 The moral law doth forever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof; and …
The moral law doth forever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof; and that not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator who gave it. Neither doth Christ in the gospel any way dissolve, but much strengthen, this obligation.
→ XIX.5 · Of the Law of GodXIX.6 Although true believers be not under the law as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or …
Although true believers be not under the law as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned; yet is it of great use to them, as well as to others; in that, as a rule of life, informing them of the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their nature, hearts, and lives; so as, examining themselves thereby, they may come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against sin; together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and the perfection of his obedience. It is likewise of use to the regenerate, to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin; and the threatenings of it serve to show what even their sins deserve, and what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed from the curse thereof threatened in the law. The promises of it, in like manner, show them God's approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof; although not as due to them by the law as a covenant of works: so as a man's doing good, and refraining from evil, because the law encourageth to the one, and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of his being under the law, and not under grace.
→ XIX.6 · Of the Law of GodXIX.7 Neither are the forementioned uses of the law contrary to the grace of the gospel, but do sweetly …
Neither are the forementioned uses of the law contrary to the grace of the gospel, but do sweetly comply with it: the Spirit of Christ subduing and enabling the will of man to do that freely and cheerfully which the will of God, revealed in the law, requireth to be done.
→ XIX.7 · Of the Law of GodXXIV.1 Marriage is to be between one man and one woman: neither is it lawful for any man to …
Marriage is to be between one man and one woman: neither is it lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband at the same time.
→ XXIV.1 · Of Marriage and DivorceXXIV.2 Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife; for the increase of mankind with a …
Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife; for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and of the Church with an holy seed; and for preventing of uncleanness.
→ XXIV.2 · Of Marriage and DivorceXXIV.3 It is lawful for all sorts of people to marry who are able with judgment to give their …
It is lawful for all sorts of people to marry who are able with judgment to give their consent. Yet it is the duty of Christians to marry only in the Lord. And therefore, such as profess the true reformed religion should not marry with infidels, Papists, or other idolaters: neither should such as are godly be unequally yoked, by marrying with such as are notoriously wicked in their life, or maintain damnable heresies.
→ XXIV.3 · Of Marriage and DivorceXXIV.4 Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity or affinity forbidden in the Word; nor can …
Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity or affinity forbidden in the Word; nor can such incestuous marriages ever be made lawful by any law of man, or consent of parties, so as those persons may live together as man and wife. The man may not marry any of his wife's kindred nearer in blood than he may of his own, nor the woman of her husband's kindred nearer in blood than of her own.
→ XXIV.4 · Of Marriage and DivorceXXIV.5 Adultery or fornication, committed after a contract, being detected before marriage, giveth just occasion to the innocent party …
Adultery or fornication, committed after a contract, being detected before marriage, giveth just occasion to the innocent party to dissolve that contract. In the case of adultery after marriage, it is lawful for the innocent party to sue out a divorce, and after the divorce to marry another, as if the offending party were dead.
→ XXIV.5 · Of Marriage and Divorce+1 more — see the full topical treatment below.
In the Westminster Shorter Catechism
Q.39 What is the duty which God requireth of man?
The duty which God requireth of man, is obedience to his revealed will.
→ Open Q.39Q.40 What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?
The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience, was the moral law.
→ Open Q.40Q.41 Wherein is the moral law summarily comprehended?
The moral law is summarily comprehended in the ten commandments.
→ Open Q.41Q.42 What is the sum of the ten commandments?
The sum of the ten commandments is, To love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbour as ourselves.
→ Open Q.42Q.43 What is the preface to the ten commandments?
The preface to the ten commandments is in these words, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
→ Open Q.43Q.44 What doth the preface to the ten commandments teach us?
The preface to the ten commandments teacheth us, That because God is the Lord, and our God, and Redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all his commandments.
→ Open Q.44Q.45 Which is the first commandment?
The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
→ Open Q.45Q.46 What is required in the first commandment?
The first commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly.
→ Open Q.46Q.47 What is forbidden in the first commandment?
The first commandment forbiddeth the denying, or not worshipping and glorifying the true God as God, and our God; and the giving of that worship and glory to any other, which is due to him alone.
→ Open Q.47Q.48 What are we specially taught by these words, 'before me', in the first commandment?
These words, before me, in the first commandment teach us, that God, who seeth all things, taketh notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any other God.
→ Open Q.48Q.49 Which is the second commandment?
The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thy self to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
→ Open Q.49Q.50 What is required in the second commandment?
The second commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in his Word.
→ Open Q.50+34 more — see the full topical treatment below.