Adultery

Adultery is when a married person has illicit sexual relations with someone who is not that person's spouse.  It is a breaking of the marriage covenant and is a great sin.  Adultery is forbidden in the 10 Commandments (Exo. 20:14; Deut. 5:18; Lev. 18:20).  In the Old Testament it was punishable by death (Deut. 22:22-24) and was intended to be carried out in the case of the adulterous woman in John 7:53-8:11.

In the New Testament it is mentioned in numerous verses such as Matt. 5:27-28, 32; 19:18; Luke 16:18; Rom. 2:22; 1 Cor. 6:9; Heb. 13:4, etc.

See also Fornication.