23 ¹⁶ Two sorts of men multiply sins, and a third incurs wrath.
The soul heated like a burning fire will not be quenched until it is consumed;
a man who commits fornication with his near of kin will never cease until the fire burns him up.
23 ¹⁷ To a fornicator all bread tastes sweet;
he will never cease until he dies.
23 ¹⁸ A man who breaks his marriage vows
says to himself, "Who sees me?
Darkness surrounds me, and the walls hide me, and no one sees me.
Why should I fear? The Most High will not take notice of my sins."
23 ¹⁹ His fear is confined to the eyes of men,
and he does not realize that the eyes of the Lord
are ten thousand times brighter than the sun;
they look upon all the ways of men,
and perceive even the hidden places.
23 ²⁰ Before the universe was created, it was known to him;
so it was also after it was finished.
23 ²¹ This man will be punished in the streets of the city,
and where he least suspects it, he will be seized.
23 ²² So it is with a woman who leaves her husband
and provides an heir by a stranger.
23 ²³ For first of all, she has disobeyed the law of the Most High;
second, she has committed an offence against her husband;
and third, she has committed adultery through harlotry and brought forth children by another man.
23 ²⁴ She herself will be brought before the assembly,
and punishment will fall on her children.
23 ²⁵ Her children will not take root,
and her branches will not bear fruit.
23 ²⁶ She will leave her memory for a curse,
and her disgrace will not be blotted out.
23 ²⁷ Those who survive her will recognize
that nothing is better than the fear of the Lord,
and nothing sweeter than to heed the commandments of the Lord.