Then the father and mother of the young woman must produce the evidence of virginity ¹  for the elders of the city at the gate.

Have you never questioned those who travel the roads? Do you not recognize their accounts ¹  –

But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin,

He performed awesome deeds ¹  and acts of judgment ²  in your midst, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants.

Even those living in the most remote areas are awestruck by your acts; ¹  you cause those living in the east and west to praise you. ² 

who frustrates the omens of the empty talkers ¹  and humiliates ²  the omen readers, who overturns the counsel of the wise men ³  and makes their advice ⁴  seem foolish,

Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety by saying, ‘I discovered your daughter was not a virgin,’ but this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity!” The cloth must then be spread out ¹  before the city’s elders.

God said, “Let there be lights ¹  in the expanse ²  of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs ³  to indicate seasons and days and years,

accusing her of impropriety ¹  and defaming her reputation ²  by saying, “I married this woman but when I had sexual relations ³  with her I discovered she was not a virgin!”

If we have built ¹  an altar for ourselves to turn back from following the Lord by making ²  burnt sacrifices and grain offerings on it, or by offering ³  tokens of peace ⁴  on it, the Lord himself will punish us. ⁵ 

So all the Israelites, the whole army, ¹  went up to ²  Bethel. ³  They wept and sat there before the Lord; they did not eat anything ⁴  that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace ⁵  to the Lord.

just as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded the Israelites. As described in the law scroll of Moses, it was made with uncut stones untouched by an iron tool. ¹  They offered burnt sacrifices on it and sacrificed tokens of peace. ² 

but as a reminder to us and you, ¹  and to our descendants who follow us, that we will honor the Lord in his very presence ²  with burnt offerings, sacrifices, and tokens of peace. ³  Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, ‘You have no right to worship the Lord.’ ⁴ 

Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord by turning back today from following after the Lord by building an altar for burnt offerings, sacrifices, and tokens of peace ¹  aside from the altar of the Lord our God located in front of his dwelling place!” ²