that he hath delivered them from the injurious treatment they had
in Egypt, and hath given them a good land, and a large, and lets
them enjoy the fruits thereof; and when he hath openly testified
that he hath fully paid the tithes [and other dues] according to
the laws of Moses, let him entreat God that he will be ever
merciful and gracious to him, and continue so to be to all the
Hebrews, both by preserving the good things which he hath already
given them, and by adding what it is still in his power to bestow
upon them.

23. Let the Hebrews marry, at the age fit for it, virgins that
are free, and born of good parents. And he that does not marry a
virgin, let him not corrupt another man's wife, and marry her,
nor grieve her former husband. Nor let free men marry slaves,
although their affections should strongly bias any of them so to
do; for it is decent, and for the dignity of the persons
themselves, to govern those their affections. And further, no one
ought to marry a harlot, whose matrimonial oblations, arising
from the prostitution of her body, God will not receive; for by
these means the dispositions of the children will be liberal and
virtuous; I mean, when they are not born of base parents, and of
the lustful conjunction of such as marry women that are not free.
If any one has been espoused to a woman as to a virgin, and does
not afterward find her so to be, let him bring his action, and
accuse her, and let him make use of such indications (24) to
prove his accusation as he is furnished withal; and let the
father or the brother of the damsel, or some one that is after
them nearest of kin to her, defend her If the damsel obtain a
sentence in her favor, that she had not been guilty, let her live
with her husband that accused her; and let him not have any