Umm yeah sin is sin.
One could argue that there are "categories" of sin but sexual sin is a big deal whether you are married or not.
Scripture is pretty clear on that. A further distinction was made in Corinthians (somewhere though I can precisely reference if you'd like) about sexual sins being done against one's own body. So no, this action isn't relegated or less consequential* because of the marital status of any of these people and I'm surprised at that interpretation.
Grammar/syntax issues aren't very relevant if the meaning is clear and I don't find it productive to point it out unless someone is learning the language and even that to be judicious about.
Thanks for correcting me.
It’s not just an interpretation, it’s also a reiteration of what scripture says:
Leviticus 20:10 ESV
“If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.“
This is also true if the woman is a bethroned woman destined to be a wife, but not married yet:
Deuteronomy 22:23-24 ESV
“If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.”
I didn’t find scripture anywhere in the Bible that said if both the man and woman were not bethroned or married, then they’d deserve death. Yet, they’d have to marry if the father approves or the man should pay up:
Exodus 22:16-17 ESV
“If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price for her and make her his wife. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride-price for virgins.“
That’s why I deemed fornication a medium offense not the end of the world.
That said, thanks for mentioning the verses from Corinthians about sexual morality:
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 ESV
“Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.“
I will always keep them in mind in my actions, abstaining from sexual immorality. I pray that everyone does the same.
Godspeed.