47 Bible Verses about Prostitution

When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot; because she had covered her face. And he turned to her by the way, and said, Come, I pray thee, let me have access to thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law:) and she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayst have access to me?

And Joshua the son of Nun sent from Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go, view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into the house of a harlot, named Rahab, and lodged there.

And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.

Then he asked the men of that place, saying, where is the harlot that was openly by the way-side? and they said, There was no harlot in this place. And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.

They die in youth, and their life is among the unclean.

Do not prostitute thy daughter to cause her to be a harlot: lest the land should fall to lewdness, and the land become full of wickedness.

There shall be no harlot of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. Thou shalt not bring the hire of a harlot, or the price of a dog into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination to the LORD thy God.

They shall not take a wife that is a lewd woman, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy to his God.

And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told to Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath played the harlot; and also, behold she is with child by lewdness: and Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

And the daughter of any priest, if she shall profane herself by lewdness, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.

And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father. And he banished the sodomites from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he warred, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he removed from the land.

And behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot, and subtil of heart.

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

Then came there two women, that were harlots, to the king, and stood before him.

How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, then they committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.

They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shade of them is agreeable: therefore your daughters shall be guilty of lewdness, and your spouses shall commit adultery. I will not punish your daughters when they are guilty of lewdness, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for they themselves are separated with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.

I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the prostitution of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.

And all her graven images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her hires shall be burned with the fire, and all her idols will I lay desolate: for she gathered it from the hire of a harlot, and they shall return to the hire of a harlot.

Lust not after her beauty in thy heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids. For by means of a lewd woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in to her. And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they encompassed him, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning when it is day we shall kill him.

My son, give me thy heart, and let thy eyes observe my ways. For a lewd woman is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

He that loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.

But as soon as this thy son had come, who hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

Know ye not, that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? By no means. What? know ye not that he who is joined to a harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

Which of the two did the will of his father? They say to him, The first. Jesus saith to them, Verily I say to you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

And behold, a woman in the city, who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster-box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him, saw it, he spoke within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who, and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner.read more.
And Jesus answering, said to him, Simon, I have somewhat to say to thee. And he saith, Master, speak. There was a certain creditor, who had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said to him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said to Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say to thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said to her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at table with him, began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, as she had received the spies with peace.

Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

But Joshua had said to the two men that spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye swore to her. And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was in it: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.read more.
And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even to this day; because she hid the messengers which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying to me, Come hither; I will show to thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; With whom the kings of the earth have committed lewd deeds, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her lewdness. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.read more.
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet-color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her lewdness: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as a harlot. Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

Because of the multitude of the lewd deeds of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her lewd deeds, and families through her witchcrafts.

And the LORD said to Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people will rise up, and commit idolatry with the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go astray after their gods, and do sacrifice to their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; And thou take of their daughters to thy sons, and their daughters go astray after their gods, and make thy sons go astray after their gods.

Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go astray after him, to commit lewdness with Molech from among their people.

And yet they would not hearken to their judges, but they went astray after other gods, and bowed themselves to them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so.

And Gideon made of it an ephod, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither astray after it: which thing became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.

And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went astray after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them.

Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went astray with their own inventions.

How is the faithful city become a harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

And of thy garments thou didst take, and deck thy high places with divers colors, and play the harlot upon them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and hast made to thyself images of men, and hast committed lewdness with them.

The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: And they committed lewd deeds in Egypt; they committed lewd deeds in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they were first corrupted.read more.
And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bore sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah. And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors. Who were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses. Thus she committed her lewd deeds with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself. Neither left she her lewd deeds brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they first corrupted her, and poured their impurities upon her. Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. These uncovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her. And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her prostitutions more than her sister in her prostitutions. She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbors, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men. Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way. And that she increased her prostitutions: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion. Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity: And as soon as she saw them with her eyes she doted upon them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea. And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their lewdness, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them. So she disclosed her lewd deeds, and exposed her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, as my mind was alienated from her sister. Yet she multiplied her prostitutions, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, in which she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, by being corrupted by the Egyptians in thy youth. Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side; The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses. And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet on every side: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments. And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thy ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire. They shall also strip thee of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels. Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy adultery brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thy eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more. For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated: And they shall treat thee with hatred, and shall take away all thy labor, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy prostitutions shall be disclosed, both thy lewdness and thy prostitutions. I will do these things to thee, because thou hast gone astray after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols. Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thy hand. Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large: thou shalt be treated with scorn and had in derision; it containeth much. Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria. Thou shalt even drink it, and empty it to the dregs, and thou shalt break its pieces, and pluck off thy own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy prostitutions.

For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall be guilty of lewdness, and shall not increase: because they have ceased to take heed to the LORD. Lewdness and wine and new wine take away the heart. My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth to them: for the spirit of lewdness hath caused them to err, and they have gone astray from under their God.

They will not frame their doings to turn to their God: for the spirit of lewdness is in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD.