The Bible addresses prostitution in various contexts, often using it as a symbol for spiritual unfaithfulness or to depict moral and social issues. While some verses provide clear moral guidance against it, others reflect on God’s grace and redemption. Below are 30 Bible verses that mention or allude to prostitution, along with a brief commentary on the significance of each verse in its context.
Bible Verses About Prostitution
1. Leviticus 19:29
“Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness.”
This verse condemns the act of forcing prostitution, linking moral degradation with broader societal decay, showing the need for protecting family integrity.
2. Proverbs 6:26
“For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread, but another man’s wife preys on your very life.”
Here, the danger of adultery and prostitution is contrasted, highlighting the destructive consequences of immoral behavior and its cost.
3. Deuteronomy 23:17-18
“No Israelite man or woman is to become a shrine prostitute. You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of the Lord.”
God’s law forbids temple prostitution and its association with pagan practices, emphasizing holiness and purity in worship and living.
4. Hosea 4:14
“I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots.”
This verse exposes societal hypocrisy, where men participate in the same sins for which women are blamed, calling for collective accountability.
5. Proverbs 7:10-11
“Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. She is unruly and defiant, her feet never stay at home.”
The passage uses the image of a seductive woman as a warning against the lure of immoral choices, stressing the need for wisdom.
6. 1 Corinthians 6:15-16
“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!”
Paul urges believers to honor their bodies, viewing sexual immorality, including prostitution, as incompatible with their identity in Christ.
7. Ezekiel 16:15
“But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his.”
Israel’s unfaithfulness to God is likened to prostitution, illustrating spiritual infidelity and the dangers of abandoning one’s divine purpose.
8. Luke 7:37-38
“A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume.”
The woman, associated with a sinful past, is forgiven by Jesus, demonstrating God’s compassion and the power of repentance and transformation.
9. Nahum 3:4
“All because of the wanton lust of a prostitute, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft.”
Nineveh’s moral corruption is depicted through prostitution, symbolizing spiritual seduction, idolatry, and the exploitation of others.
10. Genesis 38:15
“When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.”
The story of Tamar disguising herself as a prostitute to fulfill her rights reveals complex social and moral dynamics in ancient cultures.
11. Hebrews 11:31
“By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”
Rahab’s story illustrates God’s grace and redemption, showing how faith can transform even those with a past of prostitution.
12. Proverbs 23:27
“For an adulterous woman is a deep pit, and a wayward wife is a narrow well.”
The verse uses metaphorical language to warn against the dangers and consequences of associating with immoral behaviors, including prostitution.
13. 1 Kings 3:16
“Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.”
This account of Solomon’s judgment involves two prostitutes, showing that wisdom and justice are to be applied equally to all, regardless of status.
14. Hosea 1:2
“When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, ‘Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.'”
Hosea’s marriage to a prostitute symbolizes God’s relationship with Israel, portraying divine love even in the face of spiritual unfaithfulness.
15. Jeremiah 3:6
“Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there.”
Israel’s idolatry is likened to prostitution, using vivid imagery to convey the seriousness of abandoning God for false worship.
16. Matthew 21:31-32
“Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.”
Jesus highlights that repentance and faith, even from those considered sinful, can lead to salvation, contrasting with the self-righteous.
17. Amos 2:7
“They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name.”
The verse criticizes societal injustice, including sexual exploitation, indicating how such acts corrupt spiritual and moral integrity.
18. Revelation 17:1-2
“One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters.'”
The “great prostitute” symbolizes a corrupt system that leads nations into moral and spiritual decay, reflecting God’s judgment against it.
19. Leviticus 21:9
“If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.”
The severe punishment prescribed underscores the importance of holiness in Israel’s priesthood, showing how personal conduct affects family and community.
20. Ezekiel 23:19-20
“Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt.”
The passage portrays Israel’s repeated spiritual infidelity, using the metaphor of prostitution to describe persistent idolatry and rebellion against God.
21. Joshua 2:1
“Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. ‘Go, look over the land,’ he said, ‘especially Jericho.’ So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.”
Rahab’s role in aiding the spies shows how God’s plan can include unlikely people, transforming lives and bringing redemption to all.
22. Micah 1:7
“All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images. Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”
This verse illustrates the futility of idol worship and the corrupt origins of wealth obtained through immoral practices, calling for repentance.
23. Isaiah 1:21
“See how the faithful city has become a prostitute! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her—but now murderers!”
The verse uses prostitution as a metaphor to show Jerusalem’s moral decline, contrasting its former righteousness with present corruption.
24. Ezekiel 16:33
“Every prostitute receives a fee, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.”
This passage criticizes Israel’s behavior as worse than a prostitute’s, portraying their actions as desperate and self-destructive in seeking idols.
25. Revelation 19:2
“For true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.”
The verse refers to divine justice against corrupt systems, using the imagery of a prostitute to symbolize widespread moral and spiritual corruption.
26. Judges 11:1
“Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute.”
Despite Jephthah’s background, God used him as a leader, illustrating that one’s past does not limit God’s ability to work through them.
27. Hosea 2:5
“Their mother has been unfaithful and has conceived them in disgrace. She said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.'”
Israel’s pursuit of false gods is compared to a prostitute’s infidelity, demonstrating the futility of seeking fulfillment outside of God.
28. Joel 3:3
“They cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine to drink.”
This verse condemns human trafficking and exploitation, showing God’s disapproval of treating people as commodities for pleasure.
29. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men.”
Paul lists sexual immorality, including prostitution, as behaviors contrary to God’s kingdom, emphasizing the call to repentance and righteous living.
30. Psalm 106:39
“They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves.”
This verse speaks to the spiritual defilement associated with idolatry, likening it to prostitution, where devotion is given to unworthy objects instead of God.
These verses collectively portray prostitution as both a literal and metaphorical issue, emphasizing the importance of purity, repentance, and God’s ability to redeem even the most troubled pasts.
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