Overview
The Bible addresses lasciviousness across 68 verses, drawn from both the Old and New Testaments. These passages cluster most in Proverbs, Romans and 1 Corinthians. Closely related themes include Adultery, Young Men, Harlot and Temptation.
Key Bible verses about lasciviousness
Old Testament
Proverbs
To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: mouth: Heb. palate
But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; thy wealth: Heb. thy strength
And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,
And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, the youths: Heb. the sons
Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,
In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: in the evening: Heb. in the evening of day
And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
(She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:
Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, with: Heb. she strengthened her face and said
I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows. I have: Heb. Peace offerings are upon me
Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.
I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.
For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:
He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. with: Heb. in his hand the day: or, the new moon
With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; straightway: Heb. suddenly
Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.
For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,
To call passengers who go right on their ways:
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. eaten: Heb. of secrecies
But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.
There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:
The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. midst: Heb. heart
Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
New Testament
Mark
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: covetousness: Gr. covetousnesses, wickednesses
All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
Romans
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. more: or, rather
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; to retain: or, to acknowledge a reprobate: or, a mind void of judgment or, an unapproving mind
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
1 Corinthians
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.
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 an harlot? God forbid.
What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
Galatians
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Ephesians
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: blindness: or, hardness
Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
1 Peter
That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
In the Bible dictionary
Studying lasciviousness for yourself
- Begin with Proverbs 2:16, then read the passages below in canonical order.
- Compare how Proverbs, Romans and 1 Corinthians each treat the theme.
- Widen the study to related themes: Adultery, Young Men, Harlot and Temptation.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Bible say about lasciviousness?
The Bible addresses lasciviousness across 68 verses, drawn from both the Old and New Testaments. These passages cluster most in Proverbs, Romans and 1 Corinthians. Closely related themes include Adultery, Young Men, Harlot and Temptation.
How many Bible verses are about lasciviousness?
The Bible references lasciviousness in 68 verses (King James Version).
Where does the Bible first mention lasciviousness?
In canonical order, the first of these passages is Proverbs 2:16: “To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;”
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