What Does the Bible Say About Human Sexuality?

1 Corinthians 6:9 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,

Leviticus 18:22 ESV / 7 helpful votes

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.

Genesis 1:27 ESV / 7 helpful votes

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Romans 1:26-27 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Jude 1:7 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Romans 1:26 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;

Matthew 5:28 ESV / 4 helpful votes

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Leviticus 20:13 ESV / 4 helpful votes

If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

Genesis 19:1-38 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” ...

Genesis 2:24 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Genesis 1:28 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Genesis 1:1-31 ESV / 4 helpful votes

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. ...

1 Timothy 1:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,

1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Romans 1:27 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Romans 1:1-32 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, ...

Mark 7:20-23 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Matthew 19:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

Matthew 5:27 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’

Matthew 5:17-19 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Genesis 1:31 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

2 Peter 2:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked

James 1:13-15 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Hebrews 13:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Hebrews 10:8-10 ESV / 2 helpful votes

When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

1 Timothy 1:8-10 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,

Galatians 5:14 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

1 Corinthians 7:2-5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

1 Corinthians 7:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

1 Corinthians 6:1-20 ESV / 2 helpful votes

When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, ...

Romans 1:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Romans 1:18-32 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ...

Mark 10:1-12 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. ...

Mark 7:19 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

Matthew 19:4-6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Matthew 5:48 ESV / 2 helpful votes

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Isaiah 40:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Isaiah 1:1-31 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. ...

Deuteronomy 22:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.

Leviticus 20:1-27 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech. ...

Leviticus 11:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“And by these you shall become unclean. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening,

Exodus 20:14 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“You shall not commit adultery.

Genesis 18:1-33 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” ...

Genesis 1:26 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Genesis 1:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

To rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

47 Bible Verses about Human Sexuality

1 Corinthians 6:9 ESV / 8 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Leviticus 18:22 ESV / 7 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 1:27 ESV / 7 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Romans 1:26-27 ESV / 6 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Jude 1:7 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Romans 1:26 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 5:28 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Leviticus 20:13 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 19:1-38 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 2:24 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 1:28 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 1:1-31 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Timothy 1:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Romans 1:27 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Romans 1:1-32 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Mark 7:20-23 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 19:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 5:27 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 5:17-19 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 1:31 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

2 Peter 2:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

James 1:13-15 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Hebrews 13:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Hebrews 10:8-10 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Timothy 1:8-10 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Galatians 5:14 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Corinthians 7:2-5 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Corinthians 7:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Corinthians 6:1-20 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Romans 1:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Romans 1:18-32 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Mark 10:1-12 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Mark 7:19 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 19:4-6 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 5:48 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Isaiah 40:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Isaiah 1:1-31 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Deuteronomy 22:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Leviticus 20:1-27 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Leviticus 11:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Exodus 20:14 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 18:1-33 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 1:26 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 1:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Suggest a Verse

Enter a Verse Reference (e.g., John 3:16-17)