‘Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘Don’t profane your daughter, to make her a prostitute; lest the land fall to prostitution, and the land become full of wickedness.
- KJV Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.
- BSB You must not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity.
- NASB ‘Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land does not fall into prostitution, and the land does not become full of outrageous sin.
- NLT “Do not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be filled with prostitution and wickedness.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A father must not prostitute his daughter, lest sexual sin corrupt the whole land. God protects the vulnerable and guards the purity of His people.
Overview
Cult prostitution and the exploitation of daughters were realities in surrounding cultures, often linked to fertility worship. God forbids treating a child as property to be sold into immorality, warning that such wickedness defiles the entire community. The concern for the land becoming 'full of wickedness' shows that personal sin has corporate consequences, and it underscores God's care for the dignity of women and children.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Deut 23:17–18There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
- 1 Cor 6:15Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!
- Lev 21:7“‘They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. They shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.
- Hos 4:12–14My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God.
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 19:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.