The Best 50+ Bible Verses About Incest

Incest is a topic that often brings discomfort and confusion. The Bible addresses it in various ways, offering guidance and clarity.

This article compiles 50 Bible verses that discuss incest. These verses provide insight into how this sensitive issue is viewed in the scriptures.

50 Bible Verses About Incest

10 Bible Verses on Incest in the Old Testament

• "Now the firstborn said to the younger, 'Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.'" — Genesis 19:30-38
• "But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife." — Genesis 20:12
• "And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, 'She is my sister'; for he was afraid to say, 'She is my wife,' because he thought, 'lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold.'" — Genesis 26:7
• "None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his nakedness: I am the Lord. The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. The nakedness of your father's wife you shall not uncover; it is your father's nakedness. The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not uncover. The nakedness of your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness. The nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, begotten by your father—she is your sister—you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is near of kin to your father. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is near of kin to your mother. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother. You shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law—she is your son's wife—you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, nor shall you take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are near of kin to her. It is wickedness. Nor shall you take a woman as a rival to her sister, to uncover her nakedness while the other is alive." — Leviticus 18:6-18
• "The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them." — Leviticus 20:11
• "If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them." — Leviticus 20:12
• "If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you." — Leviticus 20:14
• "If a man takes his sister, his father's daughter or his mother's daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a wicked thing. And they shall be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness. He shall bear his guilt." — Leviticus 20:17
• "You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister nor of your father's sister, for that would uncover his near of kin. They shall bear their guilt." — Leviticus 20:19
• "Cursed is the one who lies with his father's wife, because he has uncovered his father's bed.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" — Deuteronomy 27:20

10 Bible Verses on Consequences of Incest

• "After this Absalom the son of David had a lovely sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her." — 2 Samuel 13:1-22
• "Unstable as water, you shall not excel, because you went up to your father's bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch." — Genesis 49:4
• "One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter." — Ezekiel 22:11
• "Cursed is the one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" — Deuteronomy 27:22
• "Cursed is the one who lies with his mother-in-law.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" — Deuteronomy 27:23
• "If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness. They shall bear their sin; they shall die childless." — Leviticus 20:20
• "If a man takes his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing. He has uncovered his brother's nakedness. They shall be childless." — Leviticus 20:21
• "It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father's wife!" — 1 Corinthians 5:1
• "In you men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are set apart during their impurity." — Ezekiel 22:10
• "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury." — Revelation 18:3

10 Bible Verses on Incest and Moral Law

• "You shall not commit adultery." — Exodus 20:14
• "You shall not commit adultery." — Deuteronomy 5:18
• "The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness." — Leviticus 18:7
• "The nakedness of your father's wife you shall not uncover; it is your father's nakedness." — Leviticus 18:8
• "The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not uncover." — Leviticus 18:9
• "The nakedness of your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness." — Leviticus 18:10
• "For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'You shall not covet,' and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" — Romans 13:9
• "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." — Matthew 5:27-28
• "Knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine." — 1 Timothy 1:9-10
• "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness." — Galatians 5:19

10 Bible Verses on Incestuous Relationships in Scripture

• "When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face. Then he turned to her by the way, and said, 'Please let me come in to you'; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. So she said, 'What will you give me, that you may come in to me?' And he said, 'I will send a young goat from the flock.' So she said, 'Will you give me a pledge till you send it?' Then he said, 'What pledge shall I give you?' So she said, 'Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand.' Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him." — Genesis 38:15-18
• "Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit harlotry, and led Judah astray." — 2 Chronicles 21:11
• "For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them." — Ezekiel 23:37
• "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, 'Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.'" — Revelation 17:1-2
• "Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons that were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image." — 2 Kings 23:7
• "Look, here is my virgin daughter and the man's concubine; let me bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them as you please; but to this man do not do such a vile thing!" — Judges 19:24
• "And he banished the perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made." — 1 Kings 15:12
• "They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit harlotry, and your brides commit adultery. I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go apart with harlots, and offer sacrifices with a ritual harlot. Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled." — Hosea 4:13-14
• "This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, and says, 'I have done no wickedness.'" — Proverbs 30:20
• "They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, and pervert the way of the humble. A man and his father go in to the same girl, to defile My holy name." — Amos 2:7

10 Bible Verses on God's View on Incest

• "For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You." — Psalm 5:4
• "Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; he who does so destroys his own soul." — Proverbs 6:32
• "Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." — 1 Corinthians 6:18-20
• "Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge." — Hebrews 13:4
• "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God." — 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
• "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." — Colossians 3:5
• "Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due." — Romans 1:24-27
• "But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'" — 1 Peter 1:15-16
• "But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints." — Ephesians 5:3
• "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" — Isaiah 5:20

What Does the Bible Say About Incest

The Bible has a lot to say about incest, and it’s clear that this is a serious issue. The verses we’ve looked at show that incest is not just a personal matter but one that affects families and communities. The Bible’s teachings on this topic are meant to guide us toward healthier relationships and a more loving society.

One key theme is the prohibition of incest. Verses like Leviticus 18:6-18 and Deuteronomy 27:20-23 make it clear that certain relationships are off-limits. These rules are there to protect the family unit and ensure that relationships are respectful and loving. By following these guidelines, we can create a safer and more supportive environment for everyone.

Another important theme is the consequences of incest. The Bible doesn’t shy away from showing the negative outcomes of these actions. Stories like that of Tamar and Amnon in 2 Samuel 13:1-22 highlight the pain and suffering that can result. These examples serve as warnings, reminding us that our actions have real and lasting impacts on others.

The Bible also emphasizes moral law and the importance of living a righteous life. Verses like Exodus 20:14 and Romans 13:9 remind us that following God’s commandments is essential for a fulfilling life. These teachings encourage us to strive for purity and integrity in all our relationships.

Finally, the Bible offers hope and redemption. Verses like 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 and Hebrews 13:4 show that while we may fall short, there is always a path to forgiveness and renewal. By turning to God and seeking His guidance, we can overcome our past mistakes and build a better future.

How to Apply These Bible Verses About Incest

Applying the Bible's teachings on incest to daily life is crucial for fostering healthy relationships and a loving community. These verses offer guidance that can help us navigate complex family dynamics and maintain moral integrity.

• Set Boundaries: Establish clear boundaries in your relationships to ensure they remain respectful and loving. This can mean having open conversations about what is and isn't appropriate.
• Pray for Guidance: Make it a habit to pray for wisdom and strength to follow God's commandments. A simple daily prayer can help you stay focused on living a righteous life.
• Educate Yourself and Others: Take time to read and understand the Bible verses about incest. Share this knowledge with family and friends to create a supportive community.
• Seek Accountability: Find a trusted friend or mentor who can help you stay accountable to these principles. Regular check-ins can provide support and encouragement.
• Engage in Community Activities: Participate in church or community events that promote healthy relationships and moral living. Being part of a community can reinforce positive behaviors.

Remember, God is always with you, offering guidance and support. By living out these biblical principles, you can transform your life and relationships for the better. For more prayers and Bible verses, visit PrayersFor or try our Bible Verse Generator to deepen your faith.