“The name of that place was called Taberah,Taberah means “burning” because Yahweh’s fire burned among them.”
— Numbers 11:3 WEB
Explore Bible verses about hell, its reality, and how to live a life aligned with God's will to avoid eternal separation.
Verses sourced from the World English Bible (public domain). Selection follows our editorial policy. Last reviewed 2026-04-23. See all sources.
Hell is depicted in Scripture as a place of eternal separation from God, often associated with punishment for the unrepentant. It serves as a solemn warning about the consequences of sin and the importance of living in accordance with God's will. Matthew 25:46 highlights this reality by contrasting eternal life with eternal punishment.
“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.””
The Bible speaks of hell as a sobering reality. Matthew 25:46 states, “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” This verse emphasizes the eternal nature of hell, contrasting it with eternal life. Hell is often described using imagery of fire and destruction. Numbers 11:3 recounts God’s fire burning among the Israelites, a vivid picture of divine judgment. Similarly, Deuteronomy 32:22 warns of a fire kindled in God’s anger that reaches the depths of Sheol, a term for the place of the dead.
Throughout scripture, fire symbolizes God’s holiness and justice. Deuteronomy 4:24 reminds us that God is a devouring fire, underscoring His righteous jealousy. This imagery continues in Deuteronomy 28:22, where fiery heat and blight are consequences of disobedience. Job 11:8 reflects on the depths of Sheol, illustrating the vastness and mystery of the afterlife. These verses paint a chilling picture of hell as a place of separation from God and His goodness. While unsettling, these passages urge us towards a life aligned with God’s will, offering a choice between eternal punishment and eternal life.
“The name of that place was called Taberah,Taberah means “burning” because Yahweh’s fire burned among them.”
— Numbers 11:3 WEB
“For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.”
“Yahweh will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with fiery heat, with the sword, with blight, and with mildew. They will pursue you until you perish.”
“For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol,Sheol is the place of the dead. devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.”
“They are high as heaven. What can you do? They are deeper than Sheol.Sheol is the place of the dead. What can you know?”
— Job 11:8 WEB
“All darkness is laid up for his treasures. An unfanned fire shall devour him. It shall consume that which is left in his tent.”
— Job 20:26 WEB
“On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.”
— Psalms 11:6 WEB
“His going out is from the end of the heavens, his circuit to its ends; There is nothing hidden from its heat.”
— Psalms 19:6 WEB
“You will make them as a fiery furnace in the time of your anger. Yahweh will swallow them up in his wrath. The fire shall devour them.”
— Psalms 21:9 WEB
“God will likewise destroy you forever. He will take you up, and pluck you out of your tent, and root you out of the land of the living. Selah.”
— Psalms 52:5 WEB
“How long, Yahweh? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?”
— Psalms 79:5 WEB
“How long, Yahweh? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire?”
— Psalms 89:46 WEB
“Let burning coals fall on them. Let them be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, from where they never rise.”
— Psalms 140:10 WEB
“Sheol,Sheol is the place of the dead. the barren womb; the earth that is not satisfied with water; and the fire that doesn’t say, ‘Enough.’”
— Proverbs 30:16 WEB
“Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death. Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol.Sheol is the place of the dead. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a very flame of Yahweh.“Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other translations.”
“The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?”
— Isaiah 33:14 WEB
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you.”
— Isaiah 43:2 WEB
“For, behold, Yahweh will come with fire, and his chariots will be like the whirlwind; to render his anger with fierceness, and his rebuke with flames of fire.”
— Isaiah 66:15 WEB
“As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches. The fire went up and down among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and lightning went out of the fire.”
— Ezekiel 1:13 WEB
“A fiery stream issued and came out from before him. Thousands of thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set. The books were opened.”
— Daniel 7:10 WEB
“A fire devours before them, and behind them, a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them, a desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them.”
— Joel 2:3 WEB
“Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. or, Hell.”
— Matthew 10:28 WEB
“You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, you will go down to Hades. or, Hell For if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in you, it would have remained until today.”
— Matthew 11:23 WEB
“and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth.”
— Matthew 13:42 WEB
“and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.””
— Matthew 13:50 WEB
“You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?or, Hell”
— Matthew 23:33 WEB
“Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;”
— Matthew 25:41 WEB
“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.””
— Matthew 25:46 WEB
“but whoever may blaspheme against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.”NU reads, guilty of an eternal sin.”
— Mark 3:29 WEB
“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having your two hands to go into Gehenna, or, Hell into the unquenchable fire,”
— Mark 9:43 WEB
“‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.’ Isaiah 66:24NU omits verse 44.”
— Mark 9:44 WEB
“‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.’ Isaiah 66:24”
— Mark 9:48 WEB
“In Hades,or, Hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.”
— Luke 16:23 WEB
“But God turned, and gave them up to serve the army of the sky,This idiom could also be translated “host of heaven”, or “angelic beings”, or “heavenly bodies.” as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘Did you offer to me slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?”
— Acts 7:42 WEB
“backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,”
— Romans 1:30 WEB
““Death, where is your sting? Hades,or, Hell where is your victory?”compare Hosea 13:14”
“but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.”
— Hebrews 10:27 WEB
“for our God is a consuming fire.Deuteronomy 4:24”
— Hebrews 12:29 WEB
“And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna.or, Hell”
— James 3:6 WEB
“For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus,Tartarus is another name for Hell and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;”
— 2 Peter 2:4 WEB
“But the heavens that now exist, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”
— 2 Peter 3:7 WEB
“looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?”
— 2 Peter 3:12 WEB
“Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, having, in the same way as these, given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are shown as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.”
— Jude 1:7 WEB
“and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.or, Hell”
“Out of the throne proceed lightnings, sounds, and thunders. There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.”
— Revelation 4:5 WEB
“he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.”
“The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
“Death and Hadesor, Hell were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”
“If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.”
“But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers,The word for “sorcerers” here also includes users of potions and drugs. idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.””
Reflect
Hell is a stark reminder of the consequences of our choices. It challenges us to live in a way that honors God, pursuing righteousness and grace.
Pray
Lord, guide me to walk on the path of righteousness. Fill my heart with Your love and wisdom. Keep me close to Your truth, away from sin.
Apply
Read Matthew 25:31-46 this week. Reflect on the choices that lead to eternal life versus eternal separation from God.
The Bible describes hell as a place of eternal punishment and separation from God. Matthew 25:46 speaks of eternal punishment for the unrighteous. Hell is often associated with fire, as seen in Deuteronomy 32:22, where God's anger is described as a consuming fire reaching Sheol. The verses emphasize the seriousness of rejecting God's ways and the consequences that follow.
Yes, the Bible presents hell as a real and eternal place. Jesus speaks of it in Matthew 25:46, highlighting the eternal nature of punishment for those not aligned with God's will. Hell is not merely symbolic but a literal place of separation from God, illustrated with vivid imagery, such as in Numbers 11:3 and Deuteronomy 32:22, emphasizing its reality and seriousness.
Avoiding hell involves accepting God's grace and following His commandments. Belief in Jesus and living a life of righteousness lead to eternal life, as outlined in John 3:16. Matthew 7:21 emphasizes doing the will of God as essential. Building a relationship with God through prayer, scripture, and obedience steers you towards eternal life rather than eternal separation.
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