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There are quite a few verses about hell in the Bible—at least, that’s what many Christians have been taught. These verses are often quoted in sermons, tracts, and books to paint a vivid picture of eternal torment, fire, and divine wrath. For centuries, certain interpretations—especially those rooted in Augustinian and later Calvinistic theology—have dominated popular Christian thought. According to this view, hell is a place of never-ending conscious torment, where the wicked are burned alive forever under the judgment of a wrathful God. But is that really what these scriptures teach?

When we examine the actual verses about hell in the Bible, especially in their original Hebrew and Greek contexts, something remarkable becomes clear: these texts do not describe what many modern evangelicals assume. Instead of a fiery underworld of eternal torture, we find metaphors, parables, idioms, and apocalyptic imagery—each shaped by ancient Jewish thought, not medieval Christian dogma. Many of the so-called “hell verses” refer to Sheol, Gehenna, or Hades—terms that carried very different meanings for their original audiences than they do in today’s pulpits.

For example, when Jesus spoke of “Gehenna,” He wasn’t referencing a metaphysical torture chamber. He was evoking a well-known physical location outside Jerusalem—a place associated with judgment, yes, but also with historical and prophetic significance deeply embedded in Jewish tradition. Likewise, Paul’s writings are almost entirely silent on the subject of eternal conscious torment. So are the early Old Testament references to Sheol, which speak of death and the grave, not flames and demons. In fact, if we trace the evolution of the doctrine of hell, we find that the fiery version familiar to many only emerged centuries later, under the influence of Greco-Roman philosophy, mistranslation, and theological polemics.

Still, the verses about hell in the Bible are not to be ignored—they must be studied carefully, honestly, and in their full literary and historical context. Doing so doesn’t weaken the message of the Gospel; it purifies it. The Jesus who forgave His enemies and healed the brokenhearted cannot be reconciled with a theology that portrays Him as consigning people to flames for eternity simply for being born in the wrong place or asking the wrong questions. Understanding what these verses actually say—and what they don’t—is a crucial part of reclaiming the message of God’s restorative justice.

So if you’re tired of being afraid, if you’re done with threats and scare tactics, and if you’re genuinely curious about what the Bible really says—then it’s time to take a deeper look at the verses about hell in the Bible. Not what tradition says. Not what religious gatekeepers say. What Scripture actually says.

And if you’re ready to deconstruct these verses and truly learn what they meant to their original audiences—and what they don’t mean—then I highly recommend reading the book Hellfire Deconstructed. It will change the way you see God, judgment, justice, and the Gospel itself.

List of the Verses About Hell in the BIble

Psalm 9:17

The wicked shall return to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.

Psalm 139:7­­–8

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

Proverbs 15:11

Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD;
how much more the hearts of the children of man!

Proverbs 15:24

The path of life leads upward for the prudent,
that he may turn away from Sheol beneath.

Proverbs 23:14

If you strike him with the rod,
you will save his soul from Sheol.

Ezekiel 18:20

The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

Matthew 5:29

If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Matthew 10:28

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 13:41–42

The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 13:49–50

So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 16:18

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Matthew 25:41

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Matthew 25:46

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

Mark 9:43

And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.

Luke 16:23–24

In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

Acts 2:27

For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One see corruption.

Romans 2:12

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:1–2

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

2 Thessalonians 1:9–10

They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

2 Peter 2:4

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;

Jude 6–7

And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—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.

Revelation 19:20

And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

Revelation 20:13–14

And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

If you wish to learn these verses in their original context, please consider my best-selling book, HELL: A Jewish Perspective on a Christian Doctrine: