The Bible has a great deal to say about hell. This study gathers passages from across Scripture and sets them out for reading and reflection.
What Scripture Says
The Bible speaks of hell as a real and dreadful place, and it does so from beginning to end. In Deuteronomy 32:22, Moses records God’s own warning that “a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell.” Here hell is described as the deepest reach of divine judgment, a fire that consumes even the foundations of the mountains. This is not a distant or abstract concept; it is the lowest point to which God’s anger against sin extends. Job 11:8 uses that same depth as a measure of the unsearchable: hell is “deeper than hell; what canst thou know?” The wicked are said to be “turned into hell” (Psalm 9:17), and the adulterous woman’s “feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell” (Proverbs 5:5). The direction is always downward, and the movement is always the consequence of sin.
The prophets intensify the picture. Isaiah 5:14 declares that “hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure,” swallowing the proud and the rejoicing alike. Ezekiel 31:16 describes the nations shaken when the proud are “cast down to hell with them that descend into the pit.” Amos 9:2 leaves no escape: “Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them.” Habakkuk 2:5 compares the greedy man’s appetite to hell itself—never satisfied, gathering all nations to itself. Yet even from this place, Scripture testifies that God hears. Jonah 2:2 cries, “out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.” And Acts 2:27 applies the same language to Christ: “thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption”—the grave could not hold Him.
In the Gospels, Jesus speaks most plainly of all. Matthew 5:22 warns that whoever says “Thou fool” is “in danger of hell fire.” Mark 9:43 is more urgent still: it is “better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.” Luke 10:15 pronounces Capernaum’s doom: “thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.” The sorrows of hell compassed David (2 Samuel 22:6); the snares of death met him there. Hell is portrayed consistently as a place of fire, depth, sorrow, and inescapable judgment—yet never as a place beyond the reach of God’s hearing for the one who cries out.
Living It Out
These verses are not meant to frighten us into mere dread; they are meant to wake us up. Jesus Himself treats hell as a reason to take drastic action—even to cut off a hand—because entering life maimed is better than entering hell whole. That tells us that the stakes of how we live are enormous, and that casual sin is never casual. The warnings about pride, greed, and careless words (Isaiah 5:14; Habakkuk 2:5; Matthew 5:22) show that hell is not only for the obviously wicked; it is the end of anyone who forgets God. So the practical response is sober self-examination: Where am I drifting? What “small” sins have I excused? And it is urgent gratitude—that Christ, who descended into that depth for us, was not left there (Acts 2:27), so that we need not be either.
Reflection
- If Jesus considered hell so serious that He told His followers to take drastic measures to avoid it, what “small” sin in my life am I treating too lightly?
- Jonah cried out from the belly of hell and God heard him—what does that tell me about where I can still turn, and to whom, no matter how far I have gone?
Verses to Consider
- Deuteronomy 32:22 — For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
- 2 Samuel 22:6 — The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;
- Job 11:8 — It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
- Psalms 9:17 — The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
- Proverbs 5:5 — Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
- Isaiah 5:14 — Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
- Ezekiel 31:16 — I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
- Amos 9:2 — Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
- Jonah 2:2 — And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
- Habakkuk 2:5 — Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:
- Matthew 5:22 — But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
- Mark 9:43 — And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
- Luke 10:15 — And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.
- Acts 2:27 — Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Where These Come From
These verses are drawn from different parts of the Bible on purpose. A subject is rarely settled by a single line; the whole counsel of Scripture gives the shape of it.