Hell
There are three words translated "hell" in scripture: Gehenna, Hades, and Sheol.
Gehenna (Greek) is the place of punishment:
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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.
Matthew 5:22 KJV
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And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one
of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Matthew 5:29 KJV
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And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able
to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28 KJV
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And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole
body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
James 3:6 KJV
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Hades (Greek) is the abode of the dead:
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And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works,
which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
Matthew 11:23 KJV
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And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:18 KJV
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And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luke 16:23 KJV
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Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Acts 2:27 KJV
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Sheol (Hebrew) is the grave:
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The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
Psalms 9:17 KJV
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For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Psalms 16:10 KJV
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There are those that accept that hell is a place of punishment, but believe that punishment is to be
annihilated - to cease conscious existence. They can't conceive that the punishment of the wicked will be
conscious and eternal. If they are correct, then a man like Adolph Hitler, who was responsible for the death
of millions, is being "punished" merely with eternal sleep. His fate is simply to return to the
non-existent state he was in before he was born, where he doesn't even know he's being punished.
However Scripture paints a different story. The rich man who found himself in hell was conscious. He was able
to feel pain, to thirst, and to experience remorse. He wasn't asleep in the grave; he was in a place of
torment.
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There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be
fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich
man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar
off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus,
that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But
Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil
things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a
great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that
would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my
father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this
place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said,
Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If
they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Luke 16:19-31 KJV
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If hell is a place of knowing nothing or a reference to the grave into which we go at death, Jesus'
statements about hell make no sense. Read what He said for yourself:
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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: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire
is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than
having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not,
and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter
into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth
not, and the fire is not quenched.
Mark 9:43-48 KJV
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The Bible refers to the fate of the unsaved with such fearful terms as "shame and everlasting
contempt", "everlasting punishment", "weeping and gnashing of teeth", "fire
unquenchable", "Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish", "Everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord", and "Eternal fire . . . the blackness of darkness forever".
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And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting
life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Daniel 12:2 KJV
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And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life
eternal.
Matthew 25:46 KJV
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And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 24:51 KJV
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Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner;
but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
Luke 3:17 KJV 3
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But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,indignation and
wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the
Gentile;
Romans 2:8,9 KJV
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Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory
of his power;
2 Thessalonians 1:9 KJV
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Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication,
and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Jude 1:7 KJV
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Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of
darkness for ever.
Jude 1:13 KJV
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Revelation tells us the final eternal destiny of the sinner:
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The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his
indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and
in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they
have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his
name.
Revelation 14:10,11 KJV
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The unfortunate truth for some is that hell is a very real place. If you are one of the many bound for hell,
you don't have to be. The solution is very simple. We have all broken God's Law. As in any legal
system, a penalty must be paid for the breaking of a law. The death of Jesus was the payment for our sins. If
you will pray to God, confess that you are a sinner, repent of your sins, accept the fact that Jesus'
death was the payment for your sins and based on His payment ask for forgiveness of your sins, you're no
longer hell bound. Now that you've done that, I would highly recommend that you get yourself a Bible, read
it daily, pray daily, and start attending a Bible-believing, Christ teaching church.
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