What Does the Bible Say about Hell?

Content:

• Definitions in the picture
• Why God created Hell and the LoF
• Facts about Hell and LoF
• Who goes to Hell
• How to avoid going to Hell

Definitions in the picture

• Hades
• Sheol
• Paradise
  
• Torments (Hell)
  
• Tartarus
• New Paradise (Heaven)
• The Kingdom, New Heaven, New Earth
• Great White Throne
• Lake of Fire (Gehenna)
  
  
• Hades:
  This is the place where the spirits of the dead went before the death of Jesus on the cross. It contains two sections: Paradise and Torments (Hell).
  Some believe that Hades is inside the Earth (Ezekiel 26:20,
  Amos 9:2a (LXX)), mainly based on the fact that the people of Korah 
  fell alive into Hades (Num 16:30–33), see 6. Korah’s Rebellion
  in Moses; Part 13: Rebellion and Paganism.
• Sheol:
  It's the same place in Hebrew as Hades (which is in Greek) and is mentioned in the Old Testament (OT). It refers to the general location where the dead (both righteous and unrighteous) went in the OT.
  King David refers to Sheol in Psalm 16:10. 
• Paradise:
  It's a place of peace where the righteous people went, like Abraham, who lived before Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Afterwards, righteous people go directly to the New Paradise (Heaven), to the presence of God. No one could go to Heaven until Jesus had paid the price for our sins on the cross (Heb 9:6–8, Mat 27:50–51, Mark 15:37–38, Luk 23:44–46),
  see The Atonement. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, see
  The Crucifixion of Jesus, all the people in Paradise went directly to Heaven, which means that Paradise is now empty, see The Resurrection of Jesus.
• New Paradise (Heaven):
  This is the place where the righteous (born again Christians) go after Jesus died on the cross (John 14:6), see Body, Soul, and Spirit
  in The Danger with Gnosticism. It’s the place where God has his throne, see God's Throne in Heaven. One of the two criminals crucified with Jesus was promised to be with Jesus in this place, see Jesus 2nd words on the cross in The Crucifixion of Jesus. Apostle Paul was temporarily taken up to this place, also called the third Heaven (2 Cor 12:1–4), see Space and Time in The Big-Bang Model Revealed. Jesus' spirit visited this place when his physical body was in the tomb (Heb 9:11–12), see The Atonement.
  Jesus was brought up to this place 40 days (Acts 1:3) after his resurrection (Acts 1:9–11).
• Abraham’s bosom:
  This place is mentioned in the Gospel, see The Rich Man and Lazarus.
  It's the same place as Paradise.
• Torments (Hell):
  Hell is in the part of Hades, where people live in torment and suffer
  (2 Thess 1:8–9). It’s a place of remembrance and separation from loved ones who went to Paradise, or after Jesus death on the cross directly to Heaven. It's the place of those who have rejected Jesus as Savior, see:
• WHAT SATAN DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT HELL
• The People I Saw In Hell - Bill Wiese (23 Minutes In Hell)
• Tartarus:
  This is the lowest part of Hell where God has placed many of the fallen angels. When Satan rebelled, he influenced a third of the angels in 
  Heaven to follow him (Rev 12:4). Satan wanted the throne of God, to be like God. At that time, the fallen angels became demonic spirits. They are placed there in darkness and in chains (2 Pet 2:4 (YLT), Jude 1:6), see time 26:50–30:17 in Jude • A warning for the Body of Christ. The remaining fallen angels became the demons on Earth. Angels are spirit beings without a physical body, although there are examples in the Bible where angels have manifested in human form, but they remain spirit beings (Heb 1:14). The fallen angels don't have the ability to manifest to a human body on Earth, they need a host body to live out their sin nature. It's believed that Tartarus is the same place as the Abyss. 
• Abyss:
  It's the lowest part of Hell. Demons didn't want Jesus to command them
  to go to the Abyss (Luke 8:30–31), see Examples of exorcism in 
  Miracles of Jesus. An antichrist (Nero) will rise up from the Abyss,
  see Who is the End Time Antichrist? It's believed that the Abyss is
  the same place as Tartarus.
• The Kingdom, New Heaven, New Earth:
  There will be a new Earth and a new universe (Rev 21:1–22:6),
  see A New Heaven and a New Earth. The holy city, the so-called
  New Jerusalem, comes from the New Paradise to the new Earth.
  (Rev 3:12, 21:2). God himself will have his throne on this new Earth.
• Great White Throne:
  This is the place where the final judgement is made at the end time,
  see The Millennial Kingdom and the Great White Throne Judgement. 
  A judgement for sinners who have rejected Jesus. Then Hades, which contains Hell, is cast into the Lake of Fire (LoF) (Rev 20:11–15).
  At that time, there is no one in the Paradise ward of Hades
  (see Paradise above).
• Lake of Fire (Gehenna):
  The Lake of Fire (LoF) is mentioned in The Book of Revelation. The final place of the lost. The final place isn’t Hell, it’s LoF. It's the place of the future and brings eternal punishment, see time 26:57–28:31 in
  Bible Q & A With Pastor Paul │ August 2023. When Jesus returns, he will judge the people. The wicked will be cast into the eternal fire (LoF) prepared for the Devil and his angels (Mat 25:41).
  Gehenna is the same as LoF. Gehenna was a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem that Jesus used as an image to describe the LoF. Jesus warns
  to end up in Gehenna (Mat 5:22, 29–30, 10:28, 18:9, 23:15, 33, 
  Mark 9:43–47, Luke 12:5, see also James 3:6). (Those verses are comparisons and don’t mean that you should harm yourself.) See it
  explained at time 11:01–17:11 in Mark 9:38-10:9 – Jesus on Marriage.

Torments (Hell) is a real and physical place. Everything that you go through in this life is nothing compared to what it's like in Hell. In this life there is always hope. Suffering on Earth is only temporary. There is no hope in Hell. The suffering there is for eternal, first in Hell and later in LoF.

The rich man in The Rich Man and Lazarus is tormented in the flames of Hell 
(Luke 16:19–31). He has no water. It’s a physical place of torment. 
Many Jews from Israel will also end up there (Mat 8:11–12).

Why God created Hell and LoF

We need to see Hell from God’s perspective and not from man's perspective,
to understand why God created Hell and the LoF. God is completely separate from
all sin (1 John 1:5, Isaiah 6:1–7, 59:1–2), see God is holy in God's Attributes. 
Because of God's holiness, he must punish sin and must do so severely.

Adam and Eve had one rule to obey (Gen (1 Mos) 2:15–17). Disobeying this rule was sin and lead to death (Rom 6:23). Death is God's punishment for sin. Death is always separation. Physical death means that soul and spirit are separated from the body, see Body, Soul, and Spirit in The Danger with Gnosticism. Spiritual death means separation from God. The result in this case was first spiritual death and later also physical death (Gen (1 Mos) 3:16–19, 23–24), just because of a single sin. God can’t have fellowship with sin or sinners, even if they have committed only one sin. This shows how horrible sin is from Gods perspective.

God is also righteous and just. God always does what is right and just. He can’t do the opposite because he is holy. God can’t make a rule, set a penalty and then not apply the penalty if the rule is broken (2 Pet 2:4–9, Isaiah 13:9–11, 2 Thess 1:4–10, Mat 25:41–43). If he does, he isn't just.

A holy God sends unholy people to Hell. A righteous God sends unrighteous people to Hell. A just God sends sinners to Hell. A loving God gives sinners a way to be forgiven and to avoid a sentence to Hell. All God's attributes work together in harmony, see God's Attributes. We want to do things our way, but it may not be God's way. It’s God’s standard that determines whether we go to Heaven or Hell.
A holy, righteous, and just God must punish sin. God in his love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness allows Jesus do it for us. We must accept it as payment for our sin if we want to avoid Hell and LoF, see Salvation.

Facts about Hell and the LoF

1. Satan doesn’t rule in Tartarus/Abyss or in LoF. It’s not his kingdom.
   (Mat 8:28–29, 25:41, 2 Pet 2:4, Rev 20:1–2). The LoF will be an eternal punishment even for Satan (Rev 20:10). But in a sense, Satan temporarily reigns in the parts of Hell outside of Tartarus/Abyss. There are demons that torment the souls that are there, which is their territory, but it's God who has all authority over Hell as well. It also seems that Satan can currently move between Hell, Earth, and even Heaven. He will loose access to Heaven at the beginning of the Great Tribulation, see Explanation to Satan's Attack on the Woman in the Book of Revelation. After the thousand years Millennial Kingdom, Satan will be cast into the LoF to be punished forever, see
   The Millennial Kingdom and the Great White Throne Judgement.
2. People won't party or rule with their friends in Hell. It's a place of darkness, loneliness, and torment (Luke 16:23–24). It has no water, mercy, or grace.
3. Hell is a place of no escape (Luke 16:26).
4. The people in Hell are separated from everyone and everything that is good, because all goodness comes from God. Only evil exists in Hell. They are separated from hope, mercy, forgiveness, compassion, understanding, and love (2 Tess 1:6–9).
5. Nothing on Earth compares to Hell. On Earth we can always have hope.
   There is no hope in Hell.
6. Not only bad people go to Hell. One sin is enough to be condemned to Hell.
   If Jesus hadn’t died on the cross for us, all people would go to Hell.
7. Hell is literal, real, and physical.
8. Hell followed by LoF are together permanent and eternal. See it explained at time 55:58–1:01:37 in Matthew 25 – “Be Ready” Said in Three Ways.
9. Hell is a place of judgement (John 5:28–29). People are judged for their sin and punishment follows.
10. People are abandoned and left alone as Jesus was abandoned on the cross (Mat 27:46). It’s is a place of solitude.
11. Hell is full of darkness, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth
    (Mat 8:11–12, Jude 1:13).
12. Hell is full of unquenchable fire (Mat 13:41–42).
13. It’s better to be crippled than go to the LoF (Mark 9:43–48). (It’s a comparison and doesn’t mean you should hurt yourself.) Hell is the place where the worms don’t die, and the fire doesn't go out.
14. Hell followed by LoF are places of eternal destruction without ceasing to exist (Mat 10:28, 2 Thess 1:9).
15. The punishment in Hell followed by the punishment in LoF is eternal without rest (Dan 12:2, Jude 1:7, Rev 14:9–11).

Jesus never minimized the severity of Hell and Gehenna (LoF ). There is no escape from Hell or from the LoF. They are forever. The time of mercy is over. There is no second chance and no hope. The purpose of Hell is punishment for sin. This shows how serious sin is to God.

Who goes to Hell

Most people go to Hell (Mat 7:13–14), see The Narrow Gate. Many are called but few are chosen (Mat 22:13–14), see The Parable of the Wedding Feast. Many are called to take the right path, but few do. People want to go their own way, not God’s way. Without Jesus' death on the cross, we should all go to Hell, for we are all sinners (Rom 3:23). See also How can a loving God send people to Hell? in
Misconceptions and Objections.

The following go directly to the LoF, or first to Hell and later to the LoF:

1. Antichrist and the false prophet will be thrown alive into the LoF without having to go to Hell first as prisoners (Rev 19:20). Satan will be bound for a thousand years in Tartarus/Abyss (Rev 20:1–2). Afterwards he will be released for a short time (Rev 20:3), and then cast into LoF (Rev 20:10).
2. Whoever worships Satan or his image or receives the mark on his forehead or hand (Rev 14:9–11).
3. Those who aren't spiritually born again (John 3:3–7), see Salvation.
   We must invite Jesus into our heart (John 1:12).
4. Sinners in general who don't repent (1 Cor 6:9–10, Gal 5:19–21, Rev 21:8).
5. He who doesn't forgive others their trespasses (Mat 6:14–15),
   see Forgive and You will Be Forgiven.
6. All who sin and practice lawlessness and don't repent (Mat 7:21–23). Those who act as if there is no (moral) law from God to obey, see Jesus and the Law.
7. Those who put themselves first are self-seeking and obey unrighteousness (Rom 2:8–9). They think it's all about them and what they want, and they don't care about God's word.
8. Those whose name aren't written in the Book of Life are thrown into the LoF 
   (Rev 20:15).

See the video Famous atheists last words before dying.

See also What Happens to Those Who Have Never Heard About Jesus?

How to avoid going to Hell

We can’t be good enough to enter God's Heaven. We can’t do good enough work to get to Heaven, see Jesus and the Young Rich Man. God can’t have fellowship with sin or sinners. God can’t allow imperfection in Heaven. When Adam and Eve broke the one rule they had to follow, they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden, see 
The Biblical Creation and the Fall of Man.

We are all born with a sin nature, and we are all sinners (1 John 1:8, 10), see
The Book of John. We choose to sin. Every single person who has lived on Earth, except Jesus, is doomed to go to Hell. God’s holiness, righteous, and justice must punish sin. The punishment for sin is first in Hell and then forever in the LoF .

God's love took the punishment for us: God the Father, in his love, sent Jesus to be born as a man, to take the punishment for our sin. God can’t die. Therefore, Jesus took human form so that he could die physically (not spiritually). Jesus became a sinless man (still God the Son), therefore we have the virgin birth.

God the Father accepts this perfect sacrifice as a substitute for us. Jesus is the only one who can pay for our sin (John 14:6), see Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life. It’s by grace through faith, a gift from God, and not by our own work (Eph 2:8–9). We must believe and trust in Jesus, that he died physically for our sin 
(John 3:14–18). We must receive him into our lives (John 1:12). We become righteous because of what Jesus did on the cross (Rom 5:1–2, 8–10), if we accept it. All our sins are blotted out. By doing so, we make it to God's Heaven.

Basically, the steps are follows:

1. Realize that you are a sinner (Rom 3:23).
2. Admit that your sin will send you to Hell.
3. Repent of your sin. It means to turn around
   and go in another direction (Acts 17:30–31).
4. Believe and trust that Jesus is your Savior (John 3:18).
5. Ask Jesus to come into your life (John 1:12).
6. Confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior (Rom 10:9–11).

Example of a salvation prayer to say directly to the Lord Jesus Christ:

"Jesus, I know that I have sinned against you. I know that the truth is that I have sinned by my own choice, and I am responsible for it. I know that I have deserved punishment from You, and that the just punishment would be death. Jesus, I believe that You died in my place. Forgive me for my sin. I can't in my own strength cover or take away my sin, I am relying totally and only on You. You are the only one who can save me. I reject my sin, I turn away from it, I repent. Come into my life, take away my sin, and show me how to live my life in away that is right and pleasing to You."

God knows your heart. If you mean this, your name is written in the Book of Life. God forgives you your sin. He gives you the righteousness of Jesus. Eternal life in Heaven is now yours. You are saved from eternal punishment in Hell and in LoF.

Note that the LoF was originally prepared not for mankind but for the Devil and his angels who rebelled against God (Mat 25:41). Man chooses to go there by rejecting the offer of salvation through Jesus, the plan of salvation that God has given us. 
For detailed information on how to be saved, see Salvation.

See also Some stories close related to the gospels at the end of 
The Four Gospels.