Absolutely. But there is one important biblical distinction: “hellfire” is not a single phrase that runs from Genesis to Revelation. The Bible uses several related expressions—Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, everlasting fire, unquenchable fire, furnace of fire, lake of fire, fire and brimstone, and second death. Also, the word hell in the KJV sometimes translates different original-language words.
So below is a careful Genesis-to-Revelation catalogue of the principal passages dealing with hell, judgment by fire, or the final lake of fire, rather than pretending every occurrence means exactly the same thing.
🔥 HELLFIRE, HELL, AND THE LAKE OF FIRE — GENESIS TO REVELATION
A. OLD TESTAMENT — THE FOUNDATIONS
The Old Testament does not explicitly describe “hellfire” in the later New Testament Gehenna sense. It principally uses Sheol for the realm of the dead, while several passages speak of divine fiery judgment.
1. Genesis 19:24 — Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed by fire and brimstone from heaven.
This becomes an important biblical picture of divine judgment.
2. Deuteronomy 32:22 — God speaks of a fire kindled in His anger that burns to the depths of Sheol.
3. Job 26:6 — “Hell [Sheol] is naked before him…”
This establishes Sheol as a realm known to God.
4. Psalm 9:17 — “The wicked shall be turned into hell [Sheol]…”
A major Old Testament warning concerning the destiny of the wicked.
5. Psalm 11:6 — Upon the wicked God shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest.
6. Psalm 18:5 — David speaks poetically of the sorrows of hell [Sheol] surrounding him.
7. Psalm 55:15 — David invokes judgment upon wicked people, saying they should go down alive into hell [Sheol].
8. Psalm 86:13 — “Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell [Sheol].”
9. Psalm 116:3 — The psalmist describes the “pains of hell [Sheol]” taking hold of him.
10. Proverbs 5:5 — The path of sexual immorality is said to lead down toward death and hell [Sheol].
11. Proverbs 7:27 — The house of the strange woman is described as the way to hell [Sheol].
12. Proverbs 9:18 — The foolish person does not know that her guests are in the depths of hell [Sheol].
13. Proverbs 15:11 — “Hell [Sheol] and destruction are before the LORD…”
14. Proverbs 15:24 — The way of life leads upward so that a person may depart from hell [Sheol] beneath.
15. Proverbs 23:14 — Correction is said to deliver a child’s soul from hell [Sheol].
16. Isaiah 5:14 — Hell [Sheol] enlarges itself and opens its mouth.
17. Isaiah 14:9 — Hell [Sheol] from beneath is described as being moved to meet the king of Babylon.
18. Isaiah 14:15 — The proud king is brought down to hell [Sheol].
19. Isaiah 30:33 — Tophet is prepared for judgment; it is described with fire and brimstone.
20. Isaiah 33:14 — “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?” and “everlasting burnings?”
21. Isaiah 34:9–10 — Edom's judgment is described with brimstone and burning pitch, with smoke ascending.
22. Isaiah 66:24 — A powerful final judgment image: the wicked are associated with their worm not dying and their fire not being quenched.
⚠️ Important
The Old Testament passages above should not all be called “hellfire verses.” Some concern Sheol, some temporal judgment, and some prophetic imagery. They form the background against which the New Testament's teaching about Gehenna and the lake of fire develops.
🔥 B. THE TEACHING OF JESUS — THE STRONGEST HELLFIRE WARNINGS
This is where the language becomes much more explicit.
23. Matthew 5:22
Jesus warns about being “in danger of hell fire.”
24. Matthew 5:29
Jesus says that if the right eye causes someone to stumble, it is better to remove it than for the whole body to be cast into hell.
25. Matthew 5:30
The same warning is repeated concerning the right hand.
26. Matthew 10:28
Jesus says not to fear those who can kill the body, but to fear God who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
27. Matthew 13:40
At the end of the age, the wicked are separated from the righteous.
28. Matthew 13:41
The Son of Man's angels gather those who practice wickedness.
29. Matthew 13:42
They are cast into a furnace of fire, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Bible Gateway)
30. Matthew 13:49
The angels separate the wicked from among the righteous.
31. Matthew 13:50
The wicked are cast into the furnace of fire, with weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Bible Gateway)
32. Matthew 18:8
Jesus speaks of being cast into everlasting fire.
33. Matthew 18:9
Jesus explicitly uses the expression “hell fire.”
34. Matthew 22:13
The wicked servant is cast into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
35. Matthew 23:15
Jesus calls the religious hypocrites “the child of hell.”
36. Matthew 23:33
Jesus asks, “How can ye escape the damnation of hell?”
37. Matthew 25:41
Jesus speaks of the “everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”
38. Matthew 25:46
Jesus contrasts everlasting punishment with everlasting life.
🔥 C. MARK — JESUS' WARNING ABOUT UNQUENCHABLE FIRE
39. Mark 9:43
Jesus warns that it is better to lose a hand than to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.
40. Mark 9:44
The KJV contains the statement concerning the worm that does not die and the fire that is not quenched.
41. Mark 9:45
Jesus repeats the warning concerning the foot and being cast into hell.
42. Mark 9:46
Again, the KJV contains the worm/fire statement.
43. Mark 9:47
Jesus says it is better to enter God's kingdom with one eye than to be cast into hell fire.
44. Mark 9:48
“Their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
This is one of the clearest clusters of hellfire teaching in the New Testament.
🔥 D. LUKE
45. Luke 12:5
Jesus warns His hearers to fear God, who has authority to cast into hell.
46. Luke 16:23
In Jesus' account of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man is described as being in hell [Hades] and in torment.
47. Luke 16:24
The rich man says he is tormented in flame and asks for relief.
48. Luke 16:25
Abraham reminds him of the contrast between his former life and his present condition.
49. Luke 16:26
A great gulf is described as fixed between the two sides.
This passage is extremely important, but it should be distinguished from Gehenna and the final lake of fire. The Greek term here is Hades.
🔥 E. JOHN
John's Gospel does not contain the word Gehenna in Jesus' recorded sayings, but John's writings contain the climactic doctrine of the lake of fire in Revelation.
The Gospel of John instead emphasizes judgment, condemnation and eternal life.
50. John 3:18
Those who believe are not condemned; those who do not believe are already condemned.
51. John 3:36
Those who reject the Son remain under the wrath of God.
52. John 5:29
Jesus speaks of a resurrection of damnation for those who have done evil.
🔥 F. ACTS AND THE EPISTLES
The apostles continue teaching divine judgment, although they do not use the word “hellfire” as frequently as Jesus did.
53. Acts 17:31
God has appointed a day when He will judge the world in righteousness through Christ.
54. Romans 2:5
Paul speaks of the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.
55. Romans 2:8
Those who obey unrighteousness face indignation and wrath.
56. 1 Corinthians 6:9–10
Paul warns that certain categories of persistent unrighteousness exclude people from the kingdom of God.
57. Galatians 5:19–21
Paul similarly warns that those who persist in works of the flesh shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
58. 2 Thessalonians 1:8
Christ returns in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not obey the gospel.
59. 2 Thessalonians 1:9
They will suffer everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.
60. Hebrews 10:27
For those who deliberately reject God, there remains a fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation.
61. James 3:6
James says the tongue can be “set on fire of hell”.
62. 2 Peter 2:4
God did not spare sinful angels but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness for judgment.
63. 2 Peter 2:6
Sodom and Gomorrah are presented as an example of what happens to the ungodly.
64. 2 Peter 3:7
The present heavens and earth are reserved for fire against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
65. Jude 7
Sodom and Gomorrah are described as suffering the punishment of eternal fire.
🔥 G. REVELATION — THE FINAL LAKE OF FIRE
Here the Bible reaches its most dramatic description of final judgment.
66. Revelation 14:10
Those who worship the beast face divine wrath and are described in connection with fire and brimstone.
67. Revelation 14:11
The smoke of their torment is described as ascending for ever and ever.
68. Revelation 19:20
The beast and false prophet are cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
69. Revelation 20:9
Fire comes down from God out of heaven and consumes the rebellious forces.
70. Revelation 20:10
The devil is cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are, and the text describes torment day and night for ever and ever. (Bible Gateway)
71. Revelation 20:14
Death and hell are cast into the lake of fire. The verse identifies this as the second death. (Bible Gateway)
72. Revelation 20:15
Anyone whose name is not found in the Book of Life is cast into the lake of fire. (Bible Gateway)
73. Revelation 21:8
The wicked are assigned their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, identified as the second death. (Bible Gateway)
🔥 THE BIG PICTURE
If we organize these passages chronologically, the Bible's terminology develops approximately like this:
Sheol → Hades → Gehenna → everlasting fire → unquenchable fire → furnace of fire → fire and brimstone → lake of fire → second death.
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