35 Bible Verses about Punishment

There he met a certain Jewish man named Aquila, a native of Pontus, [in northern Asia Minor] who, with his wife Priscilla, had recently come from Rome, because Claudius [the Roman Emperor] had ordered all Jews out of that city. Paul met this couple

then the Lord [surely] knows how to rescue godly people from trying situations, and to keep unrighteous people under [a sentence of] punishment [to be received] on the judgment day.

And the smoke of their suffering will ascend forever and ever and there will not be any rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his statue and who receive the mark of his name."

And if any person's [name] was not found recorded in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

And these [i.e., the ones at His left side] will go away to never ending punishment, but those who did what was right will go to never ending life."

then the Lord [surely] knows how to rescue godly people from trying situations, and to keep unrighteous people under [a sentence of] punishment [to be received] on the judgment day.

And the smoke of their suffering will ascend forever and ever and there will not be any rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his statue and who receive the mark of his name."

And if any person's [name] was not found recorded in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

And these [i.e., the ones at His left side] will go away to never ending punishment, but those who did what was right will go to never ending life."

then the Lord [surely] knows how to rescue godly people from trying situations, and to keep unrighteous people under [a sentence of] punishment [to be received] on the judgment day.

And the smoke of their suffering will ascend forever and ever and there will not be any rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his statue and who receive the mark of his name."

And if any person's [name] was not found recorded in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

And these [i.e., the ones at His left side] will go away to never ending punishment, but those who did what was right will go to never ending life."

For the Son of man will return in the splendor of His Father, accompanied by His angels. Then He will reward or punish every person in proportion to what he has done [with his life].

But I say to you that every person who is angry toward his brother will be subject to judgment; and whoever calls his brother 'stupid idiot' is subject to [being sentenced by] the [Jewish] Council, and whoever says, 'go to hell' is subject to going to the fire of hell [himself].

is absent from the oldest manuscripts]}]}

These people had disobeyed [Noah's preaching, See II Pet. 2:5] back when God's patience waited [for them to repent, See Gen. 6:3], during the days of Noah, when the ship was being constructed. It was by that means [i.e., the ship floating them to safety through the Flood waters] that a few persons, eight of them, were saved [from destruction] through water.

Suddenly, an angel from God struck him [with a terrible condition] because he refused to honor God [by what he said in his speech], so he was consumed by worms and died.

And the devil who [had] deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire, [burning] with sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet also are. [See 19:20]. And [there] these [enemies of God] will be tortured day and night forever and ever.

His winnowing shovel [Note: This was a process whereby grain was tossed into the air so that the wind could blow the husks away, leaving only good grain on the ground] is in His hand and He will completely clear off His threshing floor [by removing all of the husks]. And He will gather His wheat into the barn, but will burn up the husks with a fire that will never go out."

Then He [i.e., the King] will say to those at His left side, 'Go away from me, you who are cursed [by God], into the never ending fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels.

And do not be afraid of those who can kill your body but not your soul. Instead, fear Him [i.e., God] who is able to destroy both your soul and body in hell. [See note on 5:29].

And these [i.e., the ones at His left side] will go away to never ending punishment, but those who did what was right will go to never ending life."

But to the ones who have selfish ambition [Note: Some translate these words "are contentious"] and refuse to obey the truth, but [instead] obey what is wrong, [God will bring] wrath, fury,

And that slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not make preparations [i.e., for his master's return], or do what his master wanted, will be whipped with many lashes.

How much more severely do you think a person deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God and has regarded the blood of the [New] Agreement, with which he was set apart for God, an unholy thing and has insulted the Holy Spirit, through whom God's unearned favor is shown?

So Pilate, wanting to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them, and after he had Jesus flogged, he turned Him over to be crucified.

the commander ordered Paul to be brought to headquarters and requested that he be interrogated by means of a flogging, in order to learn the reason why people were shouting against him.

Then those who were about to interrogate Paul [with whips] immediately left him, and the commander also became fearful when he realized that he had chained a Roman citizen [illegally].

Then He [i.e., the King] will say to those at His left side, 'Go away from me, you who are cursed [by God], into the never ending fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels.

But I say to you that every person who is angry toward his brother will be subject to judgment; and whoever calls his brother 'stupid idiot' is subject to [being sentenced by] the [Jewish] Council, and whoever says, 'go to hell' is subject to going to the fire of hell [himself].

And if your hand becomes the occasion for falling away [from God], cut it off; it would be better for you to enter [never ending] life disabled, rather than keeping both hands and going to hell, into the fire that cannot be put out [i.e., all because it caused you to fall away from God]. {{Verse

The Son of man will send out His angels and they will gather out of His kingdom all those people who cause others to fall away [from God] and those who [continue to] sin. He will throw these people into the fiery furnace where there will be crying and excruciating pain.

And if your foot becomes the occasion for falling away [from God], cut it off; it would be better for you to enter [never ending] life crippled, rather than keeping both feet and being thrown into hell. {{Verse

His winnowing shovel [Note: This was a process whereby grain was tossed into the air so that the wind could blow the husks away, leaving only good grain on the ground] is in His hand and He will completely clear off His threshing floor [by removing all of the husks]. And He will gather His wheat into the barn, but will burn up the husks with a fire that will never go out."

The person who believes in the Son has never ending life, but the person who disobeys the Son will not see life [i.e., will not experience never ending life], but [instead], God's wrath remains on him.

to replace Judas in this ministry and this group of apostles, from which he fell away to go to where he belonged" [i.e., to the place of punishment for unrepentant sinners].

And do not be afraid of those who can kill your body but not your soul. Instead, fear Him [i.e., God] who is able to destroy both your soul and body in hell. [See note on 5:29].

"Do not be surprised at this: The time is coming when all those who are in their graves will hear His voice and they will come out [i.e., in the general resurrection on the last day]. Those who had done what was good will be raised [from the dead] to [never ending] life; and those who had done what was evil will be raised [from the dead] to judgment [i.e., to be condemned].

You snakes! You children of snakes! How do you expect to escape being judged [and condemned] in hell?

And [that master] will whip him to shreds and will turn him over to suffer the same fate as hypocrites do. That fate will involve crying and excruciating pain."

And then I will declare to them, 'I never acknowledged you [as my people]; go away from me, you people who have done sinful things.'

But the children who [are supposed to] belong to the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness where there will be crying and excruciating pain."

Then the king said to his servants, 'Tie him up, hand and foot, and throw him into [a place of] outer darkness where there will be crying and excruciating pain.'

And these [i.e., the ones at His left side] will go away to never ending punishment, but those who did what was right will go to never ending life."

He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword.

And when they came to the place called "The Skull" [Note: The Latin word for this place is "Calvary"], they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one at His right side and one at His left.

They [also] crucified two thieves with Him, one at His right side and one at His left.

And after they had crucified Him, the soldiers divided His clothing among themselves by gambling for them.

So, they crucified Him and divided His clothing by gambling for them to decide what each soldier would get.

And they also crucified two thieves with Him, one at His right side and one at His left. {{Some ancient manuscripts add verse

So, he sent [word to his officers] and had John decapitated in the prison.

But when King Herod heard [about Jesus], he said, "John, whom I [had] decapitated, has risen."

And immediately the king sent a soldier who served as his guard and ordered him to bring John's head to him. So, he went and decapitated him in the prison, and brought his head on a [large] platter and gave it to the young woman. She [in turn] gave it to her mother [Herodias].

They threw him out of the city and stoned him [to death]. Those who witnessed [the incident] placed their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

"Listen to another parable [i.e., a brief story used to illustrate His teaching]: There was the owner of a farm who planted a vineyard and built a fence around it. He constructed a grape squeezing device, built a [lookout] tower [near it], leased it to tenant farmers and then went to another country. And when the season for harvesting the grapes approached, the owner of the farm sent his slaves to the tenant farmers to arrange for delivery of his crop. But the tenant farmers took the farm owner's slaves and beat one, killed another and stoned another. read more.
The owner of the farm then sent additional slaves and they were treated the same way. Then later on he sent his own son to the tenant farmers, saying, '[Surely] they will treat my son with respect.' But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to one another, 'This is the heir [to the vineyard]. Come on, let us kill him so we can take over his inheritance.' So, they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When the owner of the vineyard returns, what [do you think] he will do to those tenant farmers? They answered him, "He will bring terrible destruction on those evil men and will lease the vineyard to other tenant farmers who will deliver the crops to him each harvest time."

"For the kingdom of heaven is similar to a man who planned to go on a trip to a distant country, so called his servants and entrusted to each of them a large sum of money [Note: The narrative that follows suggests that the man was turning over some of his assets to financial managers to invest for him]. He gave one servant five talents [Note: This 'talent' was a large sum of money in the form of a certain weight of silver. It was the equivalent of sixty years of a farm laborer's wages, or about $750,000 in income]. He gave two talents to another servant and one talent to another. He gave to each one an amount in keeping with his ability [to invest it wisely], and then left on his trip. The one with the five talents soon invested the money in business transactions which netted him five more. read more.
In the same way the one who was given two talents made two more. But the one who was given one talent went and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master's money. Now after a long time the master of these servants returned [from his trip] and proceeded to go over his accounts with each of them. The one who had been given five talents came bringing another five and reported, 'Master, you entrusted me with five talents. Look, I have earned five more with them.' His master replied, 'Well done, you are a good and trustworthy servant. You have been trustworthy over a [relatively] few things, so I will place you over many things. Come and share in your master's joy.' And the one who was given two talents came and reported, 'Master, you entrusted me with two talents. Look, I have earned two more with them.' His master said to him, 'Well done, you are a good and trustworthy servant. You have been trustworthy over a [relatively] few things, [so] I will place you over many things. Come and share in your master's joy.' Then the one who was given [only] one talent came and reported, 'Master, I knew you were a difficult man who reaped where you had not sown, and gathered a harvest where you had not scattered seed, and I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you [can] have your own talent [back].' But his master said to him, 'You wicked, lazy servant. [Since] you knew that I reaped where I had not sown and gathered where I had not scattered seed, you should have therefore deposited my money in the bank [so] when I returned, [at least] I would have received my own money back, with interest. Take the one talent away from him, therefore, and give it to the servant who had the ten talents. For to every person who has [something], more will be given, so he will have plenty. But from the person who has [virtually] nothing, even that [little bit] he has will be taken away [from him]. Throw out that worthless servant into the [place of] outer darkness, where there will be crying and excruciating pain.

For if God did not spare sinning angels, but cast them in chains, into deep, dark dungeons to await judgment;

For [remember that] some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be someone [important], and that about four hundred people rallied [to his cause], but he was killed and all his men left him and nothing ever came of it. Later on another man, named Judas of Galilee, appeared during the census [Note: The time and circumstances of this census were probably known to the original readers], and led [a group of] people away after him, but he also was killed and all of his followers were scattered.

But I say to you that every person who is angry toward his brother will be subject to judgment; and whoever calls his brother 'stupid idiot' is subject to [being sentenced by] the [Jewish] Council, and whoever says, 'go to hell' is subject to going to the fire of hell [himself].

And do not be afraid of those who can kill your body but not your soul. Instead, fear Him [i.e., God] who is able to destroy both your soul and body in hell. [See note on 5:29].

And if your right eye is what ensnares you into falling away [from God], gouge it out and throw it away from you. For it would be better for you to lose a part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. [Note: This is the word "Gehenna," and because of its Old Testament connotation of burning bodies, II Chron. 33:6, it is used figuratively here, and elsewhere, to describe the place of future, final punishment of the wicked].

You snakes! You children of snakes! How do you expect to escape being judged [and condemned] in hell?

And the tongue is [like] a fire [i.e., like that spark]. [For] the tongue, as a part of the body, is [like] the world of evil. It corrupts the entire life [of a person] and inflames the course of nature itself [i.e., it affects a person throughout his whole earthly existence], and is ignited by hell itself [i.e., the evil produced by the fiery tongue has hell as its source and destiny].

Christ bought us back from the curse [caused by our not obeying all the requirements] of the law of Moses; He became a curse for us [by dying on the cross], for it is written [Deut. 21:23], "Every one who hangs on a tree [i.e., a cross] is cursed [i.e., cut off from God]."

So, immediately he rushed down on the people with his soldiers and officers, and when the mob saw the commander and his soldiers [coming], they stopped beating Paul.

"But pay attention to yourselves, for people will turn you over to [Jewish] councils [i.e., for judgment] and you will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings for being loyal to me. [This will afford you an opportunity] for witnessing to them.

And so the Council agreed [with Gamaliel's advice] and when they called the apostles back in, they had them beaten and ordered them never to speak in the name of Jesus [again]; then they released them.

Then the large crowd began attacking them, and the city officials had their clothes ripped off and ordered them to be beaten.

So Pilate, wanting to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them, and after he had Jesus flogged, he turned Him over to be crucified.

the commander ordered Paul to be brought to headquarters and requested that he be interrogated by means of a flogging, in order to learn the reason why people were shouting against him.

Then he released Barabbas to them, but he had Jesus flogged and then turned over to be crucified.

So, Pilate then took Jesus and had Him flogged.

Then I saw thrones, with individuals sitting on them who had been given [authority] to judge. And I [also] saw the souls of those who had been decapitated because they had testified about Jesus and [had proclaimed] the message of God. [They are] the ones who had refused to worship the beast or his statue, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And these ones lived again and ruled with Christ for a thousand years.

So, he sent [word to his officers] and had John decapitated in the prison.

He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword.

There he met a certain Jewish man named Aquila, a native of Pontus, [in northern Asia Minor] who, with his wife Priscilla, had recently come from Rome, because Claudius [the Roman Emperor] had ordered all Jews out of that city. Paul met this couple

What benefit was it to me, from a human standpoint, if I fought wild animals in Ephesus, and [yet] the dead are not raised? [Note: This probably refers to Paul facing ferocious opposition from people there in Ephesus]. We should [just] eat and drink, for tomorrow we [may] die.