30 Bible Verses about Sheol
Most Relevant Verses
What man can live and not see death?
Can he rescue his soul from the [powerful] hand of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead)? Selah.
Then all his sons and daughters attempted to console him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “I will go down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in mourning for my son.” And his father wept for him.
If you take this one also from me, and harm or an accident happens to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.’
But now do not let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man; and you will know what to do to him, and you will bring his gray head down to Sheol [covered] with blood.”
The cords of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
Let us swallow them alive like Sheol (the place of the dead),
Even whole, as those who go down to the pit [of death];
Sheol, and the barren womb,
Earth that is never satisfied with water,
And fire that never says, “It is enough.”
‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day when Assyria went down to Sheol (the place of the dead) I caused mourning; I closed the deep [subterranean waters] over it and restrained its rivers. And the many waters [that contributed to its prosperity] were held back; and I made [the heart of] Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away because of it. I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit; and all the well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, will be comforted in the earth beneath [at Assyria’s downfall]. They also went down to Sheol with it to those who were slain by the sword; those who were its strength lived under its shade among the nations.
and said,
“I called out of my trouble and distress to the Lord,
And He answered me;
Out of the belly of Sheol I cried for help,
And You heard my voice.
Will Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave
Or Your faithfulness in Abaddon (the underworld)?
Will Your wonders be known in the darkness?
And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness [where the dead forget and are forgotten]?
“For now I would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept then, I would have been at rest [in death],
With kings and counselors of the earth,
Who built up [now desolate] ruins for themselves;
Or with princes who had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver.
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“Or like a miscarriage which is hidden and put away, I would not exist,
Like infants who never saw light.
“There [in death] the wicked cease from raging,
And there the weary are at rest.
“There the prisoners rest together;
They do not hear the taskmaster’s voice.
“The small and the great are there,
And the servant is free from his master.
“As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
So he who goes down to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) does not come up.
“But if I look to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) as my home,
If I make my bed in the darkness,
If I call out to the pit (grave), ‘You are my father’;
And to the worm [that feeds on decay], ‘You are my mother and my sister [because I will soon be closest to you],’
Where now is my hope?
And who regards or considers or is even concerned about my hope?
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“Will my hope go down with me to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead)?
Shall we go down together in the dust?”
For in death there is no mention of You;
In Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) who will praise You and give You thanks?
“Sheol below is excited about you to meet you when you come [you tyrant of Babylon];
It stirs up the spirits of the dead [to greet you], all the leaders of the earth;
It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones [in astonishment at your fall].
“All of them will respond [tauntingly] and say to you,
‘You have become as weak as we are.
You have become like us.
‘Your pomp and magnificence have been brought down to Sheol,
Along with the music of your harps;
The maggots [which prey on the dead] are spread out under you [as a bed]
And worms are your covering [Babylonian rulers].’
“For Sheol cannot praise or thank You,
Death cannot praise You and rejoice in You;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.
“The Lord puts to death and makes alive;
He brings down to Sheol (the grave) and raises up [from the grave].
“Drought and heat consume the snow waters;
So does Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) [consume] those who have sinned.
The wicked will turn to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
Even all the nations who forget God.
Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, for I call on You;
Let the wicked (godless) be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead).
Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead);
Death will be their shepherd;
And the upright shall rule over them in the morning,
And their form and beauty shall be for Sheol to consume,
So that they have no dwelling [on earth].
Let death come deceitfully upon them;
Let them go down alive to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
For evil [of every kind] is in their dwelling and in their hearts, in their midst.
“But [in fact] you will be brought down to Sheol,
To the remote recesses of the pit (the region of the dead).
“Oh, that You would hide me in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,
That You would set a definite time and then remember me [and in Your lovingkindness imprint me on your heart]!
For You will not abandon me to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
O Lord, You have brought my life up from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead);
You have kept me alive, so that I would not go down to the pit (grave).
For great is Your lovingkindness and graciousness toward me;
And You have rescued my life from the depths of Sheol [from death].
