'Dead' in the Bible

And Jerusalem’s gates will lament (cry out in grief) and mourn [as those who wail for the dead];And she, being ruined and desolate, will sit upon the ground.

Therefore Sheol (the realm of the dead) has increased its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure;And Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her [boisterous] uproar and her [drunken] revelers descend into it.

Therefore the anger of the Lord has burned against His people,And He has stretched out His hand against them and has struck them down.And the mountains trembled, and their dead bodies lay like rubbish in the middle of the streets.In spite of all this God’s anger is not turned away,But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

When the people [instead of trusting God] say to you, “Consult the mediums [who try to talk to the dead] and the soothsayers who chirp and whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

“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].

‘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].’

“But [in fact] you will be brought down to Sheol,To the remote recesses of the pit (the region of the dead).

“But you [king of Babylon] have been cast out of your tomb (denied burial)Like a rejected branch,Clothed with the slain who are pierced by the sword,Who go down to the stones of the pit [into which carcasses are thrown],Like a dead body trampled [underfoot].

For the fields of Heshbon have languished and withered, and the vines of Sibmah as well;The lords of the nations have trampled down [Moab’s] choice vine branches,Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered into the wilderness;Its tendrils stretched out, they passed over [the shores of] the [Dead] Sea.

They (warriors) will be left together for the mountain birds of prey,And for the beasts of the earth;And the birds of prey will [spend the] summer feeding on them,And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

The [wicked] dead will not live [again], the spirits of the dead will not rise and return;Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,And You have wiped out every memory of them [every trace of them].

Your dead will live;Their dead bodies will rise.You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy!For your dew is a dew of [celestial] light [heavenly, supernatural],And the earth will give birth to the spirits of the dead.

Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,And with Sheol (the place of the dead) we have made an agreement,When the overwhelming scourge passes by, it will not reach us,For we have made lies our refuge and we have concealed ourselves in deception.”

“Your covenant with death will be annulled,And your agreement with Sheol (the place of the dead) will not stand;When the overwhelming scourge passes through,Then you will become its trampling ground.

So their slain will be thrown out,And the stench of their corpses will rise,And the mountains will flow with their blood.

And the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the [surviving] men got up early the next morning, they saw all the dead.

I said, “In mid-lifeI am to go through the gates of Sheol (the place of the dead),I am to be summoned, deprived of the remainder of my years.”

“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.

Yet the Lord was willingTo crush Him, causing Him to suffer;If He would give Himself as a guilt offering [an atonement for sin],He shall see His [spiritual] offspring,He shall prolong His days,And the will (good pleasure) of the Lord shall succeed and prosper in His hand.

We grope for a wall like the blind,We grope like those who have no eyes.We stumble at midday as in the twilight;Among those who are healthy we are like dead men.

“Then you will see and be radiant,And your heart will tremble [with joy] and rejoiceBecause the abundant wealth of the seas will be brought to you,The wealth of the nations will come to you.

Who sit among the graves [trying to conjure up evil spirits] and spend the night in the secret places [where spirits are thought to dwell];Who eat swine’s flesh,And their pots hold the broth of unclean meat;

“Then they will go forth and lookUpon the dead bodies of the [rebellious] menWho have transgressed against Me;For their worm (maggot) will not die,And their fire will not go out;And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”