A lot of people don't believe in hell. Do you?
If you've wondered why so many people don't believe in hell, I'll tell you why:
Because it's missing from their Bibles.
I've read through the Bible in a number of versions.
Back in 1980 as a repentant Christian, I was given a New American Standard Bible.
As I read it, a word kept popping up: S-H-E-O-L.
What was it? Shay-ole? She-ole? Well, whatever it was, I kept finding it in my Bible.
It was the Hebrew word, Sheol (she-ole).
When I went to Bible college, the teachers taught us that the Hebrews didn't really know about the afterlife --
-- what happens after we die.
So whatever THAT was, they labeled it with the Hebrew word, Sheol.
When I read those verses in a King James Bible, it became clear what it was talking about: HELL.
I know what hell is. I don't wanna go there.
And I don't want anyone else to go there, either.
What is "Sheol"? It's just a Hebrew word with English letters.
I'm an English speaker. This is an English Bible.
Translators are paid to translate God's words into my language.
So why, when they come to this Hebrew word and to the New Testament word, Hades (Hah-dace or Hay-deez),
do they refuse to translate the word?
And it's not just the New American Standard, either.
Did you know that at least 11 popular, modern Bibles refuse to translate the Hebrew word Sheol, at all,
throughout the Old Testament?
Did you know that 24 English Bibles refuse to use the understandable word "hell" throughout the Old Testament?
And in the New Testament, many Bibles in crucial verses switch from using the understandable word "hell"
to the word Hades - a word associated with mythology!
Hell is real. It's not mythology.
Jesus warned us very clearly about these things in Mark 9:43-46.
Now before we read, let me tell you something:
There was no bold print to emphasize words in the days of Jesus.
Instead, He repeated words, to emphasize them.
Listen as I read:
[43]"And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off:
it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell,
into the fire that never shall be quenched:
[Here it is:] [44] Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
[45] And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off:
it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell,
[Here it is again:] into the fire that never shall be quenched:
[46] Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
[47] And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out:
it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye,
than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
[48] Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
Do you have any doubt at all what Jesus is warning us about?
In 29 Bible versions, verses 44 and 46 are missing, completely!
And part of verse 45 is missing in 34 popular Bibles.
Is your Bible missing this verse?
Get a copy of my book, Look What's Missing, and get any Bible out and check for yourself.
You need to know.
Why would translators refuse to translate the Hebrew and Greek words for hell?
Is it just because they don't believe it exists, or does the topic of hell make them...uncomfortable?
Well, I'll tell you, hell IS an uncomfortable topic.
But Jesus came from heaven to earth to die for our sins, to keep us from going to that awful place.
Hell is uncomfortable.
But you don't remove a word from your Bible just because it makes you FEEL uncomfortable.
Jesus died to save us from hell. He talked about hell a lot.
It only makes sense that our Bible should have a lot of hell in it.
If your Bible doesn't have hell in it, get a new one!