The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
The book of Revelation is a highly symbolic vision given to the apostle John while he was exiled on a Greek island for his faith. It describes a cosmic conflict between God and forces of evil, written in coded imagery to encourage believers facing violent persecution. This verse is part of a warning about those who choose to follow 'the beast' — a symbol for oppressive, God-rejecting power. The image of drinking wine 'poured full strength' carries cultural weight: in the ancient world, wine was almost always diluted with water, so drinking it undiluted was intense and overwhelming — deliberately so here. 'Burning sulfur' echoes the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Old Testament, ancient shorthand for catastrophic, irreversible judgment. This is one of the most sobering verses in the entire Bible, describing divine wrath that is complete, unmitigated, and final.
God, this verse is hard to hold. But I trust that You are both love and justice — that You do not look away from suffering or let evil win forever. Help me take my choices seriously, and give me the courage to speak honestly about the weight of this with the people in my life. Amen.
Most of us would rather quietly skip this verse. God's wrath doesn't fit neatly onto a coffee mug, and so texts like this tend to get shuffled past in Bible studies, everyone hoping no one brings it up. But Revelation was written to people being tortured and executed for refusing to bow to Caesar — people desperate to know that the evil being done to them would not go unanswered. The ferocity of this image was not designed to terrify the faithful. It was designed to assure them: what is happening to you will not go unanswered. History is not a flat line. That doesn't make this verse easy to sit with. The idea of anyone enduring something this terrible is genuinely difficult, and you're allowed to feel that tension without resolving it tonight. But what this passage refuses to let you believe is that choices are consequence-free, that cruelty is neutral, or that God is indifferent to what happens to human beings. You don't have to settle every question about judgment and eternity right now. But let this verse do what it was written to do: make you take seriously the gravity of the God you're in relationship with, and the weight of the choices you make every day.
How do you think the original audience of Revelation — people being actively persecuted for their faith — would have heard and needed this image of God's judgment?
How do you personally wrestle with the idea of divine wrath? Does it fit with your understanding of who God is, or does it create tension for you?
Some argue that a God without wrath is a God without justice — that love without accountability is not really love at all. Do you agree or disagree, and why?
How does your belief — or uncertainty — about divine judgment affect the way you treat people around you, especially those who cause harm to others?
After sitting with this verse honestly, is there anything in your own life — a habit, a pattern, an attitude — that you feel quietly called to reconsider?
And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
Isaiah 66:24
And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Revelation 16:19
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Matthew 25:41
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
Isaiah 58:1
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
2 Thessalonians 1:9
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Revelation 19:20
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
John 1:29
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Revelation 20:10
he too will [have to] drink of the wine of the wrath of God, mixed undiluted into the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone (flaming sulfur) in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb (Christ).
AMP
he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
ESV
he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
NASB
he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
NIV
he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
NKJV
must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb.
NLT
that person will drink the wine of God's wrath, prepared unmixed in his chalice of anger, and suffer torment from fire and brimstone in the presence of Holy Angels, in the presence of the Lamb.
MSG