Revelation 21:8
The context
Revelation 21 describes the new heaven and new earth, the city coming down, and the promise that God will dwell with his people. Verse 7 promises the conqueror an inheritance; verse 8 gives the contrasting list and its end. The vision then continues with the bride and the measuring of the city.
What it establishes
The vision includes exclusion. The list is mixed — cowardice, unbelief, murder, sorcery, idolatry, lying — and it ends in the second death. The placement directly after the promise of inheritance makes the warning part of the consolation rather than an appendix to it.
What it does not establish
It does not define the fire's duration. "Second death" and "lake of fire" are images whose relation is debated, and the traditional readings differ over whether the end is annihilation or unending torment. The verse asserts a real exclusion; it does not supply a systematic doctrine of hell.
Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.
Cited in these answers
Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.