Hebrews
1 God, who at various times and in
various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom
He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
3who being the brightness of His glory and the express
image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He
had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on
high,
4having become so much better than the angels, as He
has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You
are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? And again: "I will be to Him
a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son"?
6But when He again brings the firstborn into the
world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him."
7And of the angels He says: "Who makes His angels
spirits And His ministers a flame of fire."
8But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is
forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
9You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than
Your companions."
10And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the
foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
11They will perish, but You remain; And they will all
grow old like a garment;
12Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be
changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail."
13But to which of the angels has He ever said:
"Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"?
14Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to
minister for those who will inherit salvation?
2Therefore we must give the more
earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
2For if the word spoken through angels proved
steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward,
3how shall we escape if we neglect so great a
salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed
to us by those who heard Him,
4God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders,
with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?
5For He has not put the world to come, of which we
speak, in subjection to angels.
6But one testified in a certain place, saying:
"What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take
care of him?
7You have made him a little lower than the angels; You
have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your
hands.
8You have put all things in subjection under his
feet." For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing
that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him.
9But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than
the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He,
by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
10For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things
and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain
of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
11For both He who sanctifies and those who are being
sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them
brethren,
12saying: "I will declare Your name to My
brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You."
13And again: "I will put My trust in Him."
And again: "Here am I and the children whom God has given Me."
14Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh
and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might
destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15and release those who through fear of death were all
their lifetime subject to bondage.
16For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He
does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
17Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His
brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things
pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted,
He is able to aid those who are tempted.
3Therefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our
confession, Christ Jesus,
2who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses
also was faithful in all His house.
3For this One has been counted worthy of more glory
than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house.
4For every house is built by someone, but He who built
all things is God.
5And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a
servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward,
6but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house
we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the
end.
7Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if
you will hear His voice,
8Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the
day of trial in the wilderness,
9Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My
works forty years.
10Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said,
"They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.'
11So I swore in My wrath, "They shall not enter My
rest."'
12Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil
heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;
13but exhort one another daily, while it is called
"Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of
sin.
14For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the
beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,
15while it is said: "Today, if you will hear His
voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."
16For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not
all who came out of
17Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not
with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?
18And to whom did He swear that they would not enter
His rest, but to those who did not obey?
19So we see that they could not enter in because of
unbelief.
4Therefore, since a promise remains
of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of
it.
2For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as
to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed
with faith in those who heard it.
3For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He
has said: "So I swore in My wrath, "They shall not enter My
rest,"' although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
4For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh
day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His
works";
5and again in this place: "They shall not enter
My rest."
6Since therefore it remains that some must enter it,
and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience,
7again He designates a certain day, saying in David,
"Today," after such a long time, as it has been said: "Today, if
you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts."
8For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not
afterward have spoken of another day.
9There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.
10For he who has entered His rest has himself also
ceased from his works as God did from His.
11Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest
anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
12For the word of God is living and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and
spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart.
13And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but
all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
14Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has
passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
confession.
15For we do not have a High Priest who cannot
sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet
without sin.
16Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
5For every high priest taken from
among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer
both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
2He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and
going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness.
3Because of this he is required as for the people, so
also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins.
4And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is
called by God, just as Aaron was.
5So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High
Priest, but it was He who said to Him: "You are My Son, Today I have
begotten You."
6As He also says in another place: "You are a
priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek";
7who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up
prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to
save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,
8though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the
things which He suffered.
9And having been perfected, He became the author of
eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
10called by God as High Priest "according to the
order of Melchizedek,"
11of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain,
since you have become dull of hearing.
12For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you
need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and
you have come to need milk and not solid food.
13For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled
in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
14But solid food belongs to those who are of full age,
that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both
good and evil.
6Therefore, leaving the discussion of
the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying
again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
2of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands,
of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3And this we will do if God permits.
4For it is impossible for those who were once
enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of
the Holy Spirit,
5and have tasted the good word of God and the powers
of the age to come,
6if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance,
since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open
shame.
7For the earth which drinks in the rain that often
comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated,
receives blessing from God;
8but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and
near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
9But, beloved, we are confident of better things
concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this
manner.
10For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor
of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to
the saints, and do minister.
11And we desire that each one of you show the same
diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end,
12that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those
who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
13For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He
could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,
14saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and
multiplying I will multiply you."
15And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained
the promise.
16For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for
confirmation is for them an end of all dispute.
17Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the
heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath,
18that by two immutable things, in which it is
impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for
refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
19This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure
and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,
20where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus,
having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
7For this Melchizedek, king of
2to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first
being translated "king of righteousness," and then also king of
Salem, meaning "king of peace,"
3without father, without mother, without genealogy,
having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God,
remains a priest continually.
4Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the
patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.
5And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who
receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people
according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from
the loins of Abraham;
6but he whose genealogy is not derived from them
received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
7Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by
the better.
8Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives
them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.
9Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through
Abraham, so to speak,
10for he was still in the loins of his father when
Melchizedek met him.
11Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical
priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was
there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek,
and not be called according to the order of Aaron?
12For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there
is also a change of the law.
13For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to
another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.
14For it is evident that our Lord arose from
15And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of
Melchizedek, there arises another priest
16who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly
commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.
17For He testifies: "You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek."
18For on the one hand there is an annulling of the
former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness,
19for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand,
there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
20And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an
oath
21(for they have become priests without an oath, but He
with an oath by Him who said to Him: "The LORD has sworn And will not
relent, "You are a priest forever According to the order of
Melchizedek"'),
22by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better
covenant.
23Also there were many priests, because they were
prevented by death from continuing.
24But He, because He continues forever, has an
unchangeable priesthood.
25Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost
those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession
for them.
26For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is
holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than
the heavens;
27who does not need daily, as those high priests, to
offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this
He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
28For the law appoints as high priests men who have
weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son
who has been perfected forever.
8Now this is the main point of the
things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand
of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
2a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true
tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.
3For every high priest is appointed to offer both
gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have
something to offer.
4For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest,
since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;
5who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things,
as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For
He said, "See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you
on the mountain."
6But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry,
inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on
better promises.
7For if that first covenant had been faultless, then
no place would have been sought for a second.
8Because finding fault with them, He says:
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new
covenant with the house of
9not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the
10For this is the covenant that I will make with the
house of
11None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his
brother, saying, "Know the LORD,' for all shall know Me, from the least of
them to the greatest of them.
12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and
their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
13In that He says, "A new covenant," He has
made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready
to vanish away.
9Then indeed, even the first covenant
had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.
2For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in
which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the
sanctuary;
3and behind the second veil, the part of the
tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All,
4which had the golden censer and the ark of the
covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had
the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;
5and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing
the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
6Now when these things had been thus prepared, the
priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the
services.
7But into the second part the high priest went alone
once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the
people's sins committed in ignorance;
8the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into
the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was
still standing.
9It was symbolic for the present time in which both
gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the
service perfect in regard to the conscience--
10concerned only with foods and drinks, various
washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
11But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to
come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that
is, not of this creation.
12Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His
own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal
redemption.
13For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of
a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,
14how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God?
15And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new
covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the
first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the
eternal inheritance.
16For where there is a testament, there must also of
necessity be the death of the testator.
17For a testament is in force after men are dead, since
it has no power at all while the testator lives.
18Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated
without blood.
19For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people
according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water,
scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the
people,
20saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which
God has commanded you."
21Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the
tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.
22And according to the law almost all things are
purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
23Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things
in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things
themselves with better sacrifices than these.
24For Christ has not entered the holy places made with
hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in
the presence of God for us;
25not that He should offer Himself often, as the high
priest enters the
26He then would have had to suffer often since the
foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared
to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
27And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after
this the judgment,
28so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.
To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin,
for salvation.
10For the law, having a shadow of the
good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these
same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who
approach perfect.
2For then would they not have ceased to be offered?
For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of
sins.
3But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins
every year.
4For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and
goats could take away sins.
5Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
"Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared
for Me.
6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no
pleasure.
7Then I said, "Behold, I have come-- In the
volume of the book it is written of Me-- To do Your will, O God."'
8Previously saying, "Sacrifice and offering,
burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in
them" (which are offered according to the law),
9then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your
will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second.
10By that will we have been sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11And every priest stands ministering daily and
offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
12But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for
sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,
13from that time waiting till His enemies are made His
footstool.
14For by one offering He has perfected forever those
who are being sanctified.
15But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after
He had said before,
16"This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in
their minds I will write them,"
17then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless
deeds I will remember no more."
18Now where there is remission of these, there is no
longer an offering for sin.
19Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the
Holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20by a new and living way which He consecrated for us,
through the veil, that is, His flesh,
21and having a High Priest over the house of God,
22let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies
washed with pure water.
23Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without
wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
24And let us consider one another in order to stir up
love and good works,
25not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,
as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as
you see the Day approaching.
26For if we sin willfully after we have received the
knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and
fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
28Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy
on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he
be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood
of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the
Spirit of grace?
30For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I
will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The LORD will judge His
people."
31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God.
32But recall the former days in which, after you were
illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings:
33partly while you were made a spectacle both by
reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those
who were so treated;
34for you had compassion on me in my chains, and
joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better
and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.
35Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has
great reward.
36For you have need of endurance, so that after you
have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
37"For yet a little while, And He who is coming
will come and will not tarry.
38Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws
back, My soul has no pleasure in him."
39But we are not of those who draw back to perdition,
but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
11Now faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
3By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by
the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things
which are visible.
4By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous,
God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
5By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see
death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he
was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
6But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for
he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those
who diligently seek Him.
7By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not
yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his
household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness
which is according to faith.
8By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to
the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not
knowing where he was going.
9By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a
foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise;
10for he waited for the city which has foundations,
whose builder and maker is God.
11By faith Sarah herself also received strength to
conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she
judged Him faithful who had promised.
12Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were
born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude--innumerable as the sand
which is by the seashore.
13These all died in faith, not having received the
promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14For those who say such things declare plainly that
they seek a homeland.
15And truly if they had called to mind that country
from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.
16But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly
country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has
prepared a city for them.
17By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up
Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
18of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall
be called,"
19concluding that God was able to raise him up, even
from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning
things to come.
21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of
the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
22By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of
the departure of the children of
23By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three
months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were
not afraid of the king's command.
24By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be
called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
25choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people
of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,
26esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than
the treasures in
27By faith he forsook
28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of
blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
29By faith they passed through the
30By faith the walls of
31By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those
who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.
32And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me
to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel
and the prophets:
33who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked
righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of
the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned
to flight the armies of the aliens.
35Women received their dead raised to life again.
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a
better resurrection.
36Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings,
yes, and of chains and imprisonment.
37They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were
tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and
goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented--
38of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in
deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
39And all these, having obtained a good testimony
through faith, did not receive the promise,
40God having provided something better for us, that
they should not be made perfect apart from us.
12Therefore we also, since we are surrounded
by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin
which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set
before us,
2looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3For consider Him who endured such hostility from
sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
4You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving
against sin.
5And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks
to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor
be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges
every son whom He receives."
7If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with
sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
8But if you are without chastening, of which all have
become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
9Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected
us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection
to the Father of spirits and live?
10For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed
best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
11Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present,
but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of
righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
12Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and
the feeble knees,
13and make straight paths for your feet, so that what
is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
14Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without
which no one will see the Lord:
15looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace
of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this
many become defiled;
16lest there be any fornicator or profane person like
Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.
17For you know that afterward, when he wanted to
inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance,
though he sought it diligently with tears.
18For you have not come to the mountain that may be
touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest,
19and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so
that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them
anymore.
20(For they could not endure what was commanded:
"And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or
shot with an arrow."
21And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said,
"I am exceedingly afraid and trembling." )
22But you have come to
23to the general assembly and church of the firstborn
who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just
men made perfect,
24to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the
blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
25See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if
they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not
escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven,
26whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has
promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also
heaven."
27Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal
of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the
things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which
cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with
reverence and godly fear.
29For our God is a consuming fire.
13Let brotherly love continue.
2Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing
some have unwittingly entertained angels.
3Remember the prisoners as if chained with them--those
who are mistreated--since you yourselves are in the body also.
4Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed
undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
5Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content
with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave
you nor forsake you."
6So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I
will not fear. What can man do to me?"
7Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the
word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their
conduct.
8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and
forever.
9Do not be carried about with various and strange
doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with
foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
10We have an altar from which those who serve the
tabernacle have no right to eat.
11For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is
brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the
camp.
12Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the
people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.
13Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp,
bearing His reproach.
14For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the
one to come.
15Therefore by Him let us continually offer the
sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to
His name.
16But do not forget to do good and to share, for with
such sacrifices God is well pleased.
17Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for
they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so
with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
18Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good
conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.
19But I especially urge you to do this, that I may be
restored to you the sooner.
20Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord
Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the
everlasting covenant,
21make you complete in every good work to do His will,
working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to
whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
22And I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of
exhortation, for I have written to you in few words.
23Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, with
whom I shall see you if he comes shortly.
24Greet all those who rule over you, and all the
saints. Those from
25Grace be with you all. Amen.