Hebrews

Chapter 1

¹ God, having spoken long ago to {our} fathers through the prophets at many times and in many ways, ² in these last days, has spoken to us through a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the ages; ³ who, being the brightness of {his} glory and exact representation of his being, upholding all things by the word of his power and having made cleansing for sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; ⁴ having become far superior to the angels just as he has inherited a more excellent name than them. ⁵ For to which of the angels did he ever say,

     “You are my son,

     today I have fathered you”?

     Or again,

     “I will be as a father to him,

     and he will be as a son to me”?

⁶ But again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “And let all God’s angels worship him.” ⁷ And with regard to the angels he says,

     “He who makes his angels spirits,

     and his servants flames of fire.”

⁸ But to the Son {he says},

     “Your throne, O God, {is} forever {and} ever,

     and the scepter of righteousness {is} the scepter of his kingdom.

     ⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

     Therefore God, your God, has anointed you

     with the oil of exultation more than your companions.”

     ¹⁰ “And in the beginning, O Lord, you laid the earth’s foundation,

     and the heavens are the work of your hands.

     ¹¹ They will perish, but you will continue

     and they will all wear out like a garment.

     ¹² And you will roll them up like a cloak,

     and they will be changed like a garment.

     But you are the same,

     and your years will not end.”

¹³ But to which of the angels has he said at any time,

     “Sit at my right hand

     until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

¹⁴ Are they not all ministering spirits, being sent for service for the sake of those who are going to inherit salvation?

Chapter 2

¹ Therefore it is far more necessary for us to give attention to what we have heard, so that we might not drift away from it. ² For if the message spoken through angels became reliable, and every transgression and disobedience received just punishment, ³ how will we escape, having ignored so great a salvation? This, first having been received to be spoken by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard it; ⁴ God also testifying to it by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by the distributions of the Holy Spirit according to his will.

⁵ For {it was} not to angels that {God} subjected the world that is coming, about which we are speaking. ⁶ Instead, someone has somewhere testified, saying,

     “What is man, that you remember him

     or a son of man, that you care for him?

     ⁷ You made him a little lower than the angels;

     you crowned him with glory and honor. ^[1]

     ⁸ You subjected everything under his feet.”

For in subjecting all things, he left nothing not subjected to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. ⁹ But we see Jesus, who was made somewhat less than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of {his} suffering of death, so that by God’s grace he might taste death on behalf of everyone. ¹⁰ For it was proper for him, for whom all things {exist} and through whom all things {exist}, having brought many sons into glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. ¹¹ For both the one who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified {are} all from one. For this reason, he is not ashamed to call them brothers, ¹² saying,

     “I will proclaim your name to my brothers,

     I will praise you in the midst of the assembly.”

¹³ And again,

     “I will trust in him.”

And again,

     “Behold, {here am} I and the children whom God has given me.”

¹⁴ Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise also shared in the same, so that through death he might abolish the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and might free those, as many as all {their} lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. ¹⁶ For of course {it is} not angels he is concerned with, but {it is} the descendant of Abraham he is concerned with. ¹⁷ So he was obligated to become like {his} brothers in all ways, so that he would be a merciful and faithful high priest concerning the things of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For in that he himself suffered, having been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

Chapter 3

¹ Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider carefully the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus, ² being faithful to the one who appointed him, as also Moses {was} in his house. ³ For he has been considered worthy of greater glory than Moses, just as much greater honor than the house has the one who built it. ⁴ For every house is built by someone, but the one who built everything {is} God. ⁵ And Moses {was} faithful as a servant in his entire house, for a testimony of what will be spoken of in the future; ⁶ but Christ, as a Son over his house—whose house we are if we hold fast to the confidence and the boasting of {our} hope. ⁷ Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says:

     “Today, if you hear his voice,

     ⁸ do not harden your hearts

     as in the rebellion,

     in the day of testing in the wilderness

     ⁹ where your fathers tested {me} by testing {me},

     and they saw my works

     ¹⁰ for 40 years. Therefore I was displeased with that generation

     and I said, ‘They are always being led astray in {their} hearts

     and they have not known my ways.’

     ¹¹ As I swore in my wrath,

     ‘If they will enter into my rest … !’”

¹² Be careful, brothers, so that there will not be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God. ¹³ Instead, encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” so that no one among you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we have become partakers of Christ if we firmly hold to the beginning of {our} confidence until the end. ¹⁵ About this it has been said,

     “Today, if you hear his voice,

     do not harden your hearts,

     as in the rebellion.”

¹⁶ For which ones who heard rebelled? {Was it} not all those who came out from Egypt through Moses? ¹⁷ And with whom was he angry for 40 years? {Was it} not with those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And to whom did he swear that they would not enter into his rest, if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹ And we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

Chapter 4

¹ Therefore, let us be afraid lest while there remains a promise of entering into his rest, any of you might seem to have failed to attain it. ² For we also are having good news proclaimed {to us} just as to them also. But the message of the hearing did not benefit them, not having been united with faith in those who heard it. ^{[1] 3} For we who have believed enter into rest, just as he said,

     “As I swore in my wrath,

     They will never enter into my rest.”

Even so, {his} works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴ For he has somewhere spoken thus about the seventh {day}:

     “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” ⁵ And again in this {same passage},

     “They will never enter into my rest.”

⁶ Therefore, because it remains for some to enter into it, and those who previously had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in, because of {their} disobedience. ⁷ He has again set a certain day calling it “Today,” speaking through David after so much time, just as it had been said,

     “Today if you hear his voice,

     do not harden your hearts.”

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken about another day after this. ⁹ Therefore there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. ¹⁰ For the one who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, just as God {did} from his own. ¹¹ Therefore let us be eager to enter into that rest, so that no one might fall into the same kind of disobedience. ¹² For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ And nothing created is hidden before God. Instead, everything {is} bare and laid open to the eyes of him to whom we {must give} account.

¹⁴ Therefore, having a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us firmly hold to {our} profession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is not able to sympathize with our weaknesses, but being tempted in all ways according to {our} likeness without sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for timely help.

Chapter 5

¹ For every high priest having been chosen from among men on the behalf of men is appointed in the things concerning God, so that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins; ² being able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and who are being deceived, because he also is subject to weakness. ³ And because of this, he is obligated, just as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. ⁴ And no one takes {this} honor for himself, but {only} when called by God, just as also Aaron {was}. ⁵ In the same way also, Christ did not honor himself to become high priest. Instead, the one speaking to him {said},

     “You are my Son;

     today I have become your Father.”

⁶ {It is} just as he also says in another {place},

     “You {are} a priest forever

     after the order of Melchizedek.”

⁷ He, during the days of his flesh, offered up both prayers and requests with loud cries and tears to the one who is able to save him from death and was heard because of {his} godly life. ⁸ Even though being a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered. ⁹ And having been made perfect, he became, for all those who obey him, the source of eternal salvation, ¹⁰ having been designated by God {as} high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

¹¹ Concerning him the message to us {is} great, but hard to say since you have become dull in hearing. ¹² For even though by this time you ought to be teachers, you again have need of one to teach you some of the basic principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to have need of milk, not solid food! ¹³ For anyone who takes milk {is} inexperienced with the message of righteousness, because he is a little child. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by practice have trained {their} senses for distinguishing both of good and of evil.

Chapter 6

¹ So then, having left the beginning of the message of Christ, let us go forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith in God, ² teaching about baptisms, and laying on of hands, and resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³ And this we will do if God permits. ⁴ For {it is} impossible for those who were once enlightened and having tasted the heavenly gift, and having become sharers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and who have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ but having fallen away—to restore them again to repentance while crucifying the Son of God for themselves and publicly shaming him. ⁷ For land that has drunk the rain that often comes upon it and produces plants useful to those for whom it was also cultivated receives a blessing from God; ⁸ but bearing thorns and thistles, {it is} worthless and close to a curse, the end of which {is} for burning.

⁹ But concerning you, beloved ones, we are convinced of things better and accompanying salvation, even if we speak thus. ¹⁰ For God {is} not unjust, to forget your work and the love that you have shown for his name, having served the saints and serving them. ¹¹ And we long for each of you to show the same diligence toward the assurance of {your} hope to the end ¹² so that you might not become lazy, but imitators of those who by faith and patience inherit the promises.

¹³ For God, having made a promise to Abraham, swore by himself, since he had no one greater by {whom} to swear, ¹⁴ saying, “I will most certainly bless you, and I will certainly increase you.” ¹⁵ And in this way, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. ¹⁶ For men swear by someone greater, and the oath {is} for confirmation of the end of each of their disputes. ¹⁷ When God, wanting even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable quality of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath ¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things—in which {it is} impossible for God to lie—we, who have fled for refuge, might have a strong encouragement to hold firmly to the hope set before us; ¹⁹ which we have as an anchor of the soul, both reliable and steadfast, and entering into the inner place {behind} the curtain, ²⁰ where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered in, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Chapter 7

¹ For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, ² to whom also Abraham gave a tenth of everything, first indeed translated as “king of righteousness,” and then also “king of Salem,” that is, “king of peace,” ³ without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

⁴ But see how great this one {was}, to whom the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth from the plunder. ⁵ And those indeed from the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood have a command according to the law to collect tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, even though they have come from the loins of Abraham. ⁶ But Melchizedek, whose descent was not traced from them, received tithes from Abraham, and blessed the one having the promises. ⁷ But without any argument, the lesser is blessed by the greater. ⁸ And in this case, mortal men receive tithes, but in that case it is testified that he lives on. ⁹ And, so to speak, Levi, the one receiving tithes, also paid tithes through Abraham, ¹⁰ because he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met Abraham.

¹¹ So if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need {was there} for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and to not be called according to the order of Aaron? ¹² For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity a change of the law also happens. ¹³ For he about whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has attended to the altar. ¹⁴ For {it is} clear that our Lord is risen from Judah, a tribe toward which Moses said nothing concerning priests. ¹⁵ And this is even more clear, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, ¹⁶ who became {a priest}, not according to a law of fleshly command, but according to the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷ For he is testified to:

     “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

¹⁸ For on the one hand, annulment of the former commandment happens because it {is} weak and useless ¹⁹ (for the law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand {is} the introduction of a better hope, through which we come near to God. ²⁰ And by as much as not without an oath‚—for they without an oath are become priests, ²¹ but he with an oath-taking, through God saying to him,

     “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind:

     ‘You {are} a priest forever’”— ²² in the same way also, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. ²³ And they, on the one hand, who became priests are many, since death prevents them from continuing, ²⁴ but Jesus, on the other hand, since he remains forever, he has a permanent priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore he is also able to save completely those who approach God through him, always living to intercede for them. ²⁶ For such a high priest is indeed suitable for us: holy, innocent, pure, separated from sinners, and having become higher than the heavens; ²⁷ who does not have each day the need, even as the high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people, for he did this, having offered himself once for all. ²⁸ For the law appoints {as} high priests men having weaknesses, but the word of the oath, which {came} after the law, a Son, made perfect forever.

Chapter 8

¹ Now the point of the things being said {is} this: We have a high priest who has sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, ² a servant of the holy {place} and the true tabernacle that the Lord, not a man, set up. ³ For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore {it is} necessary also for this one to have something that he might offer. ⁴ Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the law; ⁵ who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to complete the tabernacle, for he says, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.” ⁶ But now he has received a much better ministry, just as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which is enacted on better promises. ⁷ For if that first {covenant} was faultless, no place would have been sought for a second. ⁸ For 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 Israel and with the house of Judah;

     ⁹ not according to the covenant

         that I made with their fathers

     on the day when I took them by their hand

         to lead them out of the land of Egypt,

     because they did not continue in my covenant,

         and I disregarded them—

     says the Lord.

     ¹⁰ For this {is} the covenant

         that I will make with the house of Israel

     after those days—

         says the Lord.

     I will put my laws into their minds,

     and I will write them on their hearts,

     and I will be their God,

     and they will be my people.

     ¹¹ And they will certainly not teach each one his fellow citizen,

     and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

     for they will all know me,

     from the least of them to the greatest.

     ¹² For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds,

     and their sins I will certainly not remember any longer.”

¹³ By saying, “new,” he has made the first obsolete, and what has been made obsolete and the disappearance of what grows old {is} near.

Chapter 9

¹ Now indeed the first {covenant} had regulations for worship and an earthly holy {place}. ² For a tabernacle was prepared, the first {tent}, in which {were} both the lampstand and the table, and the presentation of the bread, which is called the holy {place}. ³ And behind the second curtain {was} a tent which is called the Holy of Holies, ⁴ having a golden altar for incense and the ark of the covenant, being covered completely with gold, in which {was} a golden jar holding the manna, and the rod of Aaron that had budded, and the tablets of the covenant. ⁵ And above it, glorious cherubim are overshadowing the atonement lid, about which it is not now {the time} to speak in detail. ⁶ And when these things are thus prepared, the priests always enter into the first tent, performing {their} services; ⁷ but into the second {tent}, only once a year the high priest {enters}, {and} not without blood that he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. ⁸ The Holy Spirit shows that the way into the holy {place} is not yet visible while the first tabernacle still has a place, ⁹ which {is} a symbol for the present time, in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, not being able according to conscience to perfect the worshiper, ¹⁰ only concerning food and drink and various washings, regulations of the body, imposed until the time of reformation.

¹¹ But Christ, having come as a high priest of the good things that have come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by human hands, that is not of this creation; ^{[1] 12} and not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered into the holy {place} once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. ¹³ For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes on those who have become unclean sanctify them for the cleansing of {their} flesh, ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your ^[2] conscience from dead works to serve the living God! ¹⁵ And for this reason, he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, a death having taken place for redemption of those under the first covenant from their transgressions, those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. ¹⁶ For where {there is} a covenant, {there is} a necessity for the death of the one who made it to be proven. ¹⁷ For a covenant {is} valid on the basis of a death, because it never has force when the one who made it is alive. ¹⁸ So not even the first {covenant} was established without blood. ¹⁹ For every command according to the law had been spoken by Moses to all the people, having taken the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and red wool and hyssop, he sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying, “This {is} the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for you.” ²¹ And in the same manner, he sprinkled the blood on both the tabernacle and on all the containers of the service. ²² And according to the law, almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

²³ Therefore {it is} a necessary on the one hand for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but on the other hand, the heavenly things themselves, with much better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ did not enter into a holy {place} made with hands, a copy of the true one—but into heaven itself, to appear now in the presence of God for us. ²⁵ And not in order to offer himself many times, even as the high priest enters into the holy {place} each year with the blood of another; ²⁶ since it is necessary for him to suffer many times from the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once at the end of the ages for the annulment of sin through the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ And just as men are appointed to die once, and after that, the judgment, ²⁸ so also, Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time apart from sin, for salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Chapter 10

¹ For the law, having a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the very image of those things—is never able to make perfect those who approach with the same sacrifices that they continually bring every year. ² Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, because no one would still have consciousness of sins, those who worship having been cleansed once for all? ³ But with those sacrifices {there is} a reminder of sins every year. ⁴ For {it is} impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. ⁵ Therefore, entering into the world, he says,

     “Sacrifice and offering

         you did not desire,

         but a body you prepared for me;

     ⁶ in whole burnt offerings and concerning sin {offerings}

         you did not take pleasure.

     ⁷ Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—

         {as} it is written about me in a section of a scroll—

     to do your will, O God.’”

⁸ When he says above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor did you take pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), ⁹ then he said, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He takes away the first {practice} in order to establish the second {practice}. ¹⁰ By that will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. ¹¹ And indeed every priest stands every day ministering, and repeatedly offering the same sacrifices that never are able to take away sins. ¹² But he, having offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, sat down at the right hand of God; ¹³ waiting from then until his enemies might be made a footstool for his feet. ¹⁴ For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. ¹⁵ And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,

     ¹⁶ “This is the covenant that I will make with them

         after those days, says the Lord.

     putting my laws in their hearts,

         and I will write them on their minds.” ¹⁷ And {then},

         “Their sins and their lawless deeds

         I will certainly not still remember.”

¹⁸ Now where {there is} forgiveness for these, {there is} no longer sacrifice for sin.

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers, having confidence to enter the holy {place} by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ which has established for us a new and living way through the curtain, that is, his flesh, ²¹ and a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us approach with true hearts in full assurance of faith, {our} hearts having been sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and {our} bodies having been washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold tightly the confession of {our} hope without wavering, because the one who has promised {is} faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider one another, to stimulate love and good deeds, ²⁵ not abandoning our own meeting together, just as {is} the habit of some, but encouraging, and even more as you see the day approaching.

²⁶ For if we deliberately keep on sinning after we receive the knowledge of the truth, a sacrifice for sins no longer remains, ²⁷ but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and of fiery zeal being about to consume the enemies. ²⁸ Anyone who has rejected the law of Moses dies without mercy at {the testimony of} two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much worse punishment do you think will deserve the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has considered the blood of the covenant—by which he was sanctified—{as} profane, and has insulted the Spirit of grace! ³⁰ For we know the one who said, “Vengeance {is} mine; I will pay back.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ³¹ {It is} a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

³² But remember the former days, in which, having been enlightened, you endured a great struggle of suffering, ³³ sometimes being publicly exposed to both ridicule and persecution, and other times having become partners of those who are are being treated in this way. ³⁴ For you also showed compassion to the prisoners, and you accepted with joy the seizure of your possessions, knowing yourselves to have a better and everlasting possession. ^{[1] 35} So do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. ³⁶ For you have need of endurance so that, having done the will of God, you might receive the promise.

     ³⁷ “For in a very little {while},

     the one who is coming will come and will not delay.

     ³⁸ But my righteous one will live by faith,

     and if he would shrink back, my soul is not pleased with him.”

³⁹ But we are not of shrinking back to destruction, but of faith to the preservation of the soul.

Chapter 11

¹ Now faith is assurance {of things} being hoped for, proof of things not being seen. ² For by this the elders were approved. ³ By faith we understand the ages to have been prepared by the command of God—what is seen was not made from what is visible. ⁴ By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he was attested to be righteous, God testifying because of his gifts, and through faith, having died, he still speaks. ⁵ By faith Enoch was taken up, not seeing death, and “He was not found, because God took him.” For before {his} removal, he was reported to have pleased God. ⁶ Now without faith {it is} impossible to please him, for it is necessary for the one who comes to God to believe that he exists and is a rewarder of those who seek him. ⁷ By faith Noah, having been given a divine message about things not yet being seen, having become reverently obedient, built an ark for salvation of his household, through which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that is according to faith. ⁸ By faith, Abraham, being called, obeyed to go out to a place that he was going to receive for an inheritance and went out, not knowing where he is going. ⁹ By faith he lived in a land of promise as a foreigner, having lived in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the fellow heirs of the same promise, ¹⁰ for he was looking forward to the city having foundations, whose architect and builder {is} God. ¹¹ By faith, even Sarah herself received ability for the conception of a descendant, even beyond the time of full age, since she considered {to be} faithful the one who had promised. ^{[1] 12} Therefore, also from one {man}—and he being made dead—these were born, just as the stars of the sky in number, and countless as the sand along the shore of the sea. ¹³ In faith all these died without receiving the promises, but seeing and greeting them from far off, and having confessed that they are foreigners and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴ For those who say such things make it clear that they seek a homeland. ¹⁵ And if indeed they had been thinking of that one from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But now, they desire a better one, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. ¹⁷ By faith Abraham, being tested, offered Isaac, even the one who had received the promises offered up {his} one and only {son}. ¹⁸ To him it had been said, “Through Isaac your descendants will be named,” ¹⁹ having reasoned that God is able to raise up even from the dead, and in a parable, he received him back from there. ²⁰ By faith also, concerning what is coming, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. ²¹ By faith Jacob, when he is dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, {leaning} on the end of his staff. ²² By faith Joseph, coming to an end, spoke about the departure of the sons of Israel from Egypt and instructed them about his bones. ²³ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw {he was} a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the command of the king. ²⁴ By faith Moses, having become great, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. ²⁵ Instead, he chose to suffer with the people of God, rather than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin. ²⁶ He reasoned that the reproach of the Christ {was} greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking away to {his} reward. ²⁷ By faith he left Egypt, not having feared the anger of the king, for he endured as if he were seeing the unseen one. ²⁸ By faith he performed the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch them. ²⁹ By faith they passed through the Sea of Reeds as if over dry land. When the Egyptians took this attempt, they were swallowed up. ³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, having been encircled for seven days. ³¹ By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who disobeyed, having received the spies with peace. ³² And what more might I say? For the time will fail me, telling about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and also Samuel and the prophets, ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, worked justice, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ extinguished the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were healed from illnesses, became mighty in battle, {and} defeated foreign armies. ³⁵ Women received back their dead from resurrection, but others were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might experience a better resurrection; ³⁶ and others received trials of mocking and of whippings, and even of chains and of imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tested, they died with slaughter of the sword, they went about in sheepskins {and} in goatskins, destitute, oppressed, mistreated; ^{[2] 38} (of whom the world was not worthy), being caused to wander about in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. ³⁹ And all these, having been commended because of {their} faith, did not receive the promise, ⁴⁰ God having planned something better concerning us, so that without us, they would not be made perfect.

Chapter 12

¹ Therefore, we also, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, having laid aside every weight and the easily entangling sin, let us run with endurance the race that is placed before us, ² looking away to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of the faith, who because of the joy that is placed before him, endured the cross, despising its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ For think about the one who has endured such opposition by sinners against himself, so that you might not become weary in your souls, giving up.

⁴ You have not yet resisted to the point of blood, struggling against sin, ⁵ and you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:

     “My son, do not think lightly of the Lord’s discipline,

     nor be wearied when you are reproved by him;”

     ⁶ For whom the Lord loves, he disciplines,

     and he punishes every son whom he receives.

⁷ {If} you endure in discipline, God offers himself to you as to sons. For what son {is there} whom {his} father does not discipline? ⁸ But if you are without discipline, of which all {men} have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not {his} sons. ⁹ Furthermore, on the one hand, we had the fathers of our flesh {as} discipliners and we respected them; on the other hand, will we not much more be subjected to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For on the one hand, they disciplined us for a few days according to what they think {best}, but he, on the other hand, for {our} benefit, to partake of his holiness. ¹¹ Now every discipline does not seem to be joy at the time, but pain, but afterward it produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness for those who have been trained by it. ¹² Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are paralyzed, ¹³ and make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame might not be sprained, but rather might be healed.

¹⁴ Pursue peace with all {men}, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord, ¹⁵ exercising care that no one is lacking from the grace of God, not any root of bitterness is growing up to cause trouble, and by this many might become defiled, ¹⁶ not any sexually immoral or profane one such as Esau, who in exchange for one meal sold his own birthright. ¹⁷ For you know that even afterwards, desiring to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, because he found no opportunity for repentance, even though he sought it with tears.

¹⁸ For you have not come to what that can be touched and to a blazing fire and to darkness and to gloom and to a storm, ¹⁹ and to a trumpet blast and to a voice of words whose hearers begged for not a word to be added to them. ²⁰ For they could not endure what was commanded: “If even an animal might touch the mountain, it must be stoned.” ^{[1] 21} And what appeared was so fearful {that} Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling.” ²² But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly ²³ and to the church of the firstborn, who have been registered in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous ones made perfect, ²⁴ and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood speaking better than Abel’s. ²⁵ See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warns them on earth, much less we who turn away from the one from heaven; ²⁶ the voice of whom at that time shook the earth, but now he has promised, saying, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.” ²⁷ But this {phrase}, “Once more,” indicates the removal of the things that are shaken, that is, of what has been created, so that what is not shaken might remain. ²⁸ Therefore, receiving an unshakeable kingdom, let us have gratitude, through which we may worship in a manner pleasing to God, with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for indeed our God {is} a consuming fire.

Chapter 13

¹ Let brotherly love continue. ² Do not forget hospitality, for through this, some have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. ³ Remember the prisoners, as if you were bound with them, {and} those who are mistreated, as if you also were with them in body. ⁴ Marriage {is} honorable in all, and the marriage bed {is} pure, for God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers. ⁵ {Your} conduct {is to be} free from the love of money, being content with the things you have, for he himself has said, “I will never leave you, nor never will I forsake you.” ⁶ So then, we are confident to say,

     “The Lord is {my} helper, and I will not be made afraid.

     What will a man do to me?”

⁷ Consider your leaders, who spoke the Word of God to you, of whom considering the result of {their} conduct, imitate {their} faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ {is} the same yesterday and today and forever. ⁹ Do not be carried away by various and strange teachings. For it is good for the heart to be confirmed by grace, not by foods that do not help those who walk by them. ¹⁰ We have an altar from which those who serve in the tabernacle do not have the right to eat. ¹¹ For the blood of those animals is brought for sins by the high priest into the holy {place}, {but} the bodies of these are burned outside the camp. ¹² So Jesus also suffered outside the gate, in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. ¹³ Let us therefore go to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. ¹⁴ For we do not have a permanent city here, but we are seeking one that is to come. ¹⁵ Through him, let us offer up a sacrifice of praise through all to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. ¹⁶ But let us not neglect the doing of good and sharing, for God is pleased with such sacrifices. ¹⁷ Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give account, in order that they might do this with joy and not with groaning, for this would be useless to you.

¹⁸ Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live rightly in all things. ¹⁹ But I encourage you even more to do this, so that I will be returned to you sooner.

²⁰ Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus, by the blood of the eternal covenant, ²¹ may he equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what {is} pleasing before him, through Jesus Christ, to whom {be} the glory forever {and} ever. Amen.

²² Now I encourage you, brothers, bear with the word of encouragement, for only in a few {words} I have written to you. ²³ Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, with whom I will see you if he comes soon.

²⁴ Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.

²⁵ Grace {be} with you all.