us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and
having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let
us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but
let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day
approaching.
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How
much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has
trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing
the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the
Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”[e] 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32Remember
those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood
your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33Sometimes
you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you
stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34You
sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation
of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and
lasting possessions.
35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37For in just a very little while,
“He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38But my righteous one[f] will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
3By
faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so
that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 4By
faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he
was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings.
And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
5By
faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience
death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For
before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And
without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes
to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who
earnestly seek him.
7By
faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built
an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and
became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8By
faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as
his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he
was going. 9By
faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a
foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were
heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he[a]considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And
so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as
numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the
seashore.
13All
these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not
receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from
a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on
earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead,
they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is
not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for
them.
17By
faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He
who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only
son, 18even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring[b] will be reckoned.”[c] 19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
22By
faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the
Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.
23By
faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born,
because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of
the king’s edict.
24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26He
regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the
treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28By
faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the
destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea[d] as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
30By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
31By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.[e]
32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched
the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose
weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and
routed foreign armies. 35Women
received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured
and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better
resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned[f];
they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went
about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and
mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us
throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,
and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let
us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who
for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and
sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”[a]
7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover,
we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them
for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and
live! 10Our
fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God
disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No
discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however,
it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have
been trained by it.
12Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13“Make level paths for your feet,”[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Warning Against Refusing God
14Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16See
that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a
single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17Afterward,
as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected.
He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing
with tears.
18You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”[c] 21The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”[d]
22But
you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the
living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in
joyful assembly, 23to
the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You
have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men
made perfect, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25See
to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape
when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we,
if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26At
that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once
more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”[e] 27The
words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is,
created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
28Therefore,
since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be
thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29for our “God is a consuming fire.”[f]
