Hebrews
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a large cloud of witnesses, let
us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and
let us run with perseverance the race set before us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus,
the pioneer and perfecter of the faith.
Because of the joy set before him he
endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right
hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who has endured such hostility
from sinners against himself, so that you do not grow tired and give up.
You have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed in your striving against sin.
And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children?
“My child, do not treat lightly the Lord’s discipline, or give up when you are
corrected by Him,
because those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and
He chastises every child He accepts.”
For the sake of discipline you have to endure trials. God is
dealing with you as with children, and what child is there whom a father
does not discipline?
But if you do not experience discipline, which all
children share in, then you are illegitimate and not true children.
Besides, we
had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not much
more be subject to the Father of spirits, and receive Life?
For they
disciplined us for a short time as seemed good to them, but He disciplines us
for our benefit, so that we may share His holiness.
All discipline at the time
seems not joyful but painful, yet afterward it produces the peaceful fruit of
uprightness for those trained by it.
Therefore strengthen your weak hands and your feeble knees,
and
stay on the straight paths, so that what is lame may not be put out of
joint, but rather healed.
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, because without it no one
will see the Lord.
Take care that no one comes short of the grace of God,
that no one like a bitter shoot springs up and causes trouble, and many are defiled.
Let no one become an immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own
firstborn inheritance for a single meal.
For you know that later when he wanted to
inherit the blessing, he was rejected, because he found no opportunity to repair things by
repentance, although he sought the blessing with tears.
For you have not come to something that can be touched, to a blazing
fire, darkness, gloom and whirlwind,
the blast of a trumpet, and a voice
speaking words that those who heard begged to hear no more.
For they
could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the
mountain, it must be stoned.”
So fearful was the sight that Moses said, “I
am terrified and trembling.”
But you have come to Mount Zion, the city of
the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to multitudes of angels,
to the
church and assembly of the firstborn who are recorded in heaven, and to God,
the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the upright made perfect,
and to
Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks
of something better than the blood of Abel did.
See that you do not refuse the One who is speaking. For if they did not
escape when they refused the one who warned them on the earth, how much less
will we if we reject the One who warns from heaven?
His voice shook the earth
then, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth,
but also the heavens.”
This phrase “Once more” indicates the removing of
those things that can be shaken, of created things, so that those things which
cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we are destined to receive a
Kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, and through it offer service
pleasing to God, with reverence and awe,
because our God is a consuming
fire.
Hebrews