Hebrews 6
1 Therefore, interrupting an explanation of the basics of Christ, let us consider what is more advanced, not presenting again the fundamentals of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Therefore, let us leave behind the elementary teaching about the Christ and press on to perfection, not always laying over again a foundation of repentance for a lifeless formality, of faith in God –
2 of the doctrine of baptism, and also of the imposition of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. (aiōnios g166)
teaching concerning baptisms and the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and a final judgment. (aiōnios g166)
3 And we shall do this, if indeed God permits it.
Yes and, with God’s help, we will.
4 For it is impossible for those who were once illuminated, and have even tasted of the heavenly gift, and have become sharers in the Holy Spirit,
For if those who were once for all brought into the light, and learned to appreciate the gift from heaven, and came to share in the Holy Spirit,
and learned to appreciate the beauty of the divine message, and the new powers of the coming age – (aiōn g165)
6 have yet fallen away, to be renewed again to penance, since they are crucifying again in themselves the Son of God and are still maintaining pretenses.
if those, I say, fell away, it would be impossible to bring them again to repentance; they would be crucifying the Son of God over again for themselves, and exposing him to open contempt.
7 For the earth accepts a blessing from God, by drinking in the rain that often falls upon it, and by producing plants that are useful to those by whom it is cultivated.
Ground that drinks in the showers that from time to time fall on it, and produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is tilled, receives a blessing from God;
8 But whatever brings forth thorns and briers is rejected, and is closest to what is accursed; their consummation is in combustion.
but, if it bears thorns and thistles, it is regarded as worthless, it is in danger of being cursed, and its end will be the fire.
9 But from you, most beloved, we are confident that there will be things better and closer to salvation; even though we speak in this way.
But about you, dear friends, even though we speak in this way, we are confident of better things – of things that point to your salvation.
10 For God is not unjust, such that he would forget your work and the love that you have shown in his name. For you have ministered, and you continue to minister, to the saints.
For God is not unjust; he will not forget the work that you did, and the love that you showed for his name, in sending help to your fellow Christians – as you are still doing.
11 Yet we desire that each one of you display the same solicitude toward the fulfillment of hope, even unto the end,
But our great desire is that every one of you should be equally earnest to attain to a full conviction that our hope will be fulfilled, and that you should keep that hope to the end.
12 so that you may not be slow to act, but instead may be imitators of those who, through faith and patience, shall inherit the promises.
Then you will not show yourselves slow to learn, but you will copy those who, through faith and patience, are now entering upon the enjoyment of God’s promises.
13 For God, in making promises to Abraham, swore by himself, (because he had no one greater by whom he might swear),
When God gave his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater by whom he could swear, he swore by himself.
14 saying: “Blessing, I shall bless you, and multiplying, I shall multiply you.”
His words were – “I will assuredly bless you and increase your numbers.”
15 And in this way, by enduring patiently, he secured the promise.
And so, after patiently waiting, Abraham obtained the fulfilment of God’s promise.
16 For men swear by what is greater than themselves, and an oath as confirmation is the end of all their controversy.
People, of course, swear by what is greater than themselves, and with them an oath is accepted as putting a matter beyond all dispute.
17 In this matter, God, wanting to reveal more thoroughly the immutability of his counsel to the heirs of the promise, interposed an oath,
And therefore God, in his desire to show, with unmistakable plainness, to those who were to enter on the enjoyment of what he had promised, the unchangeableness of his purpose, bound himself with an oath.
18 so that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have the strongest solace: we who have fled together so as to hold fast to the hope set before us.
For he intended us to find great encouragement in these two unchangeable things, which make it impossible for God to prove false – we, I mean, who fled for safety where we might lay hold on the hope set before us.
19 This we have as an anchor of the soul, safe and sound, which advances even to the interior of the veil,
This hope is an anchor for our souls, secure and strong, and it reaches into the sanctuary that lies behind the curtain,
20 to the place where the forerunner Jesus has entered on our behalf, so as to become the High Priest for eternity, according to the order of Melchizedek. (aiōn g165)
where Jesus, our forerunner, has entered on our behalf, after being made for all time a high priest of the order of Melchizedek. (aiōn g165)
