Hebrews 12
1 Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Seeing, therefore, that there is on every side of us such a throng of witnesses, let us also lay aside everything that hinders us, and the sin that clings about us, and run with patient endurance the race that lies before us,
2 looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
our eyes fixed upon Jesus, the Leader and perfect Example of our faith, who, for the joy that lay before him, endured the cross, heedless of its shame, and now ‘has taken his seat at the right hand’ of the throne of God.
3 For consider him that hath endured such gainsaying of sinners against themselves, that ye wax not weary, fainting in your souls.
Weigh well the example of him who had to endure such opposition from ‘men who were sinning against themselves,’ so that you should not grow weary or faint-hearted.
4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin:
You have not yet, in your struggle with sin, resisted to the death;
5 and ye have forgotten the exhortation, which reasoneth with you as with sons, My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord, Nor faint when thou art reproved of him;
and you have forgotten the encouraging words which are addressed to you as God’s Children — ‘My child, think not lightly of the Lord’s discipline, Do not despond when he rebukes you;
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, And scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
For it is him whom he loves that he disciplines, And he chastises every child whom he acknowledges.’
7 It is for chastening that ye endure; God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is there whom [his] father chasteneth not?
It is for your discipline that you have to endure all this. God is dealing with you as his Children. For where is there a child whom his father does not discipline?
8 But if ye are without chastening, whereof all have been made partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
If you are left without that discipline, in which all children share, it shows that you are bastards, and not true Children.
9 Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Further, when our earthly fathers disciplined us, we respected them. Shall we not, then, much rather yield submission to the Father of souls, and live?
10 For they verily for a few days chastened [us] as seemed good to them; but he for [our] profit, that [we] may be partakers of his holiness.
Our fathers disciplined us for only a short time and as seemed best to them; but God disciplines us for our true good, to enable us to share his holiness.
11 All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous, but grievous: yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, [even the fruit] of righteousness.
No discipline is pleasant at the time; on the contrary, it is painful. But afterwards its fruit is seen in the peacefulness of a righteous life which is the lot of those who have been trained under it.
12 Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the palsied knees;
Therefore ‘lift again the down-dropped hands and straighten the weakened knees;
13 and make straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not turned out of the way, but rather be healed.
make straight paths for your feet,’ so that the lame limb may not be put out of joint, but rather be cured.
14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord:
Try earnestly to live at peace with every one, and to attain to that purity without which no one will see the Lord.
15 looking carefully lest [there be] any man that falleth short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble [you], and thereby the many be defiled;
Take care that no one fails to use the loving help of God, ‘that no bitterness is allowed to take root and spring up, and cause trouble,’ and so poison the whole community.
16 lest [there be] any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright.
Take care that no one becomes immoral, or irreligious like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
17 For ye know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected (for he found no place of repentance), though he sought it diligently with tears.
For you know that even afterwards, when he wished to claim his father’s blessing, he was rejected — for he never found an opportunity to repair his error — though he begged for the blessing with tears.
18 For ye are not come unto [a mount] that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
It is not to tangible ‘flaming fire’ that you have drawn near, nor to ‘gloom, and darkness, and storm,
19 and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which [voice] they that heard entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them:
and the blast of a trumpet, and an audible voice.’ Those who heard that voice entreated that they might hear no more,
20 for they could not endure that which was enjoined, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned;
for they could not bear to think of the command — ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it is to be stoned to death;’
21 and so fearful was the appearance, [that] Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:
and so fearful was the sight that Moses said — ‘I tremble with fear.’
22 but ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels,
No, but it is to Mount Zion that you have drawn near, the City of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless hosts of angels,
23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
to the festal gathering and assemblage of God’s Eldest Sons whose names are enrolled in Heaven, to God the Judge of all men, to the spirits of the righteous who have attained perfection,
24 and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than [that of] Abel.
to Jesus, the intermediary of a new Covenant, and to the Sprinkled Blood that tells of better things than the blood of Abel.
25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not, when they refused him that warned [them] on earth, much more [shall not] we [escape], who turn away from him that [warneth] from heaven:
Beware how you refuse to hear him who is speaking. For, if the Israelites did not escape punishment, when they refused to listen to him who taught them on earth the divine will, far worse will it be for us, if we turn away from him who is teaching us from Heaven.
26 whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven.
Then his voice shook the earth, but now his declaration is — ‘Still once more I will cause not only the earth to tremble, but also the heavens.’
27 And this [word], Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.
And those words ‘still once more’ indicate the passing away of all that is shaken — that is, of all created things — in order that only what is unshaken may remain.
28 Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe:
Therefore, let us, who have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken, be thankful, and so offer acceptable worship to God, with awe and reverence.
29 for our God is a consuming fire.
For our God is ‘a consuming fire.’
