Hebrews 12
1 Therefore let us also, who have all these witnesses surrounding us like clouds, cast from us all encumbrances, and sin, which is always prepared for us; and let us run with patience the race that is appointed for us.
Therefore, surrounded as we are by such a vast cloud of witnesses, let us fling aside every encumbrance and the sin that so readily entangles our feet. And let us run with patient endurance the race that lies before us,
2 And let us look on Jesus, who hath become the commencement and the completion of our faith; who, on account of the joy there was for him, endured the cross, and surrendered himself to opprobrium; and is seated on the right hand of the throne of God.
simply fixing our gaze upon Jesus, our Prince Leader in the faith, who will also award us the prize. He, for the sake of the joy which lay before Him, patiently endured the cross, looking with contempt upon its shame, and afterwards seated Himself-- where He still sits--at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Behold, therefore, how much he suffered from sinners, from them who are adversaries of their own soul, that ye may not be discouraged, nor your soul become remiss.
Therefore, if you would escape becoming weary and faint-hearted, compare your own sufferings with those of Him who endured such hostility directed against Him by sinners.
4 Ye have not yet come unto blood, in the contest against sin.
In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted so as to endanger your lives;
5 And ye have forgotten the monition, which saith to you, as to children, My son, disregard not the chastening of the Lord; nor let thy soul faint, when thou art rebuked by him.
and you have quite forgotten the encouraging words which are addressed to you as sons, and which say, "My son, do not think lightly of the Lord's discipline, and do not faint when He corrects you;
6 For, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth; and he scourgeth those sons, for whom he hath kind regards.
for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines: and He scourges every son whom He acknowledges."
7 Therefore endure ye the chastisement; because God is dealing with you as with sons. For what son is there, whom his father chasteneth not?
The sufferings that you are enduring are for your discipline. God is dealing with you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
8 But if ye are without that chastisement, with which every one is chastened, ye are become strangers and not sons.
And if you are left without discipline, of which every true son has had a share, that shows that you are bastards, and not true sons.
9 And if our fathers of the flesh chastened us, and we revered them, how much more ought we to be submissive to our spiritual fathers, and live?
Besides this, our earthly fathers used to discipline us and we treated them with respect, and shall we not be still more submissive to the Father of our spirits, and live?
10 For they chastened us for a short time, according to their pleasure; but God, for our advantage, that we may become partakers of his holiness.
It is true that they disciplined us for a few years according as they thought fit; but He does it for our certain good, in order that we may become sharers in His own holy character.
11 Now all chastisement, in the time of it, is not accounted a matter of joy, but of grief: yet, afterwards, it yieldeth the fruits of peace and righteousness to them who are exercised by it.
Now, at the time, discipline seems to be a matter not for joy, but for grief; yet it afterwards yields to those who have passed through its training a result full of peace--namely, righteousness.
12 Wherefore, strengthen ye your relaxed hands, and your tottering knees:
Therefore strengthen the drooping hands and paralysed knees,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, that the limb which is lame may not be wrenched, but may be healed.
and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put entirely out of joint
14 Follow after peace with every man; and after holiness, without which a man will not see our Lord.
but may rather be restored. Persistently strive for peace with all men, and for that growth in holiness apart from which no one will see the Lord.
15 And be careful, lest any be found among you destitute of the grace of God; or lest some root of bitterness shoot forth germs, and trouble you; and thereby many be defiled:
Be carefully on your guard lest there be any one who falls back from the grace of God; lest any root bearing bitter fruit spring up and cause trouble among you, and through it the whole brotherhood be defiled;
16 or lest any one be found among you a fornicator; or a heedless one like Esau, who for one mess of food, sold his primogeniture.
lest there be a fornicator, or an ungodly person like Esau, who, in return for a single meal, parted with the birthright which belonged to him.
17 For ye know that, afterwards when he wished to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found not a place for repentance, although he sought it with tears.
For you know that even afterwards, when he wished to secure the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no opportunity for undoing what he had done, though he sought the blessing earnestly with tears.
18 For ye have not come to the fire that burned, and the tangible mount; nor to the darkness and obscurity and tempest;
For you have not come to a material object all ablaze with fire, and to gloom and darkness and storm and trumpet-blast and the sound of words--
19 nor to the sound of the trumpet, and the voice of words, which they who heard, entreated that it might no more be spoken to them;
a sound of such a kind that those who heard it entreated that no more should be added.
20 for they could not endure what was commanded. And even a beast, if it approached the mountain, was to be stoned.
For they could not endure the order which had been given, "Even a wild beast, if it touches the mountain, shall be stoned to death;"
21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I fear and tremble.
and so terrible was the scene that Moses said, "I tremble with fear."
22 But ye have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the Jerusalem that is in heaven; and to the assemblies of myriads of angels;
On the contrary you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the ever-living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless hosts of angels,
23 and to the church of the first-born, who are enrolled in heaven and to God the judge of all; and to the spirits of the just, who are perfected;
to the great festal gathering and Church of the first-born, whose names are recorded in Heaven, and to a Judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,
24 and to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant; and to the sprinkling, of his blood, which speaketh better than that of Abel.
and to Jesus the negotiator of a new Covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks in more gracious tones than that of Abel.
25 Beware, therefore, lest ye refuse to hear him who speaketh with you. For if they escaped not, who refused to hear him who spake with them on the earth, how much more shall we not, if we refuse to hear him who speaketh with us from heaven?
Be careful not to refuse to listen to Him who is speaking to you. For if they of old did not escape unpunished when they refused to listen to him who spoke on earth, much less shall we escape who turn a deaf ear to Him who now speaks from Heaven.
26 Whose voice then shook the earth; but now he hath promised, and said, yet again once more, I will shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
His voice then shook the earth, but now we have His promise, "Yet again I will, once for all, cause not only the earth to tremble, but Heaven also."
27 And this his expression, Once more, indicateth the mutation of the things that are shaken, because they are fabricated; that the things which will not be shaken, may remain.
Here the words "Yet again, once for all" denote the removal of the things which can be shaken--created things--in order that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Since, therefore, we have received a kingdom that is unshaken, let us grasp the grace whereby we may serve and please God, with reverence and fear.
Therefore, receiving, as we now do, a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us cherish thankfulness so that we may ever offer to God an acceptable service, with godly reverence and awe.
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
For our God is also a consuming fire.
