Hebrews 13
1 Continue to love your fellow believers.
Continue in brotherly love.
2 Do not forget to be hospitable to needy travelers [LIT]. You need to know that by being hospitable, some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by showing hospitality some have hosted angels without knowing it.
3 Remember [to help] those who are in prison [because they are Christians], as though you were in prison with them. Remember those who are being mistreated {whom people are mistreating} [because they are believers. As you do that], consider that you you could suffer as they do.
Remember those in prison, as though you were in prison with them. Also remember those who are mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering with them.
4 You must (respect/keep sacred) the marriage relationship in every way, and you must keep sexual relations [EUP] pure, because God will surely condemn those who act immorally and those who act adulterously.
Marriage must be held in honor by all, and the marriage bed must be kept pure, but God will judge fornicators and adulterers.
5 Live without constantly coveting money, and be content with the things you possess, remembering what [Moses] wrote [that God] has said [about supplying what you need], I will never leave you, I will never stop providing for you [DOU].
Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for God has said, “I will never leave yoʋ or forsake yoʋ.”
6 So we can say confidently [as the Psalmist said], Since the Lord is the one who helps me, I will not be afraid! People can do nothing to me [that will deprive me of God’s blessings] [RHQ].
So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will not fear anything that man might do to me.”
7 Your spiritual leaders used to tell you the message from God [before they died]. Remember how they conducted their lives. By considering (how they died/what resulted from how they lived), imitate how they believed [in Christ/God].
Remember your leaders, who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their conduct, and imitate their faith.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (aiōn g165)
9 [So], do not let yourselves be diverted {let anything divert you} so that you believe various teachings [that are contrary to God’s truth]. It is good that God acts kindly toward us so that we may be strengthened spiritually. [Obeying rules about] various foods, rules that have not benefited those who obeyed them, will not benefit us.
Do not be carried away by various kinds of strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by regulations about food, which have not benefited those who follow them.
10 We have [Jesus] [MTY]. All those who continue to observe the Jewish rituals [MTY] of sacrifice have no right to obtain the benefits of his sacrifice [MET].
We have an altar from which those who serve in the tabernacle have no right to eat.
11 After the high priest brings into the most holy place the blood of animals [that they have sacrificed to atone] for sins, the bodies of those animals are burned {they burn the bodies of those animals} outside the camp.
For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp.
12 Similarly, Jesus suffered [and died] outside the gate [of Jerusalem] in order that he might make [us], his people, holy by [offering] his own blood [as a sacrifice to atone for our sins].
So Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood.
13 So, we must abandon [performing Jewish] sacrifices and rituals [MET] [in order to be saved], and let us go to Jesus [to be saved]. As we do that, we must [be willing to] let others reproach us just like people reproached Jesus.
Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.
14 Here on earth, we believers do not have a city [such as Jerusalem where we must] continually [offer sacrifices] [MET]. Instead, we are waiting for a future [heavenly] city [that will last forever].
For here we do not have a lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
15 With [the help of] Jesus, we must continually praise God. That will be something we can sacrifice [to him] [MET] [instead of our sacrificing animals only at specific times]. Specifically, we must say openly [MTY] [that we have trusted] in Christ [MTY].
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.
16 Be continually [LIT] doing good deeds [for others], and be continually sharing [with others the things you have], because doing things like that will [also] be [as though you are offering] sacrifices that will please God.
Do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
17 Obey your [spiritual] leaders; do what they tell you, since they are the ones who are looking out for your spiritual welfare [SYN]. [Some day] they will have to stand before God so that he can say if he approves of what they have done. Obey them in order that they can do the work of guarding you joyfully, and not have to do it sadly, because if you cause them to do it sadly, that will certainly not help you at all (OR, they will not be able to help you at all).
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who must give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no benefit to you.
18 Pray for me. I am certain that I have not done anything that displeases God. I have tried to act honorably [toward you] in every way.
Pray for us, for we are convinced that we have a clear conscience, desiring to live honorably in every way.
19 I urge you earnestly to pray that [God] will quickly remove the things that hinder my coming to you.
I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you more quickly.
20 Jesus [provides for us], [protects us, and guides us as] a great shepherd does for his sheep [MET]. And God, who gives us [inner] peace, brought our Lord Jesus back to life. By doing that, God ratified his eternal covenant with us by the blood [that flowed from Jesus when he died on the] cross. (aiōnios g166)
Now may the God of peace, who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, (aiōnios g166)
21 So I pray that God will equip you with everything good [that you need in order] that you may do the things that he desires. May he accomplish in our lives whatever he considers pleasing as a result of Jesus Christ [equipping us]. May Jesus Christ be praised forever. (Amen!/May it be so!) (aiōn g165)
equip you in every good work so that you may do his will. May he accomplish in you what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (aiōn g165)
22 My fellow believers, I appeal to you that you patiently consider [what] I have written in this short letter, to exhort you.
Now I urge you, brothers, to bear with this brief word of exhortation that I have written to you.
23 I want you to know that our fellow believer Timothy has been released {[the authorities] have released our fellow believer Timothy} [from prison]. If he comes here soon, he will accompany me when I go to see you.
You should know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he comes soon, he will be with me when I see you.
24 Tell all your [spiritual] leaders and all the [other] fellow believers [in your city] that (I am thinking fondly about them/I am sending them my greetings). The believers [in this area who have come] from Italy [want you to know they] are (thinking about you/sending you their greetings).
Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who are from Italy greet you.
25 [I pray that] you will continue to experience God’s acting kindly toward you all.
Grace be with you all. Amen.
