CODEX
SINAITICUS: The New Testament translated from the Sinaitic Manuscript
Discovered by Constantine
Tischendorf at
Copyright ©2004 Jackson H.
Snyder II
HEBREWS
Hebrews 1
1 God, after having in many parts and many ways
spoken in ancient times to the fathers, in the prophets, has in the end of
these days spoken to us in his Son,
2 whom he has appointed heir of all things, through
whom also he made the ages,
3 who, being the effulgence of his glory and the
exact image of his substance, bearing onward also all things by the word of his
power, when he had through himself made a cleansing of sins sat down at the
right hand of the majesty on high,
4 having become so much superior to angels as the
name which he has inherited is more excellent than they.
5 For to which of the angels said he at any time:
Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? and again: I will be to him a
Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
6 And when he shall have brought again the first
begotten into the world, he says: And let all the angels of God worship him.
7 And in respect indeed to angels, he says: Who
makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.
8 But with respect to the Son: Thy throne, O God,
is forever and ever; and: A scepter of rectitude is the scepter of thy kingdom.
9 Thou didst love righteousness and hate iniquity:
therefore, O God, thy God has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy
fellows.
10 And: Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the
foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands:
11 they shall perish, but thou remainest: and they
all shall grow old as a garment,
12 and as a mantle shalt thou roll them up, and
they shall be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
13 But to which of the angels has he said at any
time: Sit at my right hand, till I make thy enemies thy footstool?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth
to minister for the sake of those that shall inherit salvation?
Hebrews 2
1 For this reason it is necessary that we give the
more earnest heed to the things that have been heard, lest perhaps we glide
away from them.
2 For if the word that was spoken through angels
became steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompense of reward,
3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great
salvation? which began to be spoken through the Lord, and was confirmed for us
by those that heard,
4 God jointly testifying with them, both by signs
and wonders, and various mighty deeds, and distributions of the Holy Spirit,
according to his will.
5 For not to angels did he put in subjection the
world to come, of which we speak.
6 But one in some place testified, saying: What is
man that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou lookest on him?
7 Thou madest him a little lower than angels, with
glory and honor thou didst crown him,
8 thou didst put all things in subjection under his
feet. For in having subjected all things to him, he left nothing not subjected
to him; but now we see not yet all things subjected to him.
9 But him that was made a little lower than angels
we do see, Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and
honor; that he by the grace of God might taste of death for every man.
10 For it became him, for whom are all things and
through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the author
of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
11 For both he that sanctifies and they that are
sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them
brethren,
12 saying: I will declare thy name to my brethren,
in the midst of the congregation will I sing hymns to thee.
13 And again: I will put my trust in him. And
again: Behold, I and the children that God gave to me.
14 Since then the children partake of flesh and
blood, himself also in like manner took part in the same, that through death he
might render powerless him that has the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 and deliver them who through fear of death were
all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16 For surely not angels does he succor,* but the
posterity of Abraham he succors.
*To
succor—to take hold of in order to save.
17 Whence, it behooved him in all things to be made
like his brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in
things pertaining to God, that he might make expiation for the sins of the
people.
18 For in that he himself has suffered being
tempted, he is able also to assist those that are tempted.
Hebrews 3
1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly
calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus,
2 who was faithful to him that appointed him, as
Moses also in all his house.
3 For this man has been counted worthy of more
honor than Moses, by as much as he that constructed the house has more honor
than the house.
4 For every house is constructed by some one, but
he that constructed all things is God.
5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as
a servant, for a testimony to those things that should afterward be spoken;
6 but Christ is a Son over his own house, whose
house we are, if we hold fast the boldness and the glorying of the hope.
7 Wherefore, as says the Holy Spirit: Today, if you
hear his voice,
8 harden not your hearts as in the provocation in
the day of temptation in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers tempted me by proving and saw
my works forty years.
10 Wherefore I was angry with that generation, and
said: They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways,
11 so I swore in my wrath: They shall not enter
into my rest.
12 Take heed, brethren, lest perhaps there shall be
in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief in apostatizing from the living
God,
13 but exhort one another each day, while it is
called Today, lest any one of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin;
14 for we have become partakers of Christ, if
indeed we hold fast the beginning of the confidence firm to the end.
15 In its being said: To-day, if you hear his
voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation;
16 for who, when they heard, did provoke? yes, did
not all that came out of
17 And with whom was he angry forty years? was it
not with those that sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness?,
18 And to whom did he swear that they should not
enter into his rest, but to those that believed not?
19 And we see that they could not enter in because
of unbelief.
Hebrews 4
1 Let us fear, therefore, lest perhaps, as there
remains a promise of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to have
come short of it.
2 For we also have had the good news preached to
us, even as they; but the word that was heard did not profit them, not being
mixed with faith in them that heard.
3 For we who have believed are entering into the
rest, as he has said: So I swore in my wrath: They shall not enter into my
rest, although his works had been finished from the foundation of the world.
4 For he has spoken in some place of the seventh
day thus: And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.
5 And in this again: They shall not enter into my
rest.
6 Since then it remains that some enter into it,
and those, that formerly had the good news preached to them, entered not in
because of unbelief,
7 again he determines a day, Today, saying in David
after so long a time, as has been said before, To-day if you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not
after this have spoken of another day.
9 There remains, therefore, a sabbath rest for the
people of God.
10 For he that has entered into his rest has also
himself rested from his works, as God from his own.
11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter into that
rest, lest any one fall after the same example of unbelief.
12 For the word of God is living and energetic, and
sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing asunder of
soul and spirit, of the joints also and the marrow, and is a judge of the
thoughts and purposes of the heart;
13 and there is no creature not manifest .in his
sight, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him, to whom we must
give an account.
14 Having therefore a great high priest that has
passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast the
confession.
15 For we have not a high priest that can not
sympathize with our infirmities, but has been tempted in all things like
ourselves, without sin.
16 Let us therefore come with boldness to the
throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and find grace for seasonable help.
Hebrews 5
1 For every high priest taken from among men is
appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and
sacrifices for sins,
2 being able to have compassion on the ignorant and
erring, since himself also is compassed with weakness,
3 and because of it he is obliged, as for the
people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.
4 And not to himself does any one take the honor,
but being called by God, just as also Aaron.
5 So, also, Christ glorified not himself in having
become a high priest, but he that said to him: Thou art my Son, this day have I
begotten thee:
6 as also in another place he says: Thou art a
priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedec:
7 who, in the days of his flesh, having with strong
crying and tears offered up both prayers and supplications to him who was able
to save him from death, and having been heard because of his piety,
8 although he was a Son, learned obedience from the
things that he suffered;
9 and having been made perfect, he became, to all
those that obey him, the author of eternal salvation,
10 having been addressed by God as high priest
according to the order of Melchisedec.
11 Concerning whom we have many things to say, and
hard to be explained, since you have become dull of hearing.
12 For while you ought, on account of the time, to
be teachers, you again have need that some one teach you what are first
principles of the oracles of God, and have need of milk, not of solid food.
13 For every one that partakes of milk is unskilled
in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe;
14 but solid food belongs to full-grown men, who
because of habit have their senses exercised to the discerning of both good and
evil.
Hebrews 6
1 Wherefore passing by the rudimental instruction
concerning Christ, let us go onward to the perfection, not again laying a
foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2 of the teaching in respect to baptisms, also of
the laying on of hands, also of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal
judgment.
3 And this will we do, if indeed God permit.
4 For it is impossible to renew again to repentance
those that were once enlightened, and had tasted of the heavenly gift, and had
become partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5 and had tasted the good word of God, and the
powers of the coming age,
6 and have fallen away, crucifying to themselves
the Son of God anew, and putting him to an open shame.
7 For land that drinks up the rain that often comes
upon it, and yields herbs fit for those for whose sake it is also cultivated,
shares blessing from God;
8 but bringing forth thorns and thistles it is
disapproved and near a curse, the end of which is for burning.
9 But concerning you, beloved, we are persuaded
better things, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work,
and the love which you showed for his name, in having ministered to the saints,
and in ministering.
11 But we desire that each one of you show the same
diligence in respect to the full assurance of the hope to the end,
12 in order that you become not slothful, but
imitators of those who through faith and longsuffering inherit the promises.
13 For when God made promise to Abraham, since he
could swear by no greater, he swore by himself,
14 saying: Surely blessing 1 will bless thee, and
multiplying I will multiply thee;
15 and so having patiently endured he obtained the
promise.
16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and to them
an oath for confirmation is an end of all strife:
17 in which God being more abundantly willing to
show to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his purpose, interposed
with an oath,
18 that by two immutable things, in which it is
impossible for God to lie, we may have strong consolation, who have fled for
refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us,
19 which we have as an anchor of the soul both safe
and steadfast and which enters into the part within the veil,
20 whither a forerunner for us has entered, Jesus,
having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchisedec.
Hebrews 7
1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of
the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings
and blessed him,
2 to whom Abraham also divided a tenth of all,
first indeed being by interpretation king of righteousness, and then also king
of Salem, which is king of peace,
3 without father, without mother, without
genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but being made
like unto the Son of God, abides a priest continually.
4 And consider how great this man was, to whom
Abraham the patriarch gave even a tenth of the best of the spoils.
5 And they indeed of the sons of Levi who receive
the priesthood have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the
law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham;
6 but he that counts not his genealogy from these
took tithes of Abraham, and has blessed him that had the promises.
7 And without all contradiction the less is blessed
by the greater.
8 And here indeed men that die receive tithes, but
there he that has the testimony that he lives.
9 And, so to speak, even Levi, who receives tithes,
has been tithed through Abraham;
10 for he was yet in the loins of his father when
Melchisedec met him.
11 If indeed, then, perfection was through the
Levitical priesthood, for upon it the people received the law, what further
need that a different priest should arise according to the order of
Melchisedec, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?
12 For the priesthood being changed, there becomes
of necessity a change also of the law.
13 For he of whom these things are spoken, belongs
to another tribe, from which no one has given attendance at the altar;
14 for it is evident that our Lord has sprung from
15 And it is yet more abundantly evident, if
according to the likeness of Melchisedec there arises a different priest,
16 who was made such not according to the law of a
carnal commandment, but according to the power of an indissoluble life.
17 For it is testified: Thou art a priest for ever
according to the order of Melchisedec.
18 For there takes place indeed a setting aside of
the preceding commandment on account of the weakness and unprofitableness of it,
19 for the law perfected nothing, and the
introduction of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
20 And inasmuch as not without the swearing of an
oath, for they indeed have become priests without the swearing of an oath,
21 but he with the swearing of an oath by him that
said to him: The Lord swore, and will not regret it, Thou art a priest for
ever:
22 insomuch has Jesus become the surety of a better
covenant.
23 And they indeed, many of them, have become
priests, because by means of death they were forbidden to continue;
24 but he, because he continues forever, has a
priesthood that does not pass to another;
25 whence, he is able also to save completely those
that come to God through him, since he lives always to make intercession for
them.
26 For such a high priest also became us, holy,
harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and having become higher than the
heavens,
27 who has no daily necessity, as the chief
priests, to offer up sacrifices first for his own sins, then for those of the
people; for this he did once for all, when he offered up himself.
28 For the law appoints men chief priests, that
have infirmity, but the word of the oath, which was since the law, appoints the
Son, who has been perfected forever.
Hebrews 8
1 Now in respect to the things spoken, the main
point is: we have such a high priest who took his seat at the right hand of the
throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
2 a minister of the sanctuary and of the true
tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.
3 For every high priest is appointed I to offer
both gifts and sacrifices; whence, it is necessary that this one also have
something that he can offer.
4 For if indeed he were on earth, he would not even
be a priest, as there are those that offer gifts according to the law,
5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly
things, as Moses was admonished when about to complete the tabernacle: For see,
says he, that thou make all things according to the pattern that was shown to
thee in the mount;
6 but now has he obtained a more excellent
ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has
been established upon better promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no
place would have been sought for a second.
8 For finding fault with them he says: Behold, days
are coming, says the Lord, and I will make with the house of
9 not according to the covenant that I made with
their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the
10 Because this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of
11 And they shall not teach each one his
fellow-citizen, and each one his brother, saying: Know the Lord; for all shall
know me from the least of them to the, greatest of them.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,
and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
13 In that he says: A new, he has made, the first
antiquated ; and that which is antiquated and growing old is ready to
disappear.
Hebrews 9
1 Indeed, then, even the first covenant had
ordinances of service, and the sanctuary belonging to this world.
2 For a tabernacle was constructed, the first, in
which was the candlestick, and the table, and bread of the presence, which is
called sanctuary.
3 But beyond the second veil, the tabernacle that
is called the holy of holies,
4 which had the golden altar of incense, and the
ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, in which was the golden pot
that held the manna, and the rod of Aaron that budded, and the tables of the
covenant;
5 but above it cherubim of glory shadowing the
mercy-seat: concerning which things we can not now speak particularly.
6 And these things having been thus put in order,
into the first tabernacle indeed the priests always go accomplishing the
services,
7 but into the second the high priest alone once
during the year, not without blood, which he offers for himself and the errors
of the people,
8 the Holy Spirit signifying this, that the way
into the sanctuary has not yet been made manifest while the first tabernacle is
yet standing,
9 which is a figure for the time present, according
to which are offered both gifts and sacrifices that are not able to perfect as
pertains to the conscience him that serves,
10 only in connection with meats and drinks and
different immersions, ordinances of the flesh imposed till the time of
reformation.
11 But Christ having come, a high priest of the
coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made
with hands, that is, not of this creation,
12 neither through the blood of goats and calves,
but through his own blood entered once for all into the holy places, having
obtained eternal redemption.
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the
ashes of a heifer sprinkling the defiled sanctifies in respect to the
purification of the flesh,
14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
15 And for this reason he is the mediator of the
new covenant, that death, having taken place for the redemption of
transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called
may receive the promises of the eternal inheritance.
16 For where a testament is, it is necessary that
the death of the testator be brought in;
17 for a testament is valid after men are dead,
since has it any force at all while the, testator lives?
18 Whence, not even the first covenant was
inaugurated without blood.
19 For when Moses had spoken every commandment to
all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats
with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all
the people,
20 saying: This is the blood of the covenant which
God enjoined upon you.
21 And he sprinkled in like manner with blood the
tabernacle also and all the vessels of the service.
22 And almost all things are cleansed with blood
according to the law, and without the shedding of blood there takes place no
remission.
23 It was necessary, then, that the copies of
things in the heavens should be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things
themselves with better sacrifices than these.
24 For Christ did not enter the holy places made
with hands, the likenesses of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear
in the presence of God for us,
25 neither that he might offer himself often, as
the high priest enters year by year into the holy places with blood of others;
26 for then he must have suffered often since the
foundation of the world, but now once in the conclusion of the ages has he been
made manifest, to put away sin through the sacrifice of himself.
27 And inasmuch as it is appointed to men once to
die and after this the judgment,
28 so also Christ, having been once offered to bear
the sins of many, shall to those that look for him appear a second time without
sin in order to salvation.
Hebrews 10
1 For the law, having a shadow of the coming good
things, not the image itself of the things, can never with the same sacrifices,
which they offer year by year continually, make those that come to them
perfect;
2 for then would they not have ceased to be
offered, because the worshippers, having been once cleansed, would have no
longer a consciousness of sins.
3 But in them there is a remembrance of sins every
year;
4 for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and
goats should take away sins.
5 Wherefore on coming into the world he says: Sacrifice
and offering thou didst not desire, but a body thou didst prepare for me;
6 in whole burnt offerings and offerings for sin
thou didst not delight:
7 then said I: Behold, I come, in the volume of the
book it is written of me, to do, O God, thy will.
8 Saying above: Sacrifices and offerings, and whole
burnt offerings, and offerings for sin thou didst not desire, neither hadst
pleasure in them, which are offered according to the law,
9 then he said: Lo, I come to do thy will. He takes
away the first that he may establish the second,
10 in which will, we are sanctified, who have been
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest indeed stands daily ministering
and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins;
12 but he, after having offered one sacrifice for
sins, forever sat down at the right hand of God,
13 henceforth awaiting till his enemies be made his
footstool.
14 For by one, offering he has perfected forever
the sanctified.
15 And the Holy Spirit also is a witness for us;
for after having said before:
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord: Putting my laws into their hearts, in their
minds also will I write them,
17 and their sins and their iniquities I will
remember no more.
18 Now where remission of these is, there is no
more an offering for sin.
19 Having, then, brethren, boldness to enter into
the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20 by a new and living way which he has initiated
for us through the veil, that is, his flesh;
21 and having a great priest over the house of God;
22 let us draw near with a true heart, in full
assurance of faith, having had our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,
23 and our body washed in pure water; let us hold
fast the confession of the hope without wavering, for he is faithful that has
promised;
24 and let us consider one another to incite to
love and good works,
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, as is the custom of some, but exhorting, and so much the more as you
see the day approaching.
26 For if we sin willfully after we have received
the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins,
27 but some fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery
indignation that shall devour the adversaries.
28 Any one that has set aside the law of Moses dies
without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29 of how much severer punishment think you he
shall be thought worthy, who has trod under foot the Son of God, and has
counted the blood of the covenant, with which he was sanctified, a common
thing, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him that said: Vengeance is mine, I
will repay, says the Lord: and again: The Lord will judge his people.
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of
the living God.
32 But call to mind the former days, in which after
you were enlightened you endured a great conflict of sufferings,
33 partly being made a spectacle both by reproaches
and afflictions, partly having become companions of those that were thus
treated.
34 For you sympathized with these in bonds, and
accepted with joy the seizing of your goods, knowing that you have for
yourselves a better possession and one that endures.
35 Cast not away, then, your confidence, which has
great recompense of reward.
36 For you have need of patience, that after having
done the will of God you may receive the promise.
37 For yet a little, very little while, He that
comes will come and will not delay:
38 But my righteous man shall live by faith, and if
he draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
39 But we are not of fearfulness for perdition, but
of faith for the preservation of the soul.
Hebrews 11
1 And faith is confidence as to things hoped for, conviction
as to things not seen.
2 For in this the elders obtained a good report.
3 By faith we understand that the ages were set in
order by the word of God, so that not from things that appear has that which is
seen come into being.
4 By faith Abel offered to God more sacrifice than
Cain, through which he obtained testimony that he was righteous, God testifying
in regard to his gifts, and through it he though dead yet speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not
see death, and was not found because
God translated him. For before the translation he
had the testimony that he pleased God;
6 and without faith it is impossible to please him;
for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he becomes a
rewarder of those that diligently seek him.
7 By faith Noah, having been warned of things not
yet seen, moved with reverence, prepared an ark for the salvation of his house,
through which faith he condemned the world, and became an heir of the
righteousness according to faith.
8 By faith Abraham, being called, became obedient
in going forth into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance,
and he went forth not knowing whither he was going.
9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as a
foreign land, having dwelt in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of
the same promise;
10 for he looked for the city that has the
foundations, of which the architect and builder is God.
11 By faith also Sarah herself received strength
for the conception of seed even beyond the time of life, because she counted
him faithful that had promised.
12 Wherefore there sprung even from one, and that,
too, having become dead, as the stars of heaven in number, and as the sand that
is along the seashore, innumerable.
13 According to faith died all these, not having
received the promises, but having seen them at a distance and saluted them, and
confessed that they were strangers and sojourners in the land.
14 For they that say such things show plainly that
they seek a country.
15 And if indeed they had had in mind that from
which they came, they would have had opportunity to return;
16 but now they desire a better; that is, a
heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he has
prepared for them a city.
17 By faith Abraham when tried offered up Isaac,
even the firstborn did he offer up who had received the promises,
18 of whom it was said: In Isaac shall thy
posterity be called;
19 accounting that God was able to raise even from
the dead: whence, also, he received him back in a figure.
20 By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau
concerning things to come.
21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the
sons of Joseph, and worshipped on the top of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, when dying, made mention of the
departure of the sons of
23 By faith Moses, after he had been born, was
concealed three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was
beautiful, and they were not afraid of the commandment of the king.
24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
25 rather choosing to suffer evil with the people
of God than to have a temporary enjoyment of sin,
26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches
than the treasures of
27 By faith he left
28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling
of blood, that he that destroyed the firstborn might not touch them.
29 By faith they passed through the
30 By faith the walls of
31 By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with
those that believed not, because she received the spies with peace.
32 And what do I say more? For the time would fail
me, should I tell of Gideon, Barak also and Samson and Jephtha, of David also
and of Samuel and the prophets,
33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked
righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge
of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, turned to
flight armies of foreigners;
35 women received their dead after a resurrection;
and others were beaten to death, not accepting deliverance, that they might
obtain a better resurrection;
36 but others had trial of mockings and scourgings,
and further of bonds and imprisonment:
37 they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they
were tempted, they were slain with the sword, they wandered about in
sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, maltreated,
38 of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in
deserts, and mountains, and caves, and dens of the earth.
39 And these all having obtained a good report
through faith received not the promise,
40 God having provided some better thing concerning
us, that without us they should not be made perfect.
Hebrews 12
1 Therefore, having so great a cloud of witnesses
lying round about us, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that
easily besets, and run with perseverance the race that lies before us,
2 looking away to Jesus, the author and perfecter
of the faith, who for the joy lying before him endured the cross, having
despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider him who endured such contradiction
by sinners against himself, that you may not be weary, fainting in your souls.
4 Not yet to blood have you resisted, striving
against sin;
5 and you have forgotten the exhortation, which
speaks to you as to sons: My son, despise not the chastisements of the Lord,
neither be weary when corrected by him;
6 for whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges
every son that he receives.
7 For chastisement you endure; God deals with you
as with sons. For who is a son whom the father chastens not?
8 But if you are without chastisement, of which all
have become partakers, then are you bastards and not sons.
9 So, then, fathers of our flesh indeed have we had
as chastisers, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in
subjection to the Father of spirits and live?
10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us
according to their pleasure, but he for our profit, that we may partake of his
holiness.
11 But all chastisement for the present indeed
seems not a matter of joy, but of grief; afterward, however, it yields the
peaceful fruit of righteousness to those that are exercised by it.
12 Wherefore set right again the hands that hang
down and the enfeebled knees,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, that what
is lame may not be turned out of the way, but may rather be healed.
14 Pursue peace with all, and holiness, without
which no one shall see the Lord,
15 taking care lest anyone come short of the grace
of God, lest any root of bitterness spring up and cause trouble, and by it the
many be defiled,
16 lest there be any lewd person, or profane, as
Esau, who for one meal sold his birthright.
17 For you know that also afterward, wishing to
inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance,
though he sought it carefully with tears.
18 For you have not come to a mountain that is
touched, and to burning fire, and blackness, and thick darkness, and tempest,
19 and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of
words, which they that heard entreated that a word should not be further spoken
to them;
20 for they did not endure that which was
commanded: If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned;
21 and so fearful was the sight, Moses said: I
exceedingly fear and quake;
22 but you have come to
23 the festal assembly of angels, and to the church
of firstborn ones enrolled in the heavens, and to the judge, God of all, and to
the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 and to the mediator of the new covenant, Jesus,
and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks more mightily than Abel.
25 See that you refuse not him that speaks; for if
they escaped not who refused him when giving oracles on earth, much more shall
not we, if we turn away from him giving oracles from the heavens,
26 whose voice then shook the earth, but now he has
promised, saying: Yet once more I will shake not the earth only, but also the
heaven.
27 And the “Yet once” signifies the removal of the
things shaken as of things that have been made, that the things not shaken may
remain.
28 Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be
shaken, let us have gratitude, by which we may serve God acceptably, with
reverence and fear;
29 for our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 13
1 Let brotherly love continue.
2 Be not forgetful of hospitality; for by means of
it some have unconsciously entertained angels.
3 Remember those in bonds, as having been bound;
those that suffer evil, as being yourselves also in the body.
4 Let marriage be honored in all respects, and the
bed be undefiled; but lewd persons and adulterers God will judge.
5 Let there be no money-loving disposition, being
content with the things that you have; for he himself has said: I will never
leave thee, nor will I in any way forsake thee;
6 so that we may boldly say: The Lord is my helper,
and I will not fear: what shall a man do to me?
7 Remember your leaders, who spoke to you the word
of God, the issue of whose life attentively considering, imitate their faith.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and
for ever,
9 Be not carried away by various and strange
teachings; for it is good that the heart be established with grace, not with
meats, which have not profited those that have walked in them.
10 We have an altar, from which they have no right
to eat that serve the tabernacle.
11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is
carried by the chief priest into the sanctuary, are burned without the
camp.
12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the
people through his own blood, suffered without the gate.
13 Therefore let us go forth to him without the
camp bearing his reproach;
14 for here we have no continuing city, but we seek
one that is to come.
15 Through him therefore let us offer to God the
sacrifice of praise continually, that is the fruit of lips that give thanks to
his name.
16 But to do good and to distribute forget not; for
with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
17 Obey your leaders and be submissive: for they
watch for your souls, as they that shall give an account; that they may do this
with joy, and not in grief; for this would be unprofitable for you.
18 Pray for us; for we are persuaded that we have a
good conscience, in all things willing to live honorably.
19 And the more abundantly do I beseech you to do
this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought again from
the dead the shepherd of the sheep who is great through the blood of the
eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus,
21 make you perfect in every good work that you may
do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through
Jesus Christ; to whom be glory, through the ages: amen.
22 And I beseech you, brethren, bear with the word
of exhortation; for I have written to you in few words.
23 Know that our brother Timothy is set at liberty,
with whom if he comes soon I will see you.
24 Salute all your leaders and all the saints. They
of
25 Grace be with you all: amen.