Bible (American Standard)/Hebrews

The Epistle to the Hebrews
==Chapter 1==
 God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the
prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, 
 hath at
the end of these days spoken unto us in [his] Son, whom he
appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the
worlds; 
 who being the effulgence of his glory, and the
very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat
down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 
 having
become by so much better than the angels, as he hath inherited a
more excellent name than they. 
 For unto 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?
 And when he again bringeth in the firstborn into the
world he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 
 And of the angels he saith,
Who maketh his angels winds,
And his ministers a flame a fire:
 but of the Son [he saith,]
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever;
And the sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity;
Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee
With the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
 And,
Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the
earth,
And the heavens are the works of thy hands:
 They shall perish; but thou continuest:
And they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
 And as a mantle shalt thou roll them up,
As a garment, and they shall be changed:
But thou art the same,
And thy years shall not fail.
 But of which of the angels hath he said at any time,
Sit thou on my right hand,
Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet?
 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do
service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation?
==Chapter 2==
 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the
things that were heard, lest haply we drift away [from them].
 For if the word spoken through angels proved stedfast, and
every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense
of reward; 
 how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a
salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the
Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; 
 God also
bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by
manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to
his own will. 
 For not unto angels did he subject the world
to come, whereof we speak. 
 But one hath somewhere
testified, saying,
What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
Or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels;
Thou crownedst him with glory and honor,
And didst set him over the works of thy hands:
 Thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet.
For in that he subjected all things unto him, he left nothing
that is not subject to him. But now we see not yet all things
subjected to him. 
 But we behold him who hath been made a
little lower than the angels, [even] Jesus, because of the
suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the
grace of God he should taste of death for every [man]. 
 For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are
all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the author
of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 
 For both
he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one:
for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 
 saying,
I will declare thy name unto my brethren,
In the midst of the congregation will I sing thy praise.
 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again,
Behold, I and the children whom God hath given me. 
 Since
then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also
himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death
he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that
is, the devil; 
 and might deliver all them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 
 For verily not to angels doth he give help, but he giveth help
to the seed of Abraham. 
 Wherefore it behooved him in all
things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might become a
merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,
to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 
 For in
that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to
succor them that are tempted.
==Chapter 3==
 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly
calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession,
[even] Jesus; 
 who was faithful to him that appointed him,
as also was Moses in all his house. 
 For he hath been
counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by so much as he that
built the house hath more honor than the house. 
 For every
house is builded by some one; but he that built all things is
God. 
 And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a
servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to
be spoken; 
 but Christ as a son, over his house; whose
house are we, if we hold fast our boldness and the glorying of
our hope firm unto the end. 
 Wherefore, even as the Holy
Spirit saith,
To-day if ye shall hear his voice,
 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation,
Like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,
 Where your fathers tried [me] by proving [me,]
And saw my works forty years.
 Wherefore I was displeased with this generation,
And said, They do always err in their heart:
But they did not know my ways;
 As I sware in my wrath,
They shall not enter into my rest.
 Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any
one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the
living God: 
 but exhort one another day by day, so long as
it is called To-day; lest any one of you be hardened by the
deceitfulness of sin: 
 for we are become partakers of
Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm
unto the end: 
 while it is said,
To-day if ye shall hear his voice,
Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
 For who, when they heard, did provoke? nay, did not
all they that came out of Egypt by Moses? 
 And with whom
was he displeased forty years? was it not with them that sinned,
whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 
 And to whom sware he
that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that were
disobedient? 
 And we see that they were not able to enter
in because of unbelief.
==Chapter 4==
 Let us fear therefore, lest haply, a promise being left
of entering into his rest, any one of you should seem to have
come short of it. 
 For indeed we have had good tidings
preached unto us, even as also they: but the word of hearing did
not profit them, because it was not united by faith with them
that heard. 
 For we who have believed do enter into that
rest; even as he hath said,
As I sware in my wrath,
They shall not enter into my rest:
although the works were finished from the foundation of the
world. 
 For he hath said somewhere of the seventh [day] on
this wise, And God rested on the seventh day from all his works;
 and in this [place] again,
They shall not enter into my rest.
 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some should enter
thereinto, and they to whom the good tidings were before
preached failed to enter in because of disobedience, 
 he
again defineth a certain day, To-day, saying in David so long a
time afterward (even as hath been said before),
To-day if ye shall hear his voice,
Harden not your hearts.
 For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have
spoken afterward of another day. 
 There remaineth therefore
a sabbath rest for the people of God. 
 For he that is
entered into his rest hath himself also rested from his works,
as God did from his. 
 Let us therefore give diligence to
enter into that rest, that no man fall after the same example of
disobedience. 
 For the word of God is living, and active,
and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the
dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and
quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. 
 And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight: but
all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with
whom we have to do. 
 Having then a great high priest, who
hath passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us
hold fast our confession. 
 For we have not a high priest
that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but
one that hath been in all points tempted like as [we are, yet]
without sin. 
 Let us therefore draw near with boldness
unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may
find grace to help [us] in time of need.
==Chapter 5==
 For every high priest, being taken from among men, is
appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer
both gifts and sacrifices for sins: 
 who can bear gently
with the ignorant and erring, for that he himself also is
compassed with infirmity; 
 and by reason thereof is bound,
as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. 
 And no man taketh the honor unto himself, but when he is called
of God, even as was Aaron. 
 So Christ also glorified not
himself to be made a high priest, but he that spake unto him,
Thou art my Son,
This day have I begotten thee:
 as he saith also in another [place,]
Thou art a priest for ever
After the order of Melchizedek.
 Who in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers
and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was
able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly
fear, 
 though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the
things which he suffered; 
 and having been made perfect, he
became unto all them that obey him the author of eternal
salvation; 
 named of God a high priest after the order of
Melchizedek. 
 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard
of interpretation, seeing ye are become dull of hearing. 
 For when by reason of the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have
need again that some one teach you the rudiments of the first
principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have
need of milk, and not of solid food. 
 For every one that
partaketh of milk is without experience of the word of
righteousness; for he is a babe. 
 But solid food is for
fullgrown men, [even] those who by reason of use have their
senses exercised to discern good and evil.
==Chapter 6==
 Wherefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles
of Christ, let us press on unto perfection; not laying again a
foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward
God, 
 of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of
hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
 And this will we do, if God permit. 
 For as touching
those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift,
and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 
 and tasted the
good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, 
 and
[then] fell away, it is impossible to renew them again unto
repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God
afresh, and put him to an open shame. 
 For the land which
hath drunk the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth
herbs meet for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receiveth
blessing from God: 
 but if it beareth thorns and thistles,
it is rejected and nigh unto a curse; whose end is to be burned.
 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and
things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak: 
 for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and the love
which ye showed toward his name, in that ye ministered unto the
saints, and still do minister. 
 And we desire that each
one of you may show the same diligence unto the fulness of hope
even to the end: 
 that ye be not sluggish, but imitators
of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
 For when God made promise to Abraham, since he could
swear by none greater, he sware by himself, 
 saying,
Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will
multiply thee. 
 And thus, having patiently endured, he
obtained the promise. 
 For men swear by the greater: and
in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation.
 Wherein God, being minded to show more abundantly unto
the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel,
interposed with an oath; 
 that by two immutable things, in
which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong
encouragement, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope
set before us: 
 which we have as an anchor of the soul, [a
hope] both sure and stedfast and entering into that which is
within the veil; 
 whither as a forerunner Jesus entered
for us, having become a high priest for ever after the order of
Melchizedek.
==Chapter 7==
 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most
High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings
and blessed him, 
 to whom also Abraham divided a tenth part
of all (being first, by interpretation, King of righteousness,
and then also King of Salem, which is King of peace; 
 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having
neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto
the Son of God), abideth a priest continually. 
 Now
consider how great this man was, unto whom Abraham, the
patriarch, gave a tenth out of the chief spoils. 
 And they
indeed of the sons of Levi that receive the priest's office have
commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law,
that is, of their brethren, though these have come out of the
loins of Abraham: 
 but he whose genealogy is not counted
from them hath taken tithes of Abraham, and hath blessed him
that hath the promises. 
 But without any dispute the less
is blessed of the better. 
 And here men that die receive
tithes; but there one, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.
 And, so to say, through Abraham even Levi, who receiveth
tithes, hath paid tithes; 
 for he was yet in the loins of
his father, when Melchizedek met him. 
 Now if there was
perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for under it hath
the people received the law), what further need [was there] that
another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek, and
not be reckoned after the order of Aaron? 
 For the
priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change
also of the law. 
 For he of whom these things are said
belongeth to another tribe, from which no man hath given
attendance at the altar. 
 For it is evident that our Lord
hath sprung out of Judah; as to which tribe Moses spake nothing
concerning priests. 
 And [what we say] is yet more
abundantly evident, if after the likeness of Melchizedek there
ariseth another priest, 
 who hath been made, not after the
law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless
life: 
 for it is witnessed [of him,]
Thou art a priest for ever
After the order of Melchizedek.
 For there is a disannulling of a foregoing commandment
because of its weakness and unprofitableness 
 (for the law
made nothing perfect), and a bringing in thereupon of a better
hope, through which we draw nigh unto God. 
 And inasmuch
as [it is] not without the taking of an oath 
 (for they
indeed have been made priests without an oath; but he with an
oath by him that saith of him,
The Lord sware and will not repent himself,
Thou art a priest for ever);
 by so much also hath Jesus become the surety of a
better covenant. 
 And they indeed have been made priests
many in number, because that by death they are hindered from
continuing: 
 but he, because he abideth for ever, hath his
priesthood unchangeable. 
 Wherefore also he is able to
save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him,
seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 
 For
such a high priest became us, holy, guileless, undefiled,
separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 
 who needeth not daily, like those high priests, to offer up
sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the [sins] of
the people: for this he did once for all, when he offered up
himself. 
 For the law appointeth men high priests, having
infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was after the law,
[appointeth] a Son, perfected for evermore.
==Chapter 8==
 Now in the things which we are saying the chief point
[is this]: We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right
hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 
 a
minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the
Lord pitched, not man. 
 For every high priest is appointed
to offer both gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is necessary
that this [high priest] also have somewhat to offer. 
 Now
if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing
there are those who offer the gifts according to the law; 
 who serve [that which is] a copy and shadow of the heavenly
things, even as Moses is warned [of God] when he is about to
make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all
things according to the pattern that was showed thee in the
mount. 
 But now hath he obtained a ministry the more
excellent, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better
covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises. 
 For if that first [covenant] had been faultless, then would no
place have been sought for a second. 
 For finding fault
with them, he saith,
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
That I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and
with the house of Judah;
 Not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers
In the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth out
of the land of Egypt;
For they continued not in my covenant,
And I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel
After those days, saith the Lord;
I will put my laws into their mind,
And on their heart also will I write them:
And I will be to them a God,
And they shall be to me a people:
 And they shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen,
And every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord:
For all shall know me,
From the least to the greatest of them.
 For I will be merciful to their iniquities,
And their sins will I remember no more.
 In that he saith, A new [covenant] he hath made the
first old. But that which is becoming old and waxeth aged is
nigh unto vanishing away.
==Chapter 9==
 Now even a first [covenant] had ordinances of divine
service, and its sanctuary, [a sanctuary] of this world. 
 For there was a tabernacle prepared, the first, wherein [were]
the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread; which is
called the Holy place. 
 And after the second veil, the
tabernacle which is called the Holy of holies; 
 having a
golden altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant overlaid
round about with gold, wherein [was] a golden pot holding the
manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the
covenant; 
 and above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the
mercy-seat; of which things we cannot now speak severally. 
 Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests go in
continually into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the
services; 
 but into the second the high priest alone, once
in the year, not without blood, which he offereth for himself,
and for the errors of the people: 
 the Holy Spirit this
signifying, that the way into the holy place hath not yet been
made manifest, while the first tabernacle is yet standing; 
 which [is] a figure for the time present; according to which are
offered both gifts and sacrifices that cannot, as touching the
conscience, make the worshipper perfect, 
 [being] only
(with meats and drinks and divers washings) carnal ordinances,
imposed until a time of reformation. 
 But Christ having
come a high priest of the good things to come, through the
greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that
is to say, not of this creation, 
 nor yet through the
blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in
once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption. 
 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the
ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled,
sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh: 
 how much more
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 
 And
for this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant, that a
death having taken place for the redemption of the
transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that
have been called may receive the promise of the eternal
inheritance. 
 For where a testament is, there must of
necessity be the death of him that made it. 
 For a
testament is of force where there hath been death: for it doth
never avail while he that made it liveth. 
 Wherefore even
the first [covenant] hath not been dedicated without blood.
 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses unto
all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the
calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop,
and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 
 saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded to
you-ward. 
 Moreover the tabernacle and all the vessels of
the ministry he sprinkled in like manner with the blood. 
 And according to the law, I may almost say, all things are
cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is
no remission. 
 It was necessary therefore that the copies
of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these; but
the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than
these. 
 For Christ entered not into a holy place made with
hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now
to appear before the face of God for us: 
 nor yet that he
should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the
holy place year by year with blood not his own; 
 else must
he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but
now once at the end of the ages hath he been manifested to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 
 And inasmuch as it
is appointed unto men once to die, and after this [cometh]
judgment; 
 so Christ also, having been once offered to
bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from
sin, to them that wait for him, unto salvation.
==Chapter 10==
 For the law having a shadow of the good [things] to
come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same
sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make
perfect them that draw nigh. 
 Else would they not have
ceased to be offered? because the worshippers, having been once
cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 
 But in those [sacrifices] there is a remembrance made of sins
year by year. 
 For it is impossible that the blood of
bulls and goats should take away sins. 
 Wherefore when he
cometh into the world, he saith,
Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not,
But a body didst thou prepare for me;
 In whole burnt offerings and [sacrifices] for sin thou
hadst no pleasure:
 Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is
written of me)
To do thy will, O God.
 Saying above, Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt
offerings and [sacrifices] for sin thou wouldest not, neither
hadst pleasure therein (the which are offered according to the
law), 
 then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will. He
taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 
 By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of
the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 
 And every priest
indeed standeth day by day ministering and offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices, the which can never take away sins: 
 but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat
down on the right hand of God; 
 henceforth expecting till
his enemies be made the footstool of his feet. 
 For by
one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are
sanctified. 
 And the Holy Spirit also beareth witness to
us; for after he hath said,
 This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, saith the Lord:
I will put my laws on their heart,
And upon their mind also will I write them;
[then saith he,]
 And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no
more.
 Now where remission of these is, there is no more
offering for sin. 
 Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 
 by
the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through
the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 
 and [having] a
great priest over the house of God; 
 let us draw near
with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed
with pure water, 
 let us hold fast the confession of our
hope that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised:
 and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and
good works; 
 not forsaking our own assembling together,
as the custom of some is, but exhorting [one another]; and so
much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh. 
 For if we
sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the
truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, 
 but
a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of
fire which shall devour the adversaries. 
 A man that hath
set at nought Moses law dieth without compassion on [the word
of] two or three witnesses: 
 of how much sorer
punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy, who hath
trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of
the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and
hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 
 For we know
him that said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense.
And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 
 It is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 
 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were
enlightened, ye endured a great conflict of sufferings; 
 partly, being made a gazingstock both by reproaches and
afflictions; and partly, becoming partakers with them that were
so used. 
 For ye both had compassion on them that were in
bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of you possessions,
knowing that ye have for yourselves a better possession and an
abiding one. 
 Cast not away therefore your boldness,
which hath great recompense of reward. 
 For ye have need
of patience, that, having done the will of God, ye may receive
the promise.
 For yet a very little while,
He that cometh shall come, and shall not tarry.
 But my righteous one shall live by faith:
And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him.
 But we are not of them that shrink back unto
perdition; but of them that have faith unto the saving of the
soul.
==Chapter 11==
 Now faith is assurance of [things] hoped for, a
conviction of things not seen. 
 For therein the elders had
witness borne to them. 
 By faith we understand that the
worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen
hath not been made out of things which appear. 
 By faith
Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous,
God bearing witness in respect of his gifts: and through it he
being dead yet speaketh. 
 By faith Enoch was translated
that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God
translated him: for he hath had witness borne to him that before
his translation he had been well-pleasing unto God: 
 And
without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing [unto him];
for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he
is a rewarder of them that seek after him. 
 By faith Noah,
being warned [of God] concerning things not seen as yet, moved
with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house;
through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the
righteousness which is according to faith. 
 By faith
Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which
he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not
knowing whither he went. 
 By faith he became a sojourner
in the land of promise, as in a [land] not his own, dwelling in
tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same
promise: 
 for he looked for the city which hath the
foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 
 By faith
even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was
past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised:
 wherefore also there sprang of one, and him as good as
dead, [so many] as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the
sand, which is by the sea-shore, innumerable. 
 These all
died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen
them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they
were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 
 For they that
say such things make it manifest that they are seeking after a
country of their own. 
 And if indeed they had been
mindful of that [country] from which they went out, they would
have had opportunity to return. 
 But now they desire a
better [country], that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not
ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he hath prepared
for them a city. 
 By faith Abraham, being tried, offered
up Isaac: yea, he that had gladly received the promises was
offering up his only begotten [son]; 
 even he to whom it
was said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called: 
 accounting
that God [is] able to raise up, even from the dead; from whence
he did also in a figure receive him back. 
 By faith Isaac
blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come. 
 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of
Joseph; and worshipped, [leaning] upon the top of his staff.
 By faith Joseph, when his end was nigh, made mention of
the departure of the children of Israel; and gave commandment
concerning his bones. 
 By faith Moses, when he was born,
was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a
goodly child; and they were not afraid of the king's
commandment. 
 By faith Moses, when he was grown up,
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 
 choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God,
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 
 accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the
treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward.
 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the
king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 
 By
faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of the blood,
that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them.
 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land:
which the Egyptians assaying to do were swallowed up. 
 By
faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been
compassed about for seven days. 
 By faith Rahab the
harlot perished not with them that were disobedient, having
received the spies with peace. 
 And what shall I more
say? for the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak,
Samson, Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the prophets: 
 who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness,
obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 
 quenched
the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness
were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies
of aliens. 
 Women received their dead by a resurrection:
and others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance; that
they might obtain a better resurrection: 
 and others had
trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and
imprisonment: 
 they were stoned, they were sawn asunder,
they were tempted, they were slain with the sword: they went
about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being destitute, afflicted,
ill-treated 
 (of whom the world was not worthy),
wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of
the earth. 
 And these all, having had witness borne to
them through their faith, received not the promise, 
 God
having provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from
us they should not be made perfect.
==Chapter 12==
 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, 
 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. 
 For
consider him that hath endured such gainsaying of sinners
against himself, that ye wax not weary, fainting in your souls.
 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against
sin: 
 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;
 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,
And scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
 It is for chastening that ye endure; God dealeth with
you as with sons; for what son is there whom [his] father
chasteneth not? 
 But if ye are without chastening, whereof
all have been made partakers, then are ye bastards, and not
sons. 
 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? 
 For they indeed for a few days chastened [us] as seemed good to
them; but he for [our] profit, that [we] may be partakers of his
holiness. 
 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. 
 Wherefore lift up the hands
that hang down, and the palsied knees; 
 and make straight
paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not turned out
of the way, but rather be healed. 
 Follow after peace
with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall
see the Lord: 
 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; 
 lest [there be] any fornication, or profane
person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his own
birthright. 
 For ye know that even when he afterward
desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found
no place for a change of mind [in his father,] though he sought
is diligently with tears. 
 For ye are not come unto [a
mount] that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and
unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 
 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;
 for they could not endure that which was enjoined, If
even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned; 
 and
so fearful was the appearance, [that] Moses said, I exceedingly
fear and quake: 
 but ye are come unto mount Zion, and
unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to
innumerable hosts of angels, 
 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,
 and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the
blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than [that of] Abel.
 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: 
 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. 
 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. 
 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: 
 for our God is a consuming fire.
==Chapter 13==
 Let love of the brethren continue. 
 Forget not
to show love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained
angels unawares. 
 Remember them that are in bonds, as
bound with them; them that are illtreated, as being yourselves
also in the body. 
 [Let] marriage [be] had in honor among
all, and [let] the bed [be] undefiled: for fornicators and
adulterers God will judge. 
 Be ye free from the love of
money; content with such things as ye have: for himself hath
said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise
forsake thee. 
 So that with good courage we say,
The Lord is my helper; I will not fear:
What shall man do unto me?
 Remember them that had the rule over you, men that
spake unto you the word of God; and considering the issue of
their life, imitate their faith. 
 Jesus Christ [is] the
same yesterday and to-day, [yea] and for ever. 
 Be not
carried away by divers and strange teachings: for it is good
that the heart be established by grace; not by meats, wherein
they that occupied themselves were not profited. 
 We have
an altar, whereof they have no right to eat that serve the
tabernacle. 
 For the bodies of those beasts whose blood
is brought into the holy place by the high priest [as an
offering] for sin, are burned without the camp. 
 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through
his own blood, suffered without the gate. 
 Let us
therefore go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his
reproach. 
 For we have not here an abiding city, but we
seek after [the city] which is to come. 
 Through him then
let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that
is, the fruit of lips which make confession to his name. 
 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such
sacrifices God is well pleased. 
 Obey them that have the
rule over you, and submit [to them]: for they watch in behalf of
your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do
this with joy, and not with grief: for this [were] unprofitable
for you. 
 Pray for us: for we are persuaded that we have
a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things.
 And I exhort [you] the more exceedingly to do this, that
I may be restored to you the sooner. 
 Now the God of
peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the
sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, [even] our Lord
Jesus, 
 make you perfect in every good thing to do his
will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight,
through Jesus Christ; to whom [be] the glory for ever and ever.
Amen. 
 But I exhort you, brethren, bear with the word of
exhortation, for I have written unto you in few words. 
 Know ye that our brother Timothy hath been set at liberty; with
whom, if he come shortly, I will see you. 
 Salute all
them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of
Italy salute you. 
 Grace be with you all. Amen.