Hebrews 10–12

THE PERFECT SACRIFICE

10Since the law has only a shadow of the good things^ac to come, and not the reality itself of those things, it can never perfect the worshipers by the same sacrifices they continually offer year after year. ²Otherwise, wouldn’t they have stopped being offered, since the worshipers, purified once and for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? ³But in the sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year. ⁴For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵Therefore, as he was coming into the world, he said:

You did not desire sacrifice and offering,

but you prepared a body for me.

⁶You did not delight

in whole burnt offerings and sin offerings.

⁷Then I said, “See—

it is written about me

in the scroll—

I have come to do your will, God.”^Ea

⁸After he says above, You did not desire or delight in sacrifices and offerings, whole burnt offerings and sin offerings (which are offered according to the law^b), ⁹he then says, See, I have come to do your will.^F He takes away the first to establish the second. ¹⁰By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.^c

¹¹Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins.^{d 12}But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.^{Ae 13}He is now waiting until his enemies are made his footstool.^{f 14}For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified. ¹⁵The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after he says:

¹⁶This is the covenant I will make with them

after those days,

the Lord says,

I will put my laws on their hearts

and write them on their minds,

¹⁷and I will never again remember

their sins and their lawless acts.^Bg

¹⁸Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

EXHORTATIONS TO GODLINESS

¹⁹Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus^h—²⁰he has inaugurated^C for us a new and living way through the curtain (that is, through his fleshⁱ)—²¹and since we have a great high priest over the house of God,^{j 22}let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.^{k 23}Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful.^{l 24}And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, ²⁵not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other,^m and all the more as you see the day approaching.

WARNING AGAINST DELIBERATE SIN

²⁶For if we deliberately go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,^{n 27}but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries.^{o 28}Anyone who disregarded the law of Moses died without mercy, based on the testimony of two or three witnesses.^{p 29}How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, who has regarded as profane^D the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?^{q 30}For we know the one who has said,

Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay,^EF

and again,

The Lord will judge his people.^Gr

³¹It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.^s

³²Remember the earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings.^{t 33}Sometimes you were publicly exposed to taunts and afflictions, and at other times you were companions of those who were treated that way.^{u 34}For you sympathized with the prisoners^H and accepted with joy the confiscation of your possessions, because you know that you yourselves have a better and enduring possession.^{Av 35}So don’t throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.^{w 36}For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised.^x

³⁷For yet in a very little while,

the Coming One will come and not delay.

³⁸But my righteous one^B will live by faith;

and if he draws back,

I have no pleasure^C in him.^Dy

³⁹But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and are saved.

LIVING BY FAITH

11Now faith is the reality^E of what is hoped for, the proof^F of what is not seen.^{z 2}For by this our ancestors were approved.

³By faith we understand that the universe was^G created by the word of God,^a so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.^H

⁴By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith.^b

⁵By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away.^I For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God.^{c 6}Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

⁷By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.^d

⁸By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going.^{e 9}By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise.^{f 10}For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.^g

¹¹By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she^J considered that the one who had promised was faithful.^{h 12}Therefore, from one man—in fact, from one as good as dead—came offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and as innumerable as the grains of sand along the seashore.ⁱ

¹³These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance,^j greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth.^{k 14}Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return. ¹⁶But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.^l

¹⁷By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac.^m He received the promises and yet he was offering his one and only son, ¹⁸the one to whom it had been said, Your offspring^A will be traced through Isaac.^{Bn 19}He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead;^o therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking.^C

²⁰By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau^p concerning things to come. ²¹By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and he worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.^{Dq 22}By faith Joseph, as he was nearing the end of his life, mentioned^E the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions concerning his bones.^r

²³By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict.^{s 24}By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter ²⁵and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin.^{t 26}For he considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking ahead to the reward.^u

²⁷By faith he left Egypt behind, not being afraid of the king’s anger, for Moses persevered as one who sees him who is invisible.^{v 28}By faith he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch the Israelites. ²⁹By faith they crossed the Red Sea as though they were on dry land. When the Egyptians attempted to do this, they were drowned.^w

³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after being marched around by the Israelites for seven days. ³¹By faith Rahab the prostitute welcomed the spies in peace and didn’t perish with those who disobeyed.^x

³²And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,^y David, Samuel, and the prophets,^{z 33}who by faith conquered kingdoms,^aa administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,^{ab 34}quenched the raging of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.^{a 35}Women received their dead, raised to life again. Other people were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection. ³⁶Others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment.^{b 37}They were stoned,^Fc they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins,^d destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. ³⁸The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.

³⁹All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.^e

THE CALL TO ENDURANCE

12Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses^f surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance^g the race that lies before us, ²keeping our eyes on Jesus,^A the pioneer and perfecter^B…