Hebrews 12:18–29

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

¹⁸For you have not come to ^zwhat may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest ¹⁹and ^athe sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words ^bmade the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. ²⁰For they could not endure the order that was given, ^c“If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” ²¹Indeed, ^dso terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” ²²But you have come to ^eMount Zion and to the city of the living God, ^fthe heavenly Jerusalem, and to ^ginnumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³and to ^hthe assembly¹ of the firstborn who are ⁱenrolled in heaven, and to ^jGod, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴and to Jesus, ^kthe mediator of a new covenant, and to ^lthe sprinkled blood ^mthat speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For ⁿif they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. ²⁶At that time ^ohis voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ^p“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” ²⁷This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates ^qthe removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸Therefore let us be grateful for receiving ^ra kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus ^slet us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹for our ^tGod is a consuming fire.