^10:1For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship.¹^10:2For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have² no further consciousness of sin? ^10:3But in those sacrifices³ there is a reminder of sins year after year. ^10:4For the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins.⁴^10:5So when he came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.

^10:6“Whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you took no delight in.

^10:7“Then I said, ‘Here I am:⁵ I have come—it is written of me in the scroll of the book—to do your will, O God.’ ”⁶

^10:8When he says above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you did not desire nor did you take delight in them”⁷ (which are offered according to the law), ^10:9then he says, “Here I am: I have come to do your will.”⁸ He does away with⁹ the first to establish the second. ^10:10By his will¹⁰ we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. ^10:11And every priest stands day after day¹¹ serving and offering the same sacrifices again and again—sacrifices that can never take away sins. ^10:12But when this priest¹² had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right hand¹³ of God, ^10:13where he is now waiting¹⁴ until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet.¹⁵^10:14For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy. ^10:15And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after saying,¹⁶^10:16“This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put¹⁷ my laws on their hearts and I will inscribe them on their minds,”¹⁸^10:17then he says,¹⁹ “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no longer.”²⁰^10:18Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Drawing Near to God in Enduring Faith

^10:19Therefore, brothers and sisters,²¹ since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, ^10:20by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us²² through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,²³^10:21and since we have a great priest²⁴ over the house of God, ^10:22let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings,²⁵ because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience²⁶ and our bodies washed in pure water. ^10:23And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. ^10:24And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works,²⁷^10:25not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day²⁸ drawing near.²⁹

^10:26For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us,³⁰^10:27but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury³¹ of fire that will consume God’s enemies.³²^10:28Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death³³ without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.³⁴^10:29How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for³⁵ the Son of God, and profanes³⁶ the blood of the covenant that made him holy,³⁷ and insults the Spirit of grace? ^10:30For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,”³⁸ and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”³⁹^10:31It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

^10:32But remember the former days when you endured a harsh conflict of suffering after you were enlightened. ^10:33At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and afflictions, and at other times you came to share with others who were treated in that way. ^10:34For in fact you shared the sufferings of those in prison,⁴⁰ and you accepted the confiscation of your belongings with joy, because you knew that you certainly⁴¹ had a better and lasting possession. ^10:35So do not throw away your confidence, because it⁴² has great reward. ^10:36For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised.⁴³^10:37For just a little longer⁴⁴ and he who is coming will arrive and not delay.⁴⁵^10:38But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, I⁴⁶ take no pleasure in him.⁴⁷^10:39But we are not among those who shrink back and thus perish, but are among those who have faith and preserve their souls.⁴⁸

People Commended for Their Faith

^11:1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. ^11:2For by it the people of old¹ received God’s commendation.²^11:3By faith we understand that the worlds³ were set in order at God’s command,⁴ so that the visible has its origin in the invisible.⁵^11:4By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith⁶ he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith⁷ he still speaks, though he is dead. ^11:5By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God. ^11:6Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. ^11:7By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard⁸ constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

^11:8By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. ^11:9By faith he lived as a foreigner⁹ in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs¹⁰ of the same promise. ^11:10For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations,¹¹ whose architect and builder is God. ^11:11By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old,¹² he received the ability to procreate,¹³ because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. ^11:12So in fact children¹⁴ were fathered by one man—and this one as good as dead—like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand¹⁵ on the seashore.¹⁶^11:13These all died in faith without receiving the things promised,¹⁷ but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners¹⁸ on the earth. ^11:14For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ^11:15In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ^11:16But as it is,¹⁹ they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. ^11:17By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises,²⁰ yet he was ready to offer up²¹ his only son. ^11:18God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,”²²^11:19and he reasoned²³ that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense²⁴ he received him back from there. ^11:20By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future. ^11:21By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff.²⁵^11:22By faith Joseph, at the end of his life,²⁶ mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel²⁷ and gave instructions about his burial.²⁸

^11:23By faith, when Moses was born, his parents hid him²⁹ for three months, because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. ^11:24By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ^11:25choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure. ^11:26He regarded abuse suffered for Christ³⁰ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on³¹ the reward. ^11:27By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible. ^11:28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood,³² so that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. ^11:29By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were swallowed up. ^11:30By faith the walls of Jericho³³ fell after the people marched around them³⁴ for seven days. ^11:31By faith Rahab the prostitute escaped the destruction of³⁵ the disobedient, because she welcomed the spies in peace.

^11:32And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets. ^11:33Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice,³⁶ gained what was promised,³⁷ shut the mouths of lions, ^11:34quenched raging fire,³⁸ escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness,³⁹ became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight, ^11:35and women received back their dead raised to life.⁴⁰ But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life.⁴¹^11:36And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. ^11:37They were stoned, sawed apart,⁴² murdered with the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins; they were destitute, afflicted, ill-treated ^11:38(the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth. ^11:39And these all were commended⁴³ for their faith, yet they did not receive what was…

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Footnotes

1 Grk “those who approach.”
2 Grk “the worshipers, having been purified once for all, would have.”
3 Grk “in them”; the referent (those sacrifices) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 Grk “for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
5 Grk “behold,” but this construction often means “here is/there is” (cf. ἰδού 2).
6 A quotation from Ps 40:6–8 (). The phrase a body you prepared for me (in v. 5) is apparently an interpretive expansion of the reading “ears you have dug out for me.”
7 Various phrases from the quotation of Ps 40:6 in Heb 10:5–6 are repeated in Heb 10:8.
8 The majority of , especially the later ones (א2 0278vid 1739 𝔐 lat), have ὁ θεός (ho theos, “God”) at this point, while most of the earliest and best witnesses lack such an explicit addressee (so 𝔓46 א* A C D K P Ψ 33 1175 1881 2464 ). The longer reading is a palpable corruption, apparently motivated in part by the wording of Ps 40:8 (39:9 ) and by the word order of this same verse as quoted in Heb 10:7.
9 Or “abolishes.”
10 Grk “by which will.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
11 Or “daily,” “every day.”
12 Grk “this one.” This pronoun refers to Jesus, but “this priest” was used in the translation to make the contrast between the Jewish priests in v. 11 and Jesus as a priest clearer in English.
13 An allusion to Ps 110:1.
14 Grk “from then on waiting.”
15 An allusion to Ps 110:1.
16 Grk “after having said,” emphasizing the present impact of this utterance.
17 Grk “putting … I will inscribe.”
18 A quotation from Jer 31:33.
19 Grk “and.”
20 A quotation from Jer 31:34.
21 Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in .
22 Grk “that he inaugurated for us as a fresh and living way,” referring to the entrance mentioned in v. 19.
23 Through his flesh. In a bold shift the writer changes from a spatial phrase (Christ opened the way through the curtain into the inner sanctuary) to an instrumental phrase (he did this through [by means of] his flesh in his sacrifice of himself), associating the two in an allusion to the splitting of the curtain in the temple from top to bottom (Matt 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45). Just as the curtain was split, so Christ’s body was broken for us, to give us access into God’s presence.
24 Grk “and a great priest,” continuing the construction begun in v. 19.
25 Grk “in assurance of faith.”
26 The phrase our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience combines the OT imagery of the sprinkling with blood to give ritual purity with the emphasis on the interior cleansing provided by the new covenant: It is the heart that is cleansed and the conscience made perfect (cf. Heb 8:10; 9:9, 14; 10:2, 16).
27 Grk “let us consider one another for provoking of love and good deeds.”
28 The day refers to that well-known time of Christ’s coming and judgment in the future; see a similar use of “day” in 1 Cor 3:13.
29 This paragraph (vv. 19–25) is actually a single, skillfully composed sentence in Greek, but it must be broken into shorter segments for English idiom. It begins with several subordinate phrases (since we have confidence and a great priest), has three parallel exhortations as its main verbs (let us draw near, hold, and take thought), and concludes with several subordinate phrases related to the final exhortation (not abandoning but encouraging).
30 Grk “is left,” with “for us” implied by the first half of the verse.
31 Grk “zeal,” recalling God’s jealous protection of his holiness and honor (cf. Exod 20:5). An allusion to Zeph 1:18.
32 Grk “the enemies.” An allusion to Isa 26:11.
33 Grk “dies.”
34 An allusion to Deut 17:6.
35 Grk “tramples under foot.”
36 Grk “regarded as common.”
37 Grk “by which he was made holy.”
38 A quotation from Deut 32:35.
39 A quotation from Deut 32:36.
40 Most witnesses, including some important ones (א D2 1881 𝔐), read δεσμοῖς μου (desmois mou, “my imprisonment”) here, a reading that is probably due to the widespread belief in the early Christian centuries that Paul was the author of Hebrews (cf. Phil 1:7; Col 4:18). It may have been generated by the reading δεσμοῖς without the μου (so 𝔓46 Ψ 104 ), the force of which is so ambiguous (lit., “you shared the sufferings with the bonds”) as to be virtually nonsensical. Most likely, δεσμοῖς resulted when a scribe made an error in copying δεσμίοις (desmiois), a reading which makes excellent sense (“[of] those in prison”) and is strongly supported by early and significant witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texttypes (A D* H 6 33 81 1739 lat sy co). Thus, δεσμίοις best explains the rise of the other readings on both internal and external grounds and is strongly preferred.
41 Grk “you yourselves.”
42 Grk “which,” but showing the reason.
43 Grk “the promise,” referring to the thing God promised, not to the pledge itself.
44 A quotation from Isa 26:20.
45 A quotation from Hab 2:3.
46 Grk “my soul.”
47 A quotation from Hab 2:4.
48 Grk “not … of shrinking back to perdition but of faith to the preservation of the soul.”
1 Or “the elders,” “the ancients.”
2 Grk “were attested,” “received commendation”; and Heb 11:4–6 shows this to be from God.
3 Grk “ages.” The temporal (ages) came to be used of the spatial (what exists in those time periods). See Heb 1:2 for same usage.
4 Grk “by God’s word.”
5 The Greek phrasing emphasizes this point by negating the opposite: “so that what is seen did not come into being from things that are visible.”
6 Or “through his sacrifice”; Grk “through which.”
7 Or “through his sacrifice”; Grk “through it.”
8 Cf. εὐλαβέομαι 2, “out of reverent regard (for God’s command).”
9 Or “settled as a resident alien.”
10 Or “heirs with him.”
11 Grk “that has foundations.”
12 Grk “past the time of maturity.”
13 Grk “power to deposit seed.” Though it is not as likely, some construe this phrase to mean “power to conceive seed,” making the whole verse about Sarah: “by faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and too old, she received ability to conceive, because she regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy.”
14 Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.
15 Grk a collective “the sand.”
16 An allusion to Gen 22:17 (which itself goes back to Gen 15:5).
17 Grk “the promises,” referring to the things God promised, not to the pledges themselves.
18 Or “sojourners.”
19 Grk “now.”
20 Here “received the promises” refers to the pledges themselves, not to the things God promised.
21 Grk “he was offering up.” The tense of this verb indicates the attempt or readiness to sacrifice Isaac without the actual completion of the deed.
22 Grk “in Isaac seed will be named for you.” A quotation from Gen 21:12.
23 Grk “having reasoned,” continuing the ideas of v. 17.
24 Grk “in/by a symbol.”
25 Grk “worshiped on the top of his staff,” a quotation from Gen 47:31 ().
26 Grk “coming to an end,” “dying.”
27 Joseph’s prophecy about the exodus of the sons of Israel is found in Gen 50:24.
28 Grk “about his bones,” which refers by metonymy to the disposition of his bones, i.e., his burial. The instructions about his burial are recorded in Gen 50:25.
29 Grk “Moses, when he was born, was hidden by his parents.”
30 Grk “the abuse [or ‘reproach’] of Christ.”
31 Grk “he was looking away to.”
32 Grk “the pouring out of the blood.” The sprinkling of the blood refers here to the application of the blood to the doorways of the Israelite houses (cf. Exod 12:7, 13).
33 For location see ; ; ; ; ; .
34 Grk “after they had been encircled.”
35 Grk “did not perish together with.”
36 This probably refers to the righteous rule of David and others. But it could be more general and mean “did what was righteous.”
37 Grk “obtained promises,” referring to the things God promised, not to the pledges themselves. Gained what was promised. They saw some of God’s promises fulfilled, even though the central promise remained unfulfilled until Christ came (cf. vv. 39–40).
38 Grk “quenched the power of fire.”
39 Or “recovered from sickness.”
40 Grk “received back their dead from resurrection.”
41 Grk “to obtain a better resurrection.”
42 The reading ἐπρίσθησαν (ejpristhēsan, “they were sawed apart”) is found in some important witnesses (𝔓46 [D* twice reads ἐπίρσθησαν, “they were burned”?] syp sa Orpt Eus). Other have ἐπειράσθησαν (ejpeirasthēsan, “they were tempted”), either before “sawed apart” ([א] L P [048] 33 81 326 1505 syh), after “sawed apart” (𝔓13vid A D1 Ψ 1739 1881 𝔐 lat bo Orpt), or altogether in place of “sawed apart” (0150 vgmss Cl). Since the two words ἐπρίσθησαν and ἐπειράσθησαν are so much alike in sight and sound, and since the position of “they were tempted” varies in the , it seems best to say that ἐπειράσθησαν is an accidental corruption of ἐπρίσθησαν or an intentional change to a more common word (the root of ἐπρίσθησαν [πρίζω, prizō] occurs only here in the NT, while the root of ἐπειράσθησαν [πειράζω, peirazō] occurs 38 times). The best reading here seems to be “sawed apart” without any addition before or after. (See , for a discussion of emendations that scholars have proposed for this difficult problem.)
43 The expression these all were commended forms an inclusio with Heb 11:2: The chapter begins and ends with references to commendation for faith.