^5:1For every high priest is taken from among the people¹ and appointed² to represent them before God,³ to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. ^5:2He is able to deal compassionately with those who are ignorant and erring, since he also is subject to weakness, ^5:3and for this reason he is obligated to make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people. ^5:4And no one assumes this honor⁴ on his own initiative,⁵ but only when called to it by God,⁶ as in fact Aaron was. ^5:5So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming high priest, but the one who glorified him was God,⁷ who said to him, “You are my Son! Today I have fathered you,”⁸^5:6as also in another place God⁹ says, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”¹⁰^5:7During his earthly life¹¹ Christ¹² offered¹³ both requests and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his devotion. ^5:8Although he was a son, he learned obedience through the things he suffered.¹⁴^5:9And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, ^5:10and he was designated¹⁵ by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.¹⁶

The Need to Move on to Maturity

^5:11On this topic we have much to say¹⁷ and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish¹⁸ in hearing. ^5:12For though you should in fact be teachers by this time,¹⁹ you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances.²⁰ You have gone back to needing²¹ milk, not²² solid food. ^5:13For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. ^5:14But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.

^6:1Therefore we must progress beyond¹ the elementary² instructions about Christ³ and move on⁴ to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God, ^6:2teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ^6:3And this is what we intend to do,⁵ if God permits. ^6:4For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, ^6:5tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, ^6:6and then have committed apostasy,⁶ to renew them again to repentance, since⁷ they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again⁸ and holding him up to contempt. ^6:7For the ground that has soaked up the rain that frequently falls on⁹ it and yields useful vegetation for those who tend it receives a blessing from God. ^6:8But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed;¹⁰ its fate is to be burned. ^6:9But in your case, dear friends, even though we speak like this, we are convinced of better things relating to salvation. ^6:10For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints. ^6:11But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end, ^6:12so that you may not be sluggish,¹¹ but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises.

^6:13Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, ^6:14saying, “Surely I will bless you greatly and multiply your descendants abundantly.”¹²^6:15And so by persevering, Abraham¹³ inherited the promise. ^6:16For people¹⁴ swear by something greater than themselves,¹⁵ and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute.¹⁶^6:17In the same way¹⁷ God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable,¹⁸ and so he intervened with an oath, ^6:18so that we who have found refuge in him¹⁹ may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie. ^6:19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain,²⁰^6:20where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since he became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.²¹

Read in Logos

Footnotes

1 Grk “from among men,” but since the point in context is shared humanity (rather than shared maleness), the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anthrōpōn) has been translated “people.”
2 Grk “who is taken from among people is appointed.”
3 Grk “appointed on behalf of people in reference to things relating to God.”
4 Honor refers here to the honor of the high priesthood.
5 Grk “by himself, on his own.”
6 Grk “being called by God.”
7 Grk “the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 Grk “I have begotten you”; see Heb 1:5. A quotation from Ps 2:7.
9 Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 A quotation from Ps 110:4.
11 Grk “in the days of his flesh.”
12 Grk “he”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 Grk “who … having offered,” continuing the description of Christ from Heb 5:5–6.
14 There is a wordplay in the Greek text between the verbs “learned” (ἔμαθεν, emathen) and “suffered” (ἔπαθεν, epathen).
15 Grk “having been designated,” continuing the thought of Heb 5:9.
16 The phrase in the order of Melchizedek picks up the quotation from Ps 110:4 in Heb 5:6.
17 Grk “concerning which the message for us is great.”
18 Or “dull.”
19 Grk “because of the time.”
20 Grk “the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God.”
21 Grk “you have come to have a need for.”
22 Most texts, including some early and important ones (א2 A B* D Ψ 0122 0278 1881 𝔐 sy Cl), have καί (kai, “and”) immediately preceding οὐ (ou, “not”), but other equally significant witnesses (𝔓46 א* B2 C 33 81 1739 lat Or Did) lack the conjunction. As it was a natural tendency for scribes to add a coordinating conjunction, the καί appears to be a motivated reading. On balance, it is probably best to regard the shorter reading as authentic. has καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
1 Grk “Therefore leaving behind.” The implication is not of abandoning this elementary information, but of building on it.
2 Or “basic.”
3 Grk “the message of the beginning of Christ.”
4 Grk “leaving behind … let us move on.”
5 Grk “and we will do this.”
6 Or “have fallen away.”
7 Or “while”; Grk “crucifying … and holding.” The Greek participles here (“crucifying … and holding”) can be understood as either causal (“since”) or temporal (“while”).
8 Grk “recrucifying the son of God for themselves.”
9 Grk “comes upon.”
10 Grk “near to a curse.”
11 Or “dull.”
12 Grk “in blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply you,” the Greek form of a Hebrew idiom showing intensity. A quotation from Gen 22:17.
13 Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Abraham) has been specified for clarity.
14 The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποι (anthrōpoi) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, and is thus translated “people.”
15 Grk “by something greater”; the rest of the comparison (“than themselves”) is implied.
16 Grk “the oath for confirmation is an end of all dispute.”
17 Grk “in which.”
18 Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”
19 Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.
20 The curtain refers to the veil or drape in the temple that separated the holy place from the holy of holies.
21 A quotation from Ps 110:4, picked up again from Heb 5:6, 10.