^12:3Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up. ^12:4You have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed³ in your struggle against sin. ^12:5And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons?

“My son, do not scorn⁴ the Lord’s discipline

or give up when he corrects⁵ you.

^12:6“For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.”⁶

^12:7Endure your suffering⁷ as discipline;⁸ God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? ^12:8But if you do not experience discipline,⁹ something all sons¹⁰ have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. ^12:9Besides, we have experienced discipline from¹¹ our earthly fathers¹² and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life?¹³^12:10For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. ^12:11Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful.¹⁴ But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness¹⁵ for those trained by it.

Read in Logos

Hebrews 12:6: “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

Footnotes

3 Grk “until blood.”
4 Or “disregard,” “think little of.”
5 Or “reproves,” “rebukes.” The Greek verb ἐλέγχω (elenchō) implies exposing someone’s sin in order to bring correction.
6 A quotation from Prov 3:11–12.
7 Grk “endure,” with the object (“your suffering”) understood from the context.
8 Or “in order to become disciplined.”
9 Grk “you are without discipline.”
10 Grk “all”; “sons” is implied by the context.
11 Grk “we had our earthly fathers as discipliners.”
12 Grk “the fathers of our flesh.” In Hebrews, “flesh” is a characteristic way of speaking about outward, physical, earthly life (cf. Heb 5:7; 9:10, 13), as opposed to the inward or spiritual dimensions of life.
13 Grk “and live.” Submit ourselves … to the Father of spirits and receive life. This idea is drawn from Proverbs, where the Lord’s discipline brings life, while resistance to it leads to death (cf. Prov 4:13; 6:23; 10:17; 16:17).
14 Grk “all discipline at the time does not seem to be of joy, but of sorrow.”
15 Grk “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”