Hebrews 12

CHAPTER 12

Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of Faith

¹Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, ^alaying aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, let us ^brun with ^cendurance the race that is set before us,

²¹fixing our eyes on Jesus, the ^2aauthor and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him ^bendured the cross, ^cdespising the shame, and has ^dsat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

³For ^aconsider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary, ^bfainting ¹in heart.

The Father’s Discipline

^4aYou have not yet resisted ^1bto the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin.

⁵And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,

“^aMy son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the ¹Lord,

Nor ^bfaint when you are reproved by Him;

^6aFor those ^bwhom the ¹Lord loves He disciplines,

And He flogs every son whom He receives.”

⁷It is for discipline that you endure; ^aGod deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

⁸But if you are without discipline, ^aof which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

⁹Furthermore, we ¹had ²earthly fathers to discipline us, and we ^arespected them. Shall we not much rather be subject to ^bthe Father of ³spirits, and ^clive?

¹⁰For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our benefit, ^aso that we may share His holiness.

¹¹And all discipline ^afor the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful, but to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the ^bpeaceful fruit of righteousness.

¹²Therefore, ^1aStrengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,

¹³and ^amake straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather ^bbe healed.

^14aPursue peace with all men, and the ^bsanctification without which no one will ^csee the Lord,

¹⁵seeing to it that no one ^afalls short of the grace of God; that no ^broot of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be ^cdefiled;

¹⁶that also there be no ^asexually immoral or ^bgodless person like Esau, ^cwho sold his own birthright for a single meal.

¹⁷For you know that even afterwards, ^awhen he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

Contrast of Sinai and Zion

^18aFor you have not come to ^ba mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,

¹⁹and to the ^ablast of a trumpet and the ^bsound of words which was such that those who heard ^cbegged that no further word be spoken to them.

²⁰For they could not bear what was being commanded, “^aIf even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.”

²¹And so terrible was what appeared, that Moses said, “^aI am full of fear and trembling.”

²²But ^ayou have come to Mount Zion and to ^bthe city of ^cthe living God, ^dthe heavenly Jerusalem, and to ^emyriads of ¹angels,

²³to the festal gathering and ^aassembly of the firstborn who ^bare enrolled in heaven, and to God, ^cthe Judge of all, and to the ^dspirits of the righteous made perfect,

²⁴and to Jesus, the ^amediator of a new covenant, and to the ^bsprinkled blood, which speaks better than ^cthe blood of Abel.

An Unshakable Kingdom

^25aSee to it that you do not refuse Him who is ^bspeaking. For ^cif those did not escape when they ^drefused him who ^ewarned them on earth, ¹much less will we escape who turn away from Him who ^fwarns from heaven.

²⁶And ^aHis voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “^bYet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.”

²⁷Now this expression, “Yet once more,” indicates ^athe removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a ^akingdom which cannot be shaken, let us ¹show gratitude, by which we may ^boffer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

²⁹for ^aour God is a consuming fire.