Hebrews 12

The Race of Faith

12Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, ^alet us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and ^blet us run ^cwith endurance the race that is set before us, ²looking unto Jesus, the ¹author and ²finisher of our faith, ^dwho for the joy that was set before Him ^eendured the cross, despising the shame, and ^fhas sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The Discipline of God

^3gFor consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, ^hlest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. ⁴ⁱYou have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. ⁵And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

^j“My son, do not despise the ³chastening of the Lord,

Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;

⁶For ^kwhom the Lord loves He chastens,

And scourges every son whom He receives.”

^7lIf ⁴you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what ^mson is there whom a father does not chasten? ⁸But if you are without chastening, ⁿof which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. ⁹Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to ^othe Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, ^pthat we may be partakers of His holiness. ¹¹Now no ⁵chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields ^qthe peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Renew Your Spiritual Vitality

¹²Therefore ^rstrengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, ¹³and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

^14sPursue peace with all people, and holiness, ^twithout which no one will see the Lord: ¹⁵looking carefully lest anyone ^ufall short of the grace of God; lest any ^vroot of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; ¹⁶lest there be any ^wfornicator or ⁶profane person like Esau, ^xwho for one morsel of food sold his birthright. ¹⁷For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was ^yrejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

The Glorious Company

¹⁸For you have not come ⁷to ^zthe mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and ⁸darkness and tempest, ¹⁹and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it ^abegged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. ²⁰(For they could not endure what was commanded: ^b“And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned ⁹or shot with an arrow.” ²¹And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ^c“I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)

²²But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, ²³to the ¹general assembly and church of ^dthe firstborn ^ewho are registered in heaven, to God ^fthe Judge of all, to the spirits of just men ^gmade perfect, ²⁴to Jesus ^hthe Mediator of the new covenant, and to ⁱthe blood of sprinkling that speaks better things ^jthan that of Abel.

Hear the Heavenly Voice

²⁵See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For ^kif they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, ²⁶whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, ^l“Yet once more I ²shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” ²⁷Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the ^mremoval of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we ³may ⁿserve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. ²⁹For ^oour God is a consuming fire.