Hebrews 10–12

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

¹⁰Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it^v can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach.^{* 2}Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, since the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? ³But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year.^{* 4}For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.^{* 5}Consequently, when Christ^w came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,

but a body you have prepared for me;^*

⁶in burnt offerings and sin offerings

you have taken no pleasure.

⁷Then I said, ‘See, I have come to do your will, O God’

(in the scroll of the book^x it is written of me).”^*

⁸When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), ⁹then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰And it is by God’s will^y that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.^*

¹¹And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins.^{* 12}But when Christ^z had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,” ¹³and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.”^{* 14}For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. ¹⁵And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,

¹⁶“This is the covenant that I will make with them

after those days, says the Lord:

I will put my laws in their hearts,

and I will write them on their minds,”^*

¹⁷and he adds,

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

¹⁸Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

A Call to Persevere

¹⁹Therefore, my brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus,^{* 20}by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh),^{* 21}and since we have a great priest over the house of God,^{* 22}let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.^{* 23}Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.^{* 24}And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, ²⁵not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.^*

²⁶For if we willfully persist in sin after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins^{* 27}but a fearful prospect of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.^{* 28}Anyone who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy “on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”^{* 29}How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?^{* 30}For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.”^a And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”^{* 31}It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³²But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,^{* 33}sometimes being publicly exposed to insults and afflictions and sometimes becoming partners with those so treated.^{* 34}For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting.^{b* 35}Do not, therefore, abandon that boldness of yours; it brings a great reward. ³⁶For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what was promised.^{* 37}For yet

“in a very little while,

the one who is coming will come and will not delay,^*

³⁸but my righteous one will live by faith.

My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.”^*

³⁹But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but among those who have faith and so preserve our souls.^*

The Meaning of Faith

¹¹Now faith is the assurance^c of things hoped for, the conviction^d of things not seen.^{* 2}Indeed, by faith^e our ancestors received approval. ³By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.^f*

The Examples of Abel, Enoch, and Noah

⁴By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable^g sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith^h he still speaks.^{* 5}By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death, and “he was not found, because God had taken him.” For it was attested before he was taken away that “he had pleased God.”^{* 6}And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would approach God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. ⁷By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.^*

The Faith of Abraham

⁸By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he set out, not knowing where he was going.^{* 9}By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.^{* 10}For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.^{* 11}By faith, with Sarah’s involvement, he received power of procreation, even though he was too old, because he consideredⁱ him faithful who had promised.^{* 12}Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”^*

¹³All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,^{* 14}for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶But as it is, they desire a better homeland, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.^*

¹⁷By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son,^{* 18}of whom he had been told, “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.”^{* 19}He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead—and, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.^{* 20}By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau. ²¹By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, “bowing in worship over the top of his staff.”^{* 22}By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial.^j*

The Faith of Moses

²³By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.^{k* 24}By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶He considered abuse suffered for the Christ^l to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward. ²⁷By faith he left Egypt, unafraid of the king’s anger, for he persevered as though^m he saw him who is invisible. ²⁸By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.^n*

The Faith of Other Israelite Heroes

²⁹By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned.^{* 30}By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days.^{* 31}By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient,^o because she had received the spies in peace.^*

³²And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, ³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,^{* 34}quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.^{* 35}Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection.^{* 36}Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment.^{* 37}They were stoned to death; they were sawn in two;^p they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented^*—³⁸of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and in caves and holes in the ground.^*

³⁹Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.^*

The Example of Jesus

¹²Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside…