Hebrews 13:1-16

Contemporary English Version

Service That Pleases God

13 Keep being concerned about each other as the Lord's followers should.

^2 (A) Be sure to welcome strangers into your home. By doing this, some people have welcomed angels as guests, without even knowing it.

³ Remember the Lord's people who are in jail and be concerned for them. Don't forget those who are suffering, but imagine you are there with them.

^4 (B) Have respect for marriage. Always be faithful to your partner, because God will punish anyone who is immoral or unfaithful in marriage.

^5 (C) Don't fall in love with money. Be satisfied with what you have. The Lord has promised that he will not leave us or desert us. ^6 (D) This should make you feel like saying,

⁷ Don't forget about your leaders who taught you God's message. Remember what kind of lives they lived and try to have faith like theirs.

⁸ Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. ⁹ Don't be fooled by any kind of strange teachings. It is better to receive strength from God's gift of undeserved grace than to depend on certain foods. After all, these foods don't really help the people who eat them. ¹⁰ But we have an altar where even the priests who serve in the place of worship have no right to eat.

^11 (E) After the high priest offers the blood of animals as a sin offering, the bodies of those animals are burned outside the camp. ¹² Jesus himself suffered outside the city gate, so his blood would make people holy. ¹³ This is why we should go outside the camp to Jesus and share in his disgrace. ¹⁴ On this earth we don't have a city that lasts forever, but we are waiting for such a city.

¹⁵ Our sacrifice is to keep offering praise to God in the name of Jesus. ¹⁶ But don't forget to help others and to share your possessions with them. This too is like offering a sacrifice that pleases God.