¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need some one to teach you again the first principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food; ¹³ for every one who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a child. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.

The Peril of Falling Away

6 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

⁹ Though we speak thus, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things that belong to salvation. ¹⁰ For God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love which you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do. ¹¹ And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness in realizing the full assurance of hope until the end, ¹² so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus

⁴⁶ And they came to Jericho; and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, Bartimae′us, a blind beggar, the son of Timae′us, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷ And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; rise, he is calling you.” ⁵⁰ And throwing off his mantle he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Master,^[a] let me receive my sight.” ⁵² And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.