¹³ though formerly I was a blasphemer, ^(A)persecutor, and insolent opponent. But ^(B)I received mercy ^(C)because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,

³ But ^(A)Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he ^(B)dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

⁴ For it is impossible, in the case of those ^(A)who have once been enlightened, who have tasted ^(B)the heavenly gift, and ^(C)have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and ^(D)have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and ^(E)then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since ^(F)they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. ⁷ For ^(G)land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. ⁸ But ^(H)if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, ^(I)and its end is to be burned.

¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, ^(A)how much evil he has done to ^(B)your ^(C)saints at Jerusalem.

²¹ For ^(A)it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from ^(B)the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The ^(C)dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

^10 (A)Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

²⁶ For ^(A)if we go on sinning deliberately ^(B)after receiving the knowledge of the truth, ^(C)there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ^27 (D)but a fearful expectation of judgment, and ^(E)a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ^28 (F)Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy ^(G)on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one ^(H)who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned ^(I)the blood of the covenant ^(J)by which he was sanctified, and has ^(K)outraged the Spirit of grace?

^16 (A)Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

¹⁷ “And now, brothers, I know that ^(A)you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.