Hebrews 12:14-29

English Standard Version

¹⁴^(A)Strive for peace with everyone, and for the ^(B)holiness ^(C)without which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵See to it that no one ^(D)fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ^(E)“root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; ¹⁶that no one is ^(F)sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷For you know that ^(G)afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

¹⁸For you have not come to ^(H)what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest ¹⁹and ^(I)the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words ^(J)made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. ²⁰For they could not endure the order that was given, ^(K)“If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” ²¹Indeed, ^(L)so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” ²²But you have come to ^(M)Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, ^(N)the heavenly Jerusalem, and to ^(O)innumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³and to ^(P)the assembly^[a] of the firstborn who are ^(Q)enrolled in heaven, and to ^(R)God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴and to Jesus, ^(S)the mediator of a new covenant, and to ^(T)the sprinkled blood ^(U)that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For ^(V)if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. ²⁶At that time ^(W)his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ^(X)“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” ²⁷This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates ^(Y)the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸Therefore let us be grateful for receiving ^(Z)a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus ^(AA)let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹for our ^(AB)God is a consuming fire.