Hebrews 13
International Children’s Bible
13 Keep on loving each other as brothers in Christ. 2 Remember to welcome strangers into your homes. Some people have done this and have welcomed angels without knowing it. 3 Do not forget those who are in prison. Remember them as if you were in prison with them. Remember those who are suffering as if you were suffering with them.
4 Marriage should be honored by everyone. Husband and wife should keep their marriage pure. God will judge guilty those who are sexually immoral and commit adultery. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money. And be satisfied with what you have. God has said,
“I will never leave you;
I will never abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
6 So we can feel sure and say,
“I will not be afraid because the Lord is my helper.
People can’t do anything to me.” Psalm 118:6
7 Remember your leaders. They taught God’s message to you. Remember how they lived and died, and copy their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
9 Do not let all kinds of strange teachings lead you into the wrong way. Your hearts should be strengthened by God’s grace, not by obeying rules about foods. Obeying such rules does not help anyone.
10 We have a sacrifice. But the priests who serve in the Holy Tent cannot eat from it. 11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place. There he offers this blood for sins. But the bodies of the animals are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the city. He died to make his people holy with his own blood. 13 So let us go to Jesus outside the camp. We should accept the same shame that Jesus had.
14 Here on earth we do not have a city that lasts forever. But we are looking for the city that we will have in the future. 15 So through Jesus let us always offer our sacrifice to God. This sacrifice is our praise, coming from lips that speak his name. 16 Do not forget to do good to others. And share with them what you have. These are the sacrifices that please God.
17 Obey your leaders and be under their authority. These men are watching you because they are responsible for your souls. Obey them so that they will do this work with joy, not sadness. It will not help you to make their work hard.
18 Continue praying for us. We feel sure about what we are doing, because we always want to do the right thing. 19 And I beg you to pray that God will send me back to you soon.
20-21 I pray that the God of peace will give you every good thing you need so that you can do what he wants. God is the One who raised from death our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep. God raised him because of the blood of his death. His blood began the agreement that God made with his people. And this agreement is eternal. I pray that God, through Christ, will do in us what pleases him. And to Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever. Amen.
22 My brothers, I beg you to listen patiently to this message I have written to encourage you. This letter is not very long. 23 I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been let out of prison. If he arrives soon, we will both come to see you.
24 Greet all your leaders and all of God’s people. Those from Italy send greetings to you.
25 God’s grace be with you all.
Hebrews 13
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
VI. Final Exhortation, Blessing, Greetings
Chapter 13
1 [a]Let mutual love continue. 2 Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.(A) 3 Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment, and of the ill-treated as of yourselves, for you also are in the body.(B) 4 Let marriage be honored among all and the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge the immoral and adulterers.(C) 5 Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never forsake you or abandon you.”(D) 6 Thus we may say with confidence:
“The Lord is my helper,
[and] I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?”(E)
7 Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.(F)
9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching.[b] It is good to have our hearts strengthened by grace and not by foods, which do not benefit those who live by them.(G) 10 We have an altar[c] from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 The bodies of the animals whose blood the high priest brings into the sanctuary as a sin offering are burned outside the camp.(H) 12 Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, to consecrate the people by his own blood.(I) 13 Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing the reproach that he bore. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the one that is to come.(J) 15 Through him [then] let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.(K) 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have; God is pleased by sacrifices of that kind.(L)
17 [d]Obey your leaders and defer to them, for they keep watch over you and will have to give an account, that they may fulfill their task with joy and not with sorrow, for that would be of no advantage to you.
18 Pray for us, for we are confident that we have a clear conscience, wishing to act rightly in every respect. 19 I especially ask for your prayers that I may be restored to you very soon.
20 [e]May the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant, Jesus our Lord,(M) 21 furnish you with all that is good, that you may do his will. May he carry out in you what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever [and ever]. Amen.
22 Brothers, I ask you to bear with this message of encouragement, for I have written to you rather briefly. 23 I must let you know that our brother Timothy has been set free. If he comes soon, I shall see you together with him.(N) 24 Greetings to all your leaders and to all the holy ones. Those from Italy send you greetings. 25 Grace be with all of you.(O)
Footnotes
- 13:1–16 After recommendations on social and moral matters (Hb 13:1–6), the letter turns to doctrinal issues. The fact that the original leaders are dead should not cause the recipients of this letter to lose their faith (Hb 13:7), for Christ still lives and he remains always the same (Hb 13:8). They must not rely for their personal sanctification on regulations concerning foods (Hb 13:9), nor should they entertain the notion that Judaism and Christianity can be intermingled (Hb 13:10; cf. notes on Gal 2:11–14; 2:15–21). As Jesus died separated from his own people, so must the Christian community remain apart from the religious doctrines of Judaism (Hb 13:11–14). Christ must be the heart and center of the community (Hb 13:15–16).
- 13:9 Strange teaching: this doctrine about foods probably refers to the Jewish food laws; in view of Hb 13:10, however, the author may be thinking of the Mosaic sacrificial banquets.
- 13:10 We have an altar: this does not refer to the Eucharist, which is never clearly mentioned in Hebrews, but to the sacrifice of Christ.
- 13:17–25 Recommending obedience to the leaders of the community, the author asks for prayers (Hb 13:17–19). The letter concludes with a blessing (Hb 13:20–21), a final request for the acceptance of its message (Hb 13:22), information regarding Timothy (Hb 13:23), and general greetings (Hb 13:24–25).
- 13:20–21 These verses constitute one of the most beautiful blessings in the New Testament. The resurrection of Jesus is presupposed throughout Hebrews, since it is included in the author’s frequently expressed idea of his exaltation, but this is the only place where it is explicitly mentioned.
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