Warning Against Neglecting Salvation

2 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. ² For since ^(A)the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and ^(B)every transgression or disobedience received a just ^(C)retribution, ^3 (D)how shall we escape if we ^(E)neglect such a great salvation? It was ^(F)declared at first by the Lord, and it was ^(G)attested to us ^(H)by those who heard, ^4 (I)while God also bore witness ^(J)by signs and wonders and various miracles and by ^(K)gifts of the Holy Spirit ^(L)distributed according to his will.

A Rest for the People of God

⁷ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

¹² Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from ^(D)the living God. ¹³ But ^(E)exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by ^(F)the deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we have come to share in Christ, ^(G)if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. ¹⁵ As it is said,

¹⁶ For ^(I)who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not ^(J)all those who left Egypt led by Moses? ¹⁷ And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, ^(K)whose bodies fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And to whom did he swear that ^(L)they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? ¹⁹ So we see that ^(M)they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

4 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem ^(N)to have failed to reach it. ² For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because ^(O)they were not united by faith with those who listened.^{[a] 3} For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴ For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: ^(Q)“And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” ⁵ And again in this passage he said,

⁶ Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news ^(S)failed to enter because of disobedience, ⁷ again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God^[b] would not have spoken of another day later on. ⁹ So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, ¹⁰ for whoever has entered God's rest has also ^(U)rested from his works as God did from his.

¹¹ Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so ^(V)that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. ¹² For ^(W)the word of God is living and ^(X)active, ^(Y)sharper than any ^(Z)two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and ^(AA)discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ And ^(AB)no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are ^(AC)naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Warning Against Apostasy

¹¹ About this we have much to say, and it is ^(A)hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. ¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again ^(B)the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need ^(C)milk, not solid food, ¹³ for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is ^(D)a child. ¹⁴ But solid food is for ^(E)the mature, for those who have their powers ^(F)of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

6 Therefore ^(G)let us leave ^(H)the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance ^(I)from dead works and of faith toward God, ² and of ^(J)instruction about washings,^{[a] (K)}the laying on of hands, ^(L)the resurrection of the dead, and ^(M)eternal judgment. ³ And this we will do ^(N)if God permits. ⁴ For it is impossible, in the case of those ^(O)who have once been enlightened, who have tasted ^(P)the heavenly gift, and ^(Q)have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and ^(R)have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and ^(S)then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since ^(T)they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. ⁷ For ^(U)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 ^(V)if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, ^(W)and its end is to be burned.

⁹ Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. ¹⁰ For ^(X)God is not unjust so as to overlook ^(Y)your work and the love that you have shown for his name in ^(Z)serving the saints, as you still do. ¹¹ And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance ^(AA)of hope until the end, ¹² so that you may not be sluggish, but ^(AB)imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Full Assurance of Faith

^19 (A)Therefore, brothers,^[a] since we have confidence to enter ^(B)the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by ^(C)the new and living way that he opened for us through ^(D)the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹ and since we have ^(E)a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts ^(F)sprinkled clean ^(G)from an evil conscience and our bodies ^(H)washed with pure water. ^23 (I)Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for ^(J)he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And ^(K)let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ^25 (L)not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and ^(M)all the more as you see ^(N)the Day drawing near.

²⁶ For ^(O)if we go on sinning deliberately ^(P)after receiving the knowledge of the truth, ^(Q)there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ^27 (R)but a fearful expectation of judgment, and ^(S)a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ^28 (T)Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy ^(U)on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one ^(V)who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned ^(W)the blood of the covenant ^(X)by which he was sanctified, and has ^(Y)outraged the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know him who said, ^(Z)“Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, ^(AA)“The Lord will judge his people.” ^31 (AB)It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³² But recall the former days when, after ^(AC)you were enlightened, you endured ^(AD)a hard struggle with sufferings, ³³ sometimes being ^(AE)publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. ³⁴ For ^(AF)you had compassion on those in prison, and ^(AG)you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had ^(AH)a better possession and an abiding one. ³⁵ Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has ^(AI)a great reward. ³⁶ For ^(AJ)you have need of endurance, so that ^(AK)when you have done the will of God you may ^(AL)receive what is promised. ³⁷ For,

³⁹ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

^14 (A)Strive for peace with everyone, and for the ^(B)holiness ^(C)without which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵ See 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; ¹⁶ that no one is ^(F)sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷ For 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

¹⁸ For you have not come to ^(H)what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest ¹⁹ and ^(I)the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words ^(J)made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. ²⁰ For they could not endure the order that was given, ^(K)“If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” ²¹ Indeed, ^(L)so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” ²² But 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, ²³ and 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, ²⁴ and 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.

²⁵ See 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. ²⁶ At 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.” ²⁷ This 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. ²⁸ Therefore 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, ²⁹ for our ^(AB)God is a consuming fire.