Hebrews 6
New English Translation
6 Therefore we must progress beyond[a] the elementary[b] instructions about Christ[c] and move on[d] to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works[e] and faith in God, 2 teaching about ritual washings,[f] laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this is what we intend to do,[g] if God permits. 4 For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, 6 and then have committed apostasy,[h] to renew them again to repentance, since[i] they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again[j] and holding him up to contempt. 7 For the ground that has soaked up the rain that frequently falls on[k] it and yields useful vegetation for those who tend it receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed;[l] its fate is to be burned. 9 But in your case, dear friends, even though we speak like this, we are convinced of better things relating to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints. 11 But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish,[m] but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises.
13 Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you greatly and multiply your descendants abundantly.”[n] 15 And so by persevering, Abraham[o] inherited the promise. 16 For people[p] swear by something greater than themselves,[q] and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute.[r] 17 In the same way[s] God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable,[t] and so he intervened with an oath, 18 so that we who have found refuge in him[u] may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain,[v] 20 where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since he became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.[w]
Footnotes
- Hebrews 6:1 tn Grk “Therefore leaving behind.” The implication is not of abandoning this elementary information, but of building on it.
- Hebrews 6:1 tn Or “basic.”
- Hebrews 6:1 tn Grk “the message of the beginning of Christ.”
- Hebrews 6:1 tn Grk “leaving behind…let us move on.”
- Hebrews 6:1 sn It is clear from the context that the phrase “dead works” are works that need to be repented from and thus are sins. The same phrase occurs in Heb 9:14 in which the author of Hebrews states that our consciences need to be purified from them. As Bruce states, they are works “that belong to the way of death and not the way of life” (F. F. Bruce, Hebrews [NICNT], 138).
- Hebrews 6:2 sn See Hebrews 9:10 and Mark 7:4 for other references to the Jewish practice of ritual washings.
- Hebrews 6:3 tn Grk “and we will do this.”
- Hebrews 6:6 tn Or “have fallen away.”
- Hebrews 6:6 tn Or “while”; Grk “crucifying…and holding.” The Greek participles here (“crucifying…and holding”) can be understood as either causal (“since”) or temporal (“while”).
- Hebrews 6:6 tn Grk “recrucifying the son of God for themselves.”
- Hebrews 6:7 tn Grk “comes upon.”
- Hebrews 6:8 tn Grk “near to a curse.”
- Hebrews 6:12 tn Or “dull.”
- Hebrews 6:14 tn Grk “in blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply you,” the Greek form of a Hebrew idiom showing intensity.sn A quotation from Gen 22:17.
- Hebrews 6:15 tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Abraham) has been specified for clarity.
- Hebrews 6:16 tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποι (anthrōpoi) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, and is thus translated “people.”
- Hebrews 6:16 tn Grk “by something greater”; the rest of the comparison (“than themselves”) is implied.
- Hebrews 6:16 tn Grk “the oath for confirmation is an end of all dispute.”
- Hebrews 6:17 tn Grk “in which.”
- Hebrews 6:17 tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”
- Hebrews 6:18 tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.
- Hebrews 6:19 sn The curtain refers to the veil or drape in the temple that separated the holy place from the holy of holies.
- Hebrews 6:20 sn A quotation from Ps 110:4, picked up again from Heb 5:6, 10.
Hebrews 6
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 6
1 [a]Therefore, let us leave behind the basic teaching about Christ and advance toward maturity. We must not be forever laying the foundation: repentance for actions that lead to death, faith in God, 2 instruction about baptisms and the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And we will do so, if God permits.
4 [b]For when people have once been enlightened and have experienced the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then in spite of all this have fallen away, it is impossible to restore them again to repentance. For they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves once again and are holding him up to contempt.
7 When the soil drinks in the rain that repeatedly falls on it and produces a crop that is useful to those for whom it was cultivated, it receives a blessing from God. 8 However, if it brings forth thorns and thistles, it is worthless, and a curse hangs over it. It will end by being burned.
9 But, beloved, in spite of what we have just said, we are convinced that your status is far superior as you proceed to salvation. 10 For God would not be so unjust as to ignore your work and the love that you have shown for his name by the services you have rendered to the saints and still continue to render.
11 However, we desire that each one of you will show the same diligence until you have achieved the ultimate fulfillment of your hope. 12 We do not want you to allow yourselves to become sluggish; rather, we want you to become imitators of those who through faith and patience are now heirs of the promises.
13 Cling Tightly to Hope.[c] When God made his promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply your descendants.” 15 And so, after waiting patiently, he obtained the promise.
16 Human beings swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath given as confirmation puts an end to all argument. 17 Likewise, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of his promise the unalterable nature of his purpose, he confirmed it by an oath.
18 Therefore, by these two unchangeable acts in which it was impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge in his protection have been strongly encouraged to grasp firmly the hope that has been held out to us. 19 We have this hope as the anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the sanctuary behind the veil,[d] 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 6:1 Six basic teachings are mentioned. (1) Repentance: turning away from the darkness of sin and useless rituals. (2) Faith in God: i.e., turning to the light of God. (3) Instruction about baptisms: e.g., Jewish initiation rites for proselytes, John the Baptist’s baptism, and the Baptism commanded by Jesus. (4) Laying on of hands: a rite connected with ordaining or commissioning (see Acts 6:6; 13:3; 1 Tim 5:22; 2 Tim 1:6), with healing the sick (see Mk 6:5; 16:18; Lk 4:40; Acts 28:8), and with bestowal of blessings (see Mt 19:13-15). (5) Resurrection of the dead: the resurrection of all people in the end time (see Jn 5:25-29). (6) Eternal judgment: the lot of those who reject God.
- Hebrews 6:4 The author asserts that repentance for apostates is impossible. However, he may be using hyperbole to impress on his readers that abandoning Christ is most serious.
- Hebrews 6:13 In the beginning, before any law and any institution of worship, there were two immutable realities: God’s promise and his oath. There were also two figures: Abraham and Melchizedek. The author wishes to stress one solid point: God committed himself radically to the future and salvation of human beings, a future and a salvation that become realities forever through Christ—as the following chapters will explain.
- Hebrews 6:19 The veil separated the two most sacred parts of the Jewish temple.
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