David’s Kingdom Strengthened

18 Now after this ^(A)it came about that David ^[a]defeated the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines. ² He defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute.

³ David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to establish his ^[b]rule to the Euphrates River. ⁴ David took from him 1,000 chariots and 7,000 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers, and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved enough of them for 100 chariots.

⁵ When the Arameans of ^[c]Damascus came to help Hadadezer king ^(B)of Zobah, David ^[d]killed 22,000 men of the Arameans. ⁶ Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of ^[e]Damascus; and the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And the Lord helped David wherever he went. ⁷ David took the shields of gold which were ^[f]carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ Also from ^[g]Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a very large amount of bronze, with which ^(C)Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the bronze utensils.

⁹ Now when ^[h]Tou king of Hamath heard that David had ^[i]defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, ¹⁰ he sent ^[j]Hadoram his son to King David to ^[k]greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and had ^[l]defeated him; for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. And Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and silver and bronze. ¹¹ King David also dedicated these to the Lord with the silver and the gold which he had carried away from all the nations: from Edom, Moab, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, and from Amalek.

¹² Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah ^[m]defeated 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³ Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord helped David wherever he went.

¹⁴ So David reigned over all Israel; and he ^[n]administered justice and righteousness for all his people. ^15 (D)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ¹⁶ and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Shavsha was secretary; ¹⁷ and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David were chiefs at the king’s side.

The Peril of Falling Away

6 Therefore ^(A)leaving ^(B)the ^[a]elementary teaching about the ^[b]Christ, let us press on to ^[c](C)maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from ^(D)dead works and of faith toward God, ² of ^(E)instruction about washings and ^(F)laying on of hands, and the ^(G)resurrection of the dead and ^(H)eternal judgment. ³ And this we will do, ^(I)if God permits. ⁴ For in the case of those who have once been ^(J)enlightened and have tasted of ^(K)the heavenly gift and have been made ^(L)partakers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and ^(M)have tasted the good ^(N)word of God and the powers of ^(O)the age to come, ⁶ and then have fallen away, it is ^(P)impossible to renew them again to repentance, ^[d](Q)since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. ⁷ For ground that drinks the rain which often ^[e]falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those ^(R)for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; ⁸ but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and ^(S)close ^[f]to being cursed, and ^[g]it ends up being burned.

Better Things for You

⁹ But, ^(T)beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that ^[h]accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. ¹⁰ For ^(U)God is not unjust so as to forget ^(V)your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ^(W)ministered and in still ministering to the ^[i]saints. ¹¹ And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence ^[j]so as to realize the ^(X)full assurance of ^(Y)hope until the end, ¹² so that you will not be sluggish, but ^(Z)imitators of those who through ^(AA)faith and patience ^(AB)inherit the promises.

¹³ For ^(AC)when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He ^(AD)swore by Himself, ¹⁴ saying, “^(AE)I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” ¹⁵ And so, ^(AF)having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. ^16 (AG)For men swear by ^[k]one greater than themselves, and with them ^(AH)an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. ^17 [l]In the same way God, desiring even more to show to ^(AI)the heirs of the promise ^(AJ)the unchangeableness of His purpose, ^[m]interposed with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things in which ^(AK)it is impossible for God to lie, we who have ^[n]taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of ^(AL)the hope set before us. ^19 [o]This ^(AM)hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which ^(AN)enters ^[p]within the veil, ^20 (AO)where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a ^(AP)high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.