¹³ At that moment there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.^(A)

⁵ Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it.

²⁸ Anyone who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy “on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”^{(A) 29} How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?^(B)

Warning to Pay Attention

2 Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. ² For if the message declared through angels proved valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty,^{(A) 3} how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was confirmed for us by those who heard him,^(B)

⁶ Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did.^{(A) 7} Do not become idolaters as some of them did, as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.”^{(B) 8} We must not engage in sexual immorality, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.^{(C) 9} We must not put Christ^[a] to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents.^{(D) 10} And do not complain, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.^{(E) 11} These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.^(F)