²⁶ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God^(A) through faith, ²⁷ for all of you who were baptized into Christ^(B) have clothed yourselves with Christ.^{(C) 28} There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free,^(D) nor is there male and female,^(E) for you are all one in Christ Jesus.^(F)

²³ For you have been born again,^(A) not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,^(B) through the living and enduring word of God.^{(C) 24} For,

³² And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon,^(A) Barak,^(B) Samson^(C) and Jephthah,^(D) about David^(E) and Samuel^(F) and the prophets, ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms,^(G) administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,^{(H) 34} quenched the fury of the flames,^(I) and escaped the edge of the sword;^(J) whose weakness was turned to strength;^(K) and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.^{(L) 35} Women received back their dead, raised to life again.^(M) There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. ³⁶ Some faced jeers and flogging,^(N) and even chains and imprisonment.^{(O) 37} They were put to death by stoning;^[a](P) they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.^(Q) They went about in sheepskins and goatskins,^(R) destitute, persecuted and mistreated— ³⁸ the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves^(S) and in holes in the ground.

³⁹ These were all commended^(T) for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,^{(U) 40} since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us^(V) would they be made perfect.^(W)

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run^(X) with perseverance^(Y) the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus,^(Z) the pioneer^(AA) and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross,^(AB) scorning its shame,^(AC) and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.^(AD)

More Than Conquerors

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things?^(A) If God is for us,^(B) who can be against us?^(C)

³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.^[a]”^(A)

⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.^(B)

¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed^(A) in his name,^(B) he gave the right to become children of God^(C)— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.^(D)

¹⁴ The Word became flesh^(E) and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,^(F) the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace^(G) and truth.^(H)

³⁵ “The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits.^[a]

“And the name of the city from that time on will be:

²² But you have come to Mount Zion,^(A) to the city^(B) of the living God,^(C) the heavenly Jerusalem.^(D) You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, ²³ to the church of the firstborn,^(E) whose names are written in heaven.^(F) You have come to God, the Judge of all,^(G) to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,^{(H) 24} to Jesus the mediator^(I) of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood^(J) that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.^(K)