Hebrews 12
1 Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Therefore, surrounded as we are by such a vast cloud of witnesses, let us fling aside every encumbrance and the sin that so readily entangles our feet. And let us run with patient endurance the race that lies before us,
2 looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
simply fixing our gaze upon Jesus, our Prince Leader in the faith, who will also award us the prize. He, for the sake of the joy which lay before Him, patiently endured the cross, looking with contempt upon its shame, and afterwards seated Himself-- where He still sits--at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider him that hath endured such gainsaying of sinners against himself, that ye wax not weary, fainting in your souls.
Therefore, if you would escape becoming weary and faint-hearted, compare your own sufferings with those of Him who endured such hostility directed against Him by sinners.
4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin:
In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted so as to endanger your lives;
5 and ye have forgotten the exhortation which reasoneth with you as with sons, My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord, Nor faint when thou art reproved of him;
and you have quite forgotten the encouraging words which are addressed to you as sons, and which say, "My son, do not think lightly of the Lord's discipline, and do not faint when He corrects you;
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, And scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines: and He scourges every son whom He acknowledges."
7 It is for chastening that ye endure; God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is there whom [his] father chasteneth not?
The sufferings that you are enduring are for your discipline. God is dealing with you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
8 But if ye are without chastening, whereof all have been made partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
And if you are left without discipline, of which every true son has had a share, that shows that you are bastards, and not true sons.
9 Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Besides this, our earthly fathers used to discipline us and we treated them with respect, and shall we not be still more submissive to the Father of our spirits, and live?
10 For they indeed for a few days chastened [us] as seemed good to them; but he for [our] profit, that [we] may be partakers of his holiness.
It is true that they disciplined us for a few years according as they thought fit; but He does it for our certain good, in order that we may become sharers in His own holy character.
11 All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, [even the fruit] of righteousness.
Now, at the time, discipline seems to be a matter not for joy, but for grief; yet it afterwards yields to those who have passed through its training a result full of peace--namely, righteousness.
12 Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the palsied knees;
Therefore strengthen the drooping hands and paralysed knees,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not turned out of the way, but rather be healed.
and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put entirely out of joint
14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord:
but may rather be restored. Persistently strive for peace with all men, and for that growth in holiness apart from which no one will see the Lord.
15 looking carefully lest [there be] any man that falleth short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble [you], and thereby the many be defiled;
Be carefully on your guard lest there be any one who falls back from the grace of God; lest any root bearing bitter fruit spring up and cause trouble among you, and through it the whole brotherhood be defiled;
16 lest [there be] any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright.
lest there be a fornicator, or an ungodly person like Esau, who, in return for a single meal, parted with the birthright which belonged to him.
17 For ye know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place for a change of mind [in his father], though he sought it diligently with tears.
For you know that even afterwards, when he wished to secure the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no opportunity for undoing what he had done, though he sought the blessing earnestly with tears.
18 For ye are not come unto [a mount] that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
For you have not come to a material object all ablaze with fire, and to gloom and darkness and storm and trumpet-blast and the sound of words--
19 and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which [voice] they that heard entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them;
a sound of such a kind that those who heard it entreated that no more should be added.
20 for they could not endure that which was enjoined, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned;
For they could not endure the order which had been given, "Even a wild beast, if it touches the mountain, shall be stoned to death;"
21 and so fearful was the appearance, [that] Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:
and so terrible was the scene that Moses said, "I tremble with fear."
22 but ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels,
On the contrary you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the ever-living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless hosts of angels,
23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
to the great festal gathering and Church of the first-born, whose names are recorded in Heaven, and to a Judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,
24 and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than [that of] Abel.
and to Jesus the negotiator of a new Covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks in more gracious tones than that of Abel.
25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not when they refused him that warned [them] on earth, much more [shall not] we [escape] who turn away from him that [warneth] from heaven:
Be careful not to refuse to listen to Him who is speaking to you. For if they of old did not escape unpunished when they refused to listen to him who spoke on earth, much less shall we escape who turn a deaf ear to Him who now speaks from Heaven.
26 whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven.
His voice then shook the earth, but now we have His promise, "Yet again I will, once for all, cause not only the earth to tremble, but Heaven also."
27 And this [word], Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.
Here the words "Yet again, once for all" denote the removal of the things which can be shaken--created things--in order that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe:
Therefore, receiving, as we now do, a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us cherish thankfulness so that we may ever offer to God an acceptable service, with godly reverence and awe.
29 for our God is a consuming fire.
For our God is also a consuming fire.
