Hebrews 6
1 Therefore, let us leave behind the elementary teaching about the Christ and press on to perfection, not always laying over again a foundation of repentance for a lifeless formality, of faith in God —
Therefore, omitting the elementary Christian teaching, let us go on to the perfection of Christian instruction, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2 teaching concerning baptisms and the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and a final judgment. (aiōnios g166)
of the teaching with respect to immersions, and of the laying on of hands, of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal condemnation. (aiōnios g166)
3 Yes and, with God’s help, we will.
And this we will do, if God permit.
4 For if those who were once for all brought into the Light, and learned to appreciate the gift from Heaven, and came to share in the Holy Spirit,
For it is impossible to renew again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5 and learned to appreciate the beauty of the Divine Message, and the new powers of the Coming Age — (aiōn g165)
and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the coming age, (aiōn g165)
6 if those, I say, fell away, it would be impossible to bring them again to repentance; they would be crucifying the Son of God over again for themselves, and exposing him to open contempt.
if they fall away; since they again crucify in themselves the Son of God, and put him to an open shame.
7 Ground that drinks in the showers that from time to time fall upon it, and produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is tilled, receives a blessing from God;
For the land which drinks up the rain that comes often upon it, and produces herbs suitable for those for whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God.
8 but, if it ‘bears thorns and thistles,’ it is regarded as worthless, it is in danger of being ‘cursed,’ and its end will be the fire.
But that which produces thorns and thistles is rejected, and is near the curse, the end of which is to be burned.
9 But about you, dear friends, even though we speak in this way, we are confident of better things — of things that point to your Salvation.
But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, and of things that tend to salvation, though we thus speak.
10 For God is not unjust; he will not forget the work that you did, and the love that you showed for his Name, in sending help to your fellow Christians — as you are still doing.
For God is not unjust, that he should forget your work, and the love which you have shown for his name by having ministered to the saints, and by continuing to minister.
11 But our great desire is that every one of you should be equally earnest to attain to a full conviction that our hope will be fulfilled, and that you should keep that hope to the end.
But we desire every one of you to show the same diligence, in order to have your hope fully assured to the end:
12 Then you will not show yourselves slow to learn, but you will copy those who, through faith and patience, are now entering upon the enjoyment of God’s promises.
that you may not become slothful, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises.
13 When God gave his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater by whom he could swear, he swore by himself.
For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself,
14 His words were — ‘I will assuredly bless thee and increase thy numbers.’
saying: Most surely will I abundantly bless you, and abundantly multiply you.
15 And so, after patiently waiting, Abraham obtained the fulfilment of God’s promise.
And so, when he had waited patiently, he received the promises.
16 Men, of course, swear by what is greater than themselves, and with them an oath is accepted as putting a matter beyond all dispute.
For, verily, men swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all contradiction.
17 And therefore God, in his desire to show, with unmistakable plainness, to those who were to enter on the enjoyment of what he had promised, the unchangeableness of his purpose, bound himself with an oath.
Wherefore, God, being more abundantly willing to show to the heirs of his promise the immutability of his purpose, interposed an oath,
18 For he intended us to find great encouragement in these two unchangeable things, which make it impossible for God to prove false — we, I mean, who fled for safety where we might lay hold on the hope set before us.
that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled to lay hold on the hope set before us;
19 This hope is a very anchor for our souls, secure and strong, and it ‘reaches into the Sanctuary that lies behind the Curtain,’
which, hope we have as an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters in beyond the vail,
