| Holman Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Therefore, leaving the elementary message about the Messiah, let us go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, faith in God, | 1So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. |
| 2teaching about ritual washings, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. | 2You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. |
| 3And we will do this if God permits. | 3And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding. |
| 4For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, became companions with the Holy Spirit, | 4For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, |
| 5tasted God's good word and the powers of the coming age, | 5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— |
| 6and who have fallen away, because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding Him up to contempt. | 6and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame. |
| 7For ground that has drunk the rain that has often fallen on it and that produces vegetation useful to those it is cultivated for receives a blessing from God. | 7When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing. |
| 8But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed, and will be burned at the end. | 8But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it. |
| 9Even though we are speaking this way, dear friends, in your case we are confident of the better things connected with salvation. | 9Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. |
| 10For God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you showed for His name when you served the saints--and you continue to serve them. | 10For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. |
| 11Now we want each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the final realization of your hope, | 11Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. |
| 12so that you won't become lazy but will be imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance. | 12Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance. God’s Promises Bring Hope |
| 13For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself: | 13For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying: |
| 14I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply you. | 14“I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.” |
| 15And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise. | 15Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised. |
| 16For men swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute. | 16Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. |
| 17Because God wanted to show His unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath, | 17God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. |
| 18so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. | 18So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. |
| 19We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. | 19This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. |
| 20Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. | 20Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. |
| Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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