| King James Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward 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. |
| 2Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. | 2You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. |
| 3And this will we do, if God permit. | 3And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding. |
| 4For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, | 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, |
| 5And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, | 5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— |
| 6If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. | 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 the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth 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 that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. | 8But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it. |
| 9But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. | 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 unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. | 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. |
| 11And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: | 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. |
| 12That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. | 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 promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware 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: |
| 14Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. | 14“I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.” |
| 15And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. | 15Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised. |
| 16For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. | 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. |
| 17Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by 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. |
| 18That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon 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. |
| 19Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; | 19This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. |
| 20Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. | 20Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | 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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