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1Strive for peace with everyone, and for the
2holiness
3without which no one will see the Lord.
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See to it that no one
4fails to obtain the grace of God; that no
5"root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
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that no one is
6sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
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For you know that
7afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken
18 For you have not come to
8what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest
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and
9the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words
10made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them.
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For they could not endure the order that was given,
11"If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned."
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Indeed,
12so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear."
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But you have come to
13Mount Zion and to the city of the living God,
14the heavenly Jerusalem, and to
15innumerable angels in festal gathering,
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and to
16the assembly of the firstborn who are
17enrolled in heaven, and to
18God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
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and to Jesus,
19the mediator of a new covenant, and to
20the sprinkled blood
21that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
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See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For
22if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.
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At that time
23his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised,
24"Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."
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This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates
25the removal of things that are shaken--that is, things that have been made--in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.
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Therefore let us be grateful for receiving
26a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus
27let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,
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for our
28God is a consuming fire.