English Standard Version ESV
New Living Translation NLT
1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
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So 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.
2 and of instruction about washings,the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
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You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
3 And this we will do if God permits.
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And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.
4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,
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For 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,
5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,
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who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—
6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
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and 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.
7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.
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When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing.
8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
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But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it.
9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things--things that belong to salvation.
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Dear 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.
10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.
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For 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.
11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,
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Our 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.
12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
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Then 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.
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,
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For 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:
14 saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you."
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“I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.”
15 And thus Abraham,having patiently waited, obtained the promise.
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Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.
16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.
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Now 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.
17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,
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God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind.
18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
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So 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.
19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
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This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.
20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
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Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.