| 1 | For since the Law has merely a rude outline (foreshadowing) of the good things to come—instead of fully expressing those things—it can never by offering the same sacrifices continually year after year make perfect those who approach [its altars]. |
| 2 | For if it were otherwise, would [these sacrifices] not have stopped being offered? Since the worshipers had
[a]once for all been cleansed, they would no longer have any guilt
or
consciousness of sin. |
| 3 | But [as it is] these sacrifices annually bring a fresh remembrance of sins [to be atoned for], |
| 4 | Because the blood of bulls and goats is powerless to take sins away. |
| 5 | Hence, when He [Christ] entered into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired, but instead You have made ready a body for Me [to offer]; |
| 6 | In burnt offerings and sin offerings You have taken no delight. |
| 7 | Then I said, Behold, here I am, coming to do Your will, O God—[to fulfill] what is written of Me in the volume of the Book. |
| 8 | When He said just before, You have neither desired, nor have You taken delight in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings—all of which are offered according to the Law— |
| 9 | He then went on to say, Behold, [here] I am, coming to do Your will. Thus He does away with
and
annuls the first (former) order [as a means of expiating sin] so that He might inaugurate
and
establish the second (latter) order. |
| 10 | And in accordance with this will [of God], we have been made holy (consecrated and sanctified) through the offering made once for all of the body of Jesus Christ (the Anointed One). |
| 11 | Furthermore, every [human] priest stands [at his altar of service] ministering daily, offering the same sacrifices over and over again, which never are able to strip [from every side of us] the sins [that envelop us]
and
take them away— |
| 12 | Whereas this One [Christ], after He had offered a single sacrifice for our sins [that shall avail] for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, |
| 13 | Then to wait until His enemies should be made a stool beneath His feet. |
| 14 | For by a single offering He has forever completely cleansed
and
perfected those who are consecrated
and
made holy. |
| 15 | And also the Holy Spirit adds His testimony to us [in confirmation of this]. For having said, |
| 16 | This is the agreement (testament, covenant) that I will set up
and
conclude with them after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their hearts, and I will inscribe them on their minds (on their inmost thoughts and understanding), |
| 17 | He then goes on to say, And their sins and their lawbreaking I will remember no more. |
| 18 | Now where there is absolute remission (forgiveness and cancellation of the penalty) of these [sins and lawbreaking], there is no longer any offering made to atone for sin. |
| 19 | Therefore, brethren, since we have full freedom
and
confidence to enter into the [Holy of] Holies [by the power and virtue] in the blood of Jesus, |
| 20 | By this fresh (new) and living way which He initiated
and
dedicated
and
opened for us through the separating curtain (veil of the Holy of Holies), that is, through His flesh, |
| 21 | And since we have [such] a great
and
wonderful
and
noble Priest [Who rules] over the house of God, |
| 22 | Let us all come forward
and
draw near with true (honest and sincere) hearts in unqualified assurance
and
absolute conviction engendered by faith (by
[b]that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness), having our hearts sprinkled
and
purified from a guilty (evil) conscience and our bodies cleansed with pure water. |
| 23 | So let us seize
and
hold fast
and
retain without wavering the
[c]hope we cherish
and
confess
and
our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure)
and
faithful to His word. |
| 24 | And let us consider
and
give
[d]attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love
and
helpful deeds
and
noble activities, |
| 25 | Not forsaking
or
neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching. |
| 26 | For if we go on deliberately
and
willingly sinning after once acquiring the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for [our] sins [no further offering to which to look forward]. |
| 27 | [There is nothing left for us then] but a kind of awful
and
fearful prospect
and
expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath
and
indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition [to God]. |
| 28 | Any person who has violated
and
[thus] rejected
and
set at naught the Law of Moses is put to death without pity
or
mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. |
| 29 | How much worse (sterner and heavier) punishment do you suppose he will be judged to deserve who has spurned
and
[thus] trampled underfoot the Son of God, and who has considered the covenant blood by which he was consecrated common
and
unhallowed, thus profaning it
and
insulting
and
outraging the [Holy] Spirit [Who imparts] grace (the unmerited favor and blessing of God)? |
| 30 | For we know Him Who said, Vengeance is Mine [retribution and the meting out of full justice rest with Me]; I will repay [I will exact the compensation],
says the Lord
. And again, The Lord will judge
and
determine
and
solve
and
settle the cause
and
the cases of His people. |
| 31 | It is a fearful (formidable and terrible) thing to incur the divine penalties
and
be cast into the hands of the living God! |
| 32 | But be ever mindful of the days gone by in which, after you were first spiritually enlightened, you endured a great
and
painful struggle, |
| 33 | Sometimes being yourselves a gazingstock, publicly exposed to insults
and
abuse and distress, and sometimes claiming fellowship
and
making common cause with others who were so treated. |
| 34 | For you did sympathize
and
suffer along with those who were imprisoned, and you bore cheerfully the plundering of your belongings
and
the confiscation of your property, in the knowledge
and
consciousness that you yourselves had a better and lasting possession. |
| 35 | Do not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great
and
glorious compensation of reward. |
| 36 | For you have need of steadfast patience
and
endurance, so that you may perform
and
fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive
and
[e]carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised. |
| 37 | For still a little while (a very little while), and the Coming One will come and He will not delay. |
| 38 | But the just shall live by faith [My righteous servant shall live
[f]by his conviction respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, and holy fervor born of faith and conjoined with it]; and if he draws back
and
shrinks in fear, My soul has no delight
or
pleasure in him. |
| 39 | But our way is not that of those who draw back to eternal misery (perdition) and are utterly destroyed, but we are of those who believe [who cleave to and trust in and rely on God through Jesus Christ, the Messiah]
and
by faith preserve the soul. |
Cross references:
-
Hebrews 10:7 : Ps. 40:6-8.
-
Hebrews 10:9 : Ps. 40:6-8.
-
Hebrews 10:13 : Ps. 110:1.
-
Hebrews 10:17 : Jer. 31:33, 34.
-
Hebrews 10:27 : Isa. 26:11.
-
Hebrews 10:28 : Deut. 17:2-6.
-
Hebrews 10:29 : Exod. 24:8.
-
Hebrews 10:30 : Deut. 32:35, 36.
-
Hebrews 10:38 : Hab. 2:3, 4.
|