1 Thereforei[Phil. 3:12-14] let us leavejch. 5:12 the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentancekch. 9:14 from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and oflActs 19:4, 5 instruction about washings,mActs 8:17; 19:6 the laying on of hands,nActs 17:31, 32 the resurrection of the dead, andoSee Acts 10:42 eternal judgment. 3 And this we will dopSee 1 Cor. 16:7 if God permits. 4 For it is impossible to restore again to repentance thoseqch. 10:32 who have once been enlightened, who have tastedr[John 4:10; Eph. 2:8] the heavenly gift, andsch. 2:4, 5; Gal. 3:2, 5 have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 andtPs. 34:8 have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if theyu[Matt. 19:26]; See 1 John 5:16 then fall away, sincev[ch. 10:29] they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 ForwPs. 65:10 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. 8 ButxIsa. 5:1-7; [Gen. 3:17, 18; Deut. 29:22, 23; Jer. 44:22; Luke 13:6-9] if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed,y[Mal. 4:1; John 15:6] and its end is to be burned.
9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 ForzProv. 19:17; Matt. 10:42; 25:40; Mark 9:41 God is not so unjust as to overlooka1 Thess. 1:3 your work and the love that you showed for his sake inbRom. 15:31; 2 Cor. 8:4; 9:1, 12; 2 Tim. 1:18; Rev. 2:19 serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurancecRom. 5:2-5 of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, butdch. 13:7; [ch. 10:36] imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear,eGen. 22:16 he swore by himself, 14 saying,fCited from Gen. 22:17 “Surely I will bless you and multiply you. ” 15 And thus Abraham,gver. 12, 17; [ch. 7:6]; See Rom. 4:13 having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputeshEx. 22:11 an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly toich. 11:9 the heirs of the promisejver. 18; [Ps. 110:4; Prov. 19:21] the unchangeable character of his purpose,k[Gal. 3:20] he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in whichlSee Titus 1:2 it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hopemch. 12:1, 2 set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters intonch. 9:7; Lev. 16:15 the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has goneoch. 4:14; 8:1; 9:24 as a forerunner on our behalf,pch. 3:1; 5:6, 10; 7:17, 21 having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.