en_t4t/59-HEB.usfm

\id HEB - Translation 4 Translators 1
\ide 65001 - Unicode (UTF-8)
\h HEBREWS
\toc1 Hebrews
\toc2 Hebrews
\toc3 Heb
\mt2 The letter that was written to Jewish believers. We call this letter
\mt1 Hebrews
\c 1
\s1 Hebrews 1:1-3
\s1 God formerly communicated with us through the prophets, but now he has communicated with us through his son, who is just like God.
\p
\v 1 Long ago God communicated frequently to our ancestors in various ways by what the prophets  \add wrote\add*.
\v 2 But now when this final age  \add is beginning\add*, God has communicated to us  \add just once\add* by means of what ◄his Son/the man who was also God► \add said and did. God\add* appointed him in order that he would possess everything  \add that truly belongs to God. God also appointed\add* him in order that he would create the universe.
\v 3 He manifests God's glory. He exactly represents  \add what God is like\add*. He ◄sustains everything/carries everything forward to its proper goal► by means of his powerful words. When he had  \add enabled people to be\add* freed from the  \add guilt of\add* their sins [MET], he sat down in heaven [EUP] \add to rule\add* at the place of highest honor [MTY] with God [MTY].
\s1 God's son is greater than the angels.
\sr Hebrews 1:4-14
\p
\v 4 By doing that he  \add showed that he\add* was very much greater than the angels, to the extent that his relationship [MTY] \add to God, as his Son\add*, is more excellent than the relationship the angels  \add have to God\add*.
\v 5 \add We know that\add* because  \add in the Scriptures\add* no one [RHQ] ever reported that God said to any angel  \add what he said to his Son\add*, 
\q You  \add (sg)\add* are my Son!
\q Today I have declared to all that I am your Father [DOU]!
\q And he said in another Scripture passage,
\q I will be his Father,
\q and he will be my Son [DOU].
\p
\v 6 And  \add we know his Son is greater than the angels because in\add* another  \add Scripture passage someone wrote this about God's esteemed Son\add*, when God was about to send him into the world,
\q All God's angels must worship him.
\p
\v 7 \add And in the Scriptures it is written that\add* someone said this about the angels:
\q  \add God\add* makes the  \add angels\add* who serve him  \add to be changeable like\add* [MET] winds and flames of fire.
\p
\v 8 But on the other hand, \add in the Scriptures it is written that God said\add* this to his Son:
\q You  \add (sg)\add* who are  \add also\add* God will rule forever [MTY],
\q and you will reign righteously over your kingdom [MTY].
\q
\v 9 You have loved  \add people's\add* righteous  \add deeds\add* and you have hated  \add people's\add* lawless  \add deeds\add*.
\q So I, your God, have caused you to be more joyful [MTY] than anyone else.
\p
\v 10 And  \add we also know that his Son is superior to angels because in the Scriptures the Psalmist wrote that\add* someone said to God's Son,
\q Lord, it was you who created the earth in the beginning.
\q You also made  \add the rest of\add* the universe (OR, the  \add things in\add* the sky) [MTY].
\q
\v 11 Those things will perish, but you will keep on living  \add forever\add*.
\q They will wear out as clothing  \add wears out\add*.
\q
\v 12 You will dispose of them as one rolls up an  \add old\add* coat  \add to get rid of it\add*.
\q  \add Then\add*, you will exchange  \add all that is in the universe for something new\add*, 
\q as someone puts on a new garment  \add in exchange for an old garment\add* [SIM].
\q But you  \add are not like what you created\add*.
\q You stay the same, and you live forever [LIT]!
\p
\v 13 \add We also know that his Son is superior to angels because no one ever stated\add* [RHQ] \add in the Scriptures\add* that God said to any angel  \add what he said to his Son\add*, 
\q Sit next to me and rule with me [MTY]
\q while I put all of your enemies completely under your control [MET]!
\p
\v 14 ◄The angels are  \add only\add* spirits who serve  \add God\add*./Are not the angels  \add only\add* spirits who serve  \add God\add*?► [RHQ] \add God\add* sends them  \add to earth\add* in order to help those people who will receive what  \add he will give to\add* those whom he has saved (OR, those whom he will save).
\c 2
\s1 We will not escape God's punishment if we ignore such a great message of salvation.
\sr Hebrews 2:1-4
\p
\v 1 So, \add since that is true\add*, we must pay very great attention to what we have heard  \add about God's Son\add*, in order that we do not drift away from it, \add as a boat drifts off its course when people do not guide it\add* [MET].
\v 2 \add God's laws that\add* were spoken by angels were valid, and God justly punished all who transgressed them and all who disobeyed [DOU] them.
\v 3 So, ◄we will certainly not escape  \add God punishing us\add* if we ignore such a great  \add message about how God\add* [MTY] saves us!/how can we escape  \add God punishing us\add* if we ignore such a great  \add message about how God\add* [MTY] saves us?► [RHQ] This  \add new message\add* was first spoken by the Lord  \add Jesus\add* {The Lord  \add Jesus\add* first spoke this  \add message\add*}. Then it was confirmed to us by those who heard  \add what the Lord told them\add* {those who heard  \add what the Lord told them\add* confirmed it to us}.
\v 4 God also confirmed to us  \add that this message was true\add* by  \add enabling believers to do\add* many things that showed God's power, to do other miraculous things [DOU], and  \add to do other things\add* by the gifts that the Holy Spirit distributed to them according to what  \add God\add* desired.
\s1 God has determined that Christ, not angels or people, will rule everything.
\sr Hebrews 2:5-9a
\p
\v 5 God has not determined that the angels will rule over everything. \add Instead, he has determined that Christ\add* will rule in the new world that  \add God\add* will  \add create\add*. \add That is the new world\add* about which I am writing.
\v 6 Someone spoke to  \add God about this\add* somewhere  \add in the Scriptures\add*, saying,
\q ◄No one is worthy enough for you to think about him!/Who is  \add worthy enough\add* for you to think about him?► [RHQ]
\q ◄No human is  \add worthy enough\add* for you to care for him!/Is any human  \add worthy enough\add* for you to care for him?► [RHQ]
\q
\v 7 \add So it is surprising that\add* you have caused people to be for a little while inferior in rank to angels.
\q You have greatly honored [DOU] them [MET], as  \add kings are honored with\add* a crown.
\q
\v 8 You have put everything under their control [MET].
\p God has determined that people will rule over everything [LIT]. That  \add means that nothing will be omitted from their control\add*. But now, at this present time, we perceive that people do not yet have authority over everything.
\v 9 But we do know about Jesus, \add who truly has authority over everything!\add*
\s1 Jesus, the creator of everything, is the one who died for us, makes us holy, and proclaims us to be his brothers and sisters.
\sr Hebrews 2:9b-13
\p Jesus, for a little, while became inferior  \add in rank\add* to angels in order to die on behalf of [MET] everyone. He became inferior when he suffered  \add and\add* died, as God in his kindness  \add planned\add*. But now he has been greatly  \add honored\add* [DOU] \add by being\add* crowned  \add as kings are\add*.
\v 10 It was fitting that  \add God\add* make  \add Jesus\add* ◄perfect/all that God intended him to be►. He was enabling many people who would belong to him [MET] to share his glory. God  \add is the one who\add* created all things, and  \add he is the one\add* for whom all things  \add exist\add*. \add He perfected Jesus\add* by causing him to suffer  \add and die\add*. \add Jesus\add* is the one who enables  \add God\add* to save people.
\v 11 \add Jesus\add*, the one who ◄makes people holy/sets people apart for God►, and the ones who are ◄made holy/set apart for God► {whom he ◄makes holy/sets apart  \add for God\add*►}, all belong to God's family. \add As a result, Christ\add* gladly [LIT] proclaims them to be  \add like\add* his own brothers  \add and sisters\add*.
\v 12 \add The Psalmist wrote what Christ said to God about us becoming\add* his brothers, in these words,
\q I will proclaim to my brothers how awesome you are (OR, what you ◄\add are like/have done\add*►) [MTY].
\q I will sing praise to you in the midst of the congregation!
\p
\v 13 And a prophet wrote  \add in\add* another  \add Scripture passage what Christ said about God\add*, 
\q I will trust him.
\p And in another  \add Scripture passage, Christ said about those who are like his\add* children,
\q I and the ones that God has given me are here.
\s1 It is Jesus, not angels, who became a human to help us as our high priest.
\sr Hebrews 2:14-18
\p
\v 14 So, since those  \add whom God calls his\add* children are all human beings [MTY], Jesus also became a human being  \add just like them\add*. The devil has the power to cause people  \add to be afraid\add* to die, but Christ became human in order that by his dying he might make the devil powerless.
\v 15 \add Jesus did that\add* to free all of us who are like slaves [MET] all the time we live, because we are  \add forced to\add* be afraid to die.
\v 16 Because  \add Jesus became a human being\add*, it is not angels that he wants to help. No, it is we who trust God as Abraham did whom he wants to help.
\v 17 So, \add since he came to help humans, not angels\add*, he had to be made exactly like  \add us whom he calls\add* his own brothers  \add and sisters\add*. He wants to be a high priest who  \add acts\add* mercifully  \add to all people\add* and who acts faithfully in God's matters, so that people who had sinned would no longer be guilty.
\v 18 \add Specifically\add*, he is able to help those/us who are tempted  \add to sin\add*. He can do that because he suffered, and he was also tempted  \add to sin like we are tempted to sin\add*.
\c 3
\s1 Our high priest, Jesus, deserves more honor than Moses does.
\sr Hebrews 3:1-6
\p
\v 1 My fellow believers, \add God\add* has set you apart and has chosen you, just like he chose me. So consider Jesus. \add He is God's\add* messenger to us. He is also the high priest whom we say we believe in.
\v 2 He faithfully \add served God\add*, who appointed him, just like Moses faithfully \add served\add* God's people [MTY].
\v 3-4 Just like every house is made by someone {as someone makes every house}, Jesus made everything, and he is God/Divine. So God has considered that Jesus is worthy \add that people honor\add* him more than they honor Moses, just like the one who builds a house deserves that people honor him more than they should honor the house \add he built\add*.
\v 5 Moses very faithfully \add served God as he\add* ◄\add helped/cared for\add*► [MET] God's people, just like a servant \add faithfully serves his master\add*. The result was that Moses testified about what Jesus would say later.
\v 6 But Christ \add faithfully serves God as he\add* ◄\add helps/cares for\add*► his own people [MTY, MET], just like a \add son helps/cares for his own family\add*. And we are God's people [MTY] if we continue to confidently \add believe in Christ\add* and if we continue to proudly wait for \add what God will do for us\add*.
\s1 Do not stubbornly rebel against God as their Jewish ancestors did.
\sr Hebrews 3:7-11
\p
\v 7 The Holy Spirit \add caused the Psalmist to write these words in the Scriptures to the Israelites\add*:
\q Now, when you \add (pl)\add* hear God speaking to you [MTY],
\v 8 do not stubbornly ◄\add disobey/refuse to\add* obey \add him\add*► [IDM], \add as the your ancestors stubbornly disobeyed him\add* when they rebelled against \add him\add* in the desert.
\p \add At that time, God said to them\add*, “They tried to determine how many \add things that displeased me they could do\add* in the desert \add without me punishing them\add*.
\v 9 Your ancestors repeatedly tested \add whether I would be patient with them, even though\add* for forty years they saw all the amazing things I did.
\p
\v 10 So, I became disgusted with the people who saw those things, and I said \add about them\add*, ‘They are constantly disloyal to me, and they do not understand how I \add wanted them\add* to conduct their lives.’
\p
\v 11 As a result, because I was angry with them, I solemnly declared, ‘They will not enter \add the land of Canaan\add* where I would let them rest [MTY]!’”
\s1 Beware that you do not stop trusting in Christ.
\sr Hebrews 3:12-15
\p
\v 12 In accordance with that, my fellow believers, beware that none of you wickedly stops trusting \add in Christ\add*. That would cause you to reject the all-powerful God.
\v 13 Instead, each of you must encourage each other every day, while \add you still have\add* the opportunity [IDM], in order that no one of you may stubbornly \add reject God\add* by \add letting others\add* deceive you (OR, as you deceive yourselves), \add with the result that\add* you \add (sg)\add* sin [PRS].
\v 14 \add We must do that\add*, because we \add (inc)\add* benefit in \add all\add* Christ \add has done\add* only if we firmly keep trusting \add in him\add* from the time when we first confidently \add trusted in him\add* until \add the time when\add* we die [EUP].
\v 15 \add We can do this\add* by paying attention to \add what the Psalmist wrote in that Scripture passage in which\add* God said,
\q Now, when you hear me speaking \add to you(pl)\add* [MTY], do not stubbornly disobey me as \add your ancestors stubbornly disobeyed me\add* when they rebelled \add against me\add*.
\s1 It was their ancestors for whom God did great things who rebelled against God.
\sr Hebrews 3:16-19
\p
\v 16 ◄\add You must keep trusting in God\add* because you must remember who it was who rebelled against God although they heard him speaking to them./Do you remember who it was who rebelled against God although they heard \add him speaking to them\add*?► [RHQ] It was people who had certainly experienced [LIT] God's power. ◄It was all those people whom Moses led miraculously out of Egypt./Was it not all those people whom Moses led \add miraculously\add* out of Egypt?► [RHQ]
\v 17 And ◄\add you must remember\add* who it was that God was disgusted with for forty years./do you \add remember\add* who it was that God was disgusted with for forty years?► [RHQ] ◄It was those same people who had sinned like that, and whose bodies as a result lay where they died in the desert!/Was it not those \add same\add* people who had sinned \add like that\add*, and whose bodies as a result lay \add where they died\add* in the desert area?► [RHQ]
\v 18 And ◄\add you must remember\add* about whom God solemnly declared, “They will not enter the land where I would let them rest.”/do you \add remember\add* about whom \add God\add* solemnly declared, “They will not enter the land where I \add would let them\add* rest”?► [RHQ] It was those Israelites who disobeyed God.
\v 19 So, from that example we \add (inc)\add* perceive that it was because they did not keep trusting \add in God\add* that they were unable to enter \add the land where they would rest\add*.
\c 4
\s1 The Israelites failed to enter the place where they would rest; we must beware of acting like them.
\sr Hebrews 4:1-5
\p
\v 1 \add The Israelites did not enter the place where they would rest\add*. But  \add God\add* has still promised us that we can enter the place of resting  \add in heaven eternally\add*. So we must beware  \add of the possibility\add* that  \add God\add* may consider that some of you have failed to enter the  \add place of\add* resting  \add eternally as the Israelites did not enter the place where they would rest\add*.
\v 2 We have heard the message  \add about Christ\add*, just like  \add the Israelites\add* heard  \add what God promised\add*. But  \add just like\add* the message did not benefit  \add most of\add* those who heard it because they did not believe it as  \add Joshua and Caleb did, it\add* will not  \add benefit us eternally if we do not keep believing it\add*.
\v 3 We who have believed  \add in Christ\add* are able to enter the place of resting  \add eternally. We know there is a place where we will rest eternally\add* because God said,
\q Because I was angry with them, I solemnly declared, “They will not enter  \add the land where\add* I would let them rest.”
\p  \add God said that\add* even though he ceased his work  \add of creating things\add* after he created the world.
\v 4 What someone wrote somewhere  \add in the Scriptures\add* about the seventh day  \add after he had spent six days creating the world\add*, supports that,
\q Then, on the seventh day, God rested from his work  \add of creating everything\add*.
\p
\v 5 But note again what God said about the Israelites  \add in the\add* passage that I quoted previously,
\q They will not enter  \add the land where\add* I would let them rest.
\s1 The Scriptures support the claim that there is a time when God's people will rest eternally.
\sr Hebrews 4:6-10
\p
\v 6 Some people experience entering that  \add place of resting eternally. But\add* those  \add Israelites\add* who first had the good message preached to them {first heard the good message} \add about what God promised them\add* did not enter  \add that place of resting\add*, because they refused to believe  \add God\add*.
\v 7 \add But God\add* appointed another time  \add that we may enter that place of resting\add*. That time is now! \add We know that is true because\add* much later than when  \add the Israelites rebelled against God in the desert\add*, he caused  \add King\add* David to write what I have already quoted,
\q Now, when you understand what God is saying  \add to you\add*, do not stubbornly disobey him.
\p
\v 8 If Joshua had led the Israelites to enter the place of resting, God would not have spoken later about another  \add time when we could rest\add* [MET]. \add So we know God was speaking about another time when some people would enter that place of resting eternally\add*.
\v 9 So, just like  \add God rested on\add* the seventh day  \add after he finished making everything\add*, there remains a time when God's people will rest eternally.
\v 10 Specifically, whoever enters God's place of resting has ceased doing things  \add to gain God's favor\add*, just like God ceased doing his work  \add of creating everything\add*.
\s1 We must beware of being insincere about trying to enter the place of eternal rest.
\sr Hebrews 4:11-13
\p
\v 11 God severely punished the  \add Israelites because they disbelieved his message\add*. So we must strive to experience entering that  \add place of\add* resting  \add eternally\add*, in order that he will not severely punish any of us for not believing  \add his message\add*.
\v 12 \add Beware of being insincere about doing this\add*, because the message God  \add has given us\add* very powerfully penetrates our thinking more than a two-edged sword  \add penetrates flesh\add* [MET]. It penetrates  \add deeply\add* into our souls and spirits, as  \add a sharp sword can penetrate\add* into our joints and marrow. That  \add is, by it God\add* [PRS] discerns all that we think about, and he discerns all that we desire  \add to do\add* [MTY] (OR, \add His message\add* exposes  \add to us\add* all our thoughts and all our desires).
\v 13 God knows everything about everyone. Everything is completely exposed [DOU] to him, \add and he is\add* the one [SYN] who will say whether he approves of what we have done.
\s1 Let us come boldly to Christ, our high priest, to receive his gracious help.
\sr Hebrews 4:14-16
\p
\v 14 We have a great high priest who ascended through the heavens  \add when he returned to God's presence\add*. He is Jesus, ◄God's Son/the man who is also God►. So let us firmly profess  \add what we believe about him\add*.
\v 15 Our high priest can indeed [LIT] compassionately deal with us who tend to sin easily, because he also was tempted  \add to sin\add* in every way that we are  \add tempted to sin\add*, and yet he did not sin.
\v 16 So, let us come boldly to  \add Christ\add* [MTY], who rules [MET] \add from heaven\add* and does for us what we do not deserve, in order that we might experience  \add his acting\add* mercifully  \add toward us\add*, and in order that we might experience his kindly helping us whenever we need  \add it\add*.
\c 5
\s1 As Christ suffered, he learned to be a compassionate high priest by obeying God.
\sr Hebrews 5:1-10
\p
\v 1 Every  \add Jewish\add* high priest was chosen by  \add God\add* {\add God\add* chose every  \add Jewish\add* high priest} from among  \add ordinary\add* men. They were appointed {\add He\add* appointed them} in order that they would come before him on behalf of the people. \add Specifically, God appointed them\add* in order that they would bring gifts  \add to him on behalf of the people\add*, and in order to sacrifice  \add animals to him\add* for people who sinned.
\v 2 The high priests could deal gently with those who ignorantly sinned, since they themselves tended to sin easily.
\v 3 As a result, they had to offer something to God for themselves for their own sins, just like  \add they had to offer something to God\add* for  \add God's\add* people who sinned.
\v 4 Furthermore, no one honors himself  \add by appointing himself to become a high priest\add*. Instead, God chose each man  \add to become a high priest\add*, as he chose Aaron  \add to be the first high priest\add*.
\v 5 Similarly, Christ also did not honor himself by appointing himself to become a high priest. Instead, God  \add appointed him by\add* saying to  \add him what he never said to any other priest, what the\add* Psalmist wrote in the Scriptures,
\q You  \add (sg)\add* are my Son! Today I have declared that I am your Father!
\p
\v 6 And he also said  \add to Christ what the Psalmist wrote\add* in another Scripture passage,
\q You are a priest eternally just like Melchizedek was a priest.
\p
\v 7 When Christ lived on the earth [MTY], he prayed [DOU] to God and tearfully cried out loudly to him. \add Specifically\add*, he asked  \add God\add*, who was able to help him, that he would not  \add fear the sufferings just before\add* he died. As a result, God listened to him, because Christ reverently submitted  \add to what God wanted him to do\add*.
\v 8 Although Christ is  \add God's own Son\add*, he learned to obey  \add God\add* by suffering  \add before he died\add*.
\v 9 By becoming ◄all  \add that\add* God intended him to be/perfect►, \add he has now\add* become fully qualified  \add to be our high priest. As a result, he is the one who saves\add* eternally all who obey him.
\v 10 Furthermore, God has designated him to be  \add our\add* high priest in the way that Melchizedek was a high priest.
\s1 You are not ready for more advanced spiritual truth.
\sr Hebrews 5:11-14
\p
\v 11 Although there is much to say  \add to you(pl)\add* about  \add how Christ resembles Melchizedek\add*, this is hard  \add for me\add* to explain  \add to you\add* because you now understand things so slowly.
\v 12 \add You became Christians long ago. So\add* by now you should be teaching  \add spiritual truths to others\add*. But you still need someone to teach you again the truths that God has revealed. \add I am talking about\add* the truths that we teach people  \add when they\add* first  \add believe in Christ\add*. You need  \add those elementary truths\add* like babies need milk [MET]. You are not  \add ready for advanced teaching, which is like\add* the solid food  \add which mature people need\add* [MET].
\v 13 Remember that those  \add who are still learning these elementary truths\add* [MET] have not become familiar with  \add what God\add* says concerning becoming/being righteous. They are  \add just like\add* [MET] babies  \add who need\add* milk!
\v 14 But  \add the more advanced spiritual truth\add* is for people who are  \add spiritually\add* mature, just like [MET] solid food is for  \add people who are physically\add* mature. They can tell the difference between what is good and what is evil, because they have trained themselves  \add to keep doing that\add*.
\c 6
\s1 If you believers later reject the message about Christ, God will reject you.
\sr Hebrews 6:1-8
\p
\v 1 So, we  \add (inc)\add* must not keep  \add discussing\add* the elementary principles about Christ. Instead, we must proceed  \add to the teaching that will make us spiritually\add* mature [MTY]. We must not  \add be people who always need someone to teach them\add* the elementary truths  \add about Christ that are like\add* [MET] a foundation. \add I am referring to the teaching that people who do sinful\add* things, things that  \add those who are spiritually\add* [MET] dead do, must turn away from their sinful behavior. \add I am referring to the teaching\add* that people must believe in God.
\v 2 \add I am referring to the teaching about what\add* various  \add Jewish and Christian\add* rituals for purifying people  \add signify. I am referring to the teaching about how elders enable people to receive spiritual gifts by\add* laying hands  \add on them\add* [MTY]. \add I am referring to the teaching that God will\add* ◄\add cause\add* those who have died to live again/raise people from the dead►. And  \add I am referring to the teaching that God\add* will judge  \add some people and punish them\add* eternally.
\v 3 \add Instead of continuing to discuss these elementary truths\add*, we  \add (inc)\add* (OR, I) will  \add go on to give people mature teaching\add*, if God allows it.
\v 4 \add I will explain why it is important to do that. Some\add* people have at one time fully understood  \add the message about Christ\add* [MET]. They have experienced  \add a relationship with Jesus Christ\add* that God [EUP/MTY] gave  \add to them\add*. They have received the Holy Spirit the same as  \add others have\add*.
\v 5 They have experienced that God's message is good. And by what they have experienced  \add now\add*, they know how  \add God will work\add* powerfully in the future. If those people reject  \add the message about Christ\add*, it will not be possible for anyone to persuade them to turn away from their sinful behavior again!
\v 6 What those  \add believers who later renounce the message about Christ do is as though\add* [MET] they themselves are nailing the Son of God to a cross again! They are causing others to publicly despise Christ.
\v 7 Think about this: It is land on which rain has frequently fallen [PRS] and on which plants grow [PRS] that is useful for the people who prepare the land that God has blessed. \add Similarly, it is those believers who have received many good things from God and who do good deeds/things that please God, whom God will bless\add* [MET].
\v 8 But  \add what will happen to believers who do deeds/things that do not please God will be like what happens to land\add* on which  \add only\add* thorns and thistles grow [MET]. \add Such land\add* is worthless. It has almost become land that God will curse, and eventually he will burn  \add its vegetation\add* [MTY].
\s1 But God will not overlook all you have done for him.
\sr Hebrews 6:9-12
\p
\v 9 Although I am writing  \add to you\add* like this as a  \add warning\add*, I am certain concerning you whom I love that  \add you are doing\add* better than that. Specifically, I am certain that  \add you are doing\add* the things that are appropriate  \add for those whom God\add* has saved.
\v 10 Since God always acts justly [LIT], he will not overlook all you have done  \add for him. He will also not overlook\add* [MTY] \add your showing that you love\add* him by the way you helped your fellow believers and  \add by the way you still\add* help them. \add Instead, God will reward you for doing good deeds\add*.
\v 11 I strongly want each of you to diligently continue to fully expect to receive  \add what God has provided for you\add*, until you finally  \add receive all that you have confidently expected to receive\add*.
\v 12 I do not want you to be lazy. \add Instead, I want\add* you to imitate those who by their patience and continuing to trust in  \add God\add* are receiving what he promised them.
\s1 Our confidence is in God because he promised to bless us, and he made an oath to confirm that he would do that.
\sr Hebrews 6:13-20
\p
\v 13 When God promised to  \add do things for\add* Abraham, he said that he would punish himself  \add if he did not do that\add*, because there was no one of greater importance to ask to punish him  \add if he did not do it\add*.
\v 14 He said  \add to Abraham\add*, “I will certainly bless you  \add (sg)\add*, and I will certainly increase  \add the number of\add* your  \add descendants\add* [SYN].”
\v 15 As a result, after Abraham patiently waited  \add for God to do what he promised\add*, he obtained what  \add God\add* promised him.
\v 16 \add Keep in mind that when people promise something\add*, they ask a more important person to punish them if they do not do what they promise. Furthermore, when people ask God to punish them  \add if they do not tell the truth\add*, that causes the people who are disputing to stop disputing.
\v 17 So, when God wanted to demonstrate very clearly ◄to us/to those people► who would receive what he had promised that he would not change what he had purposed  \add to do\add*, he solemnly guaranteed that he would declare himself guilty if he did not do what he promised.
\v 18 He did that to strongly encourage us as a result of our  \add knowing\add* that  \add God has done\add* two things that cannot change. \add Namely, he promised to bless us, and he solemnly declared that he would declare himself guilty if he did not bless us\add*. We  \add know\add* that God, who did those things, cannot lie. We have fled  \add to him\add* in order that we might continue confidently to expect to receive what he promised us.
\v 19 \add Our confidently expecting\add* [SYN] \add to receive what he has promised is like\add* an anchor [MET] that very firmly [DOU] \add holds us fast. The one we confidently expect to help us\add* [SYN] \add is Jesus, who\add* goes into  \add God's very presence, just like the high priests went\add* behind the curtain into the innermost  \add part of the tent in the barren area\add* [MET].
\v 20 Jesus went  \add into God's presence\add* ahead of us  \add (inc)\add* to  \add help\add* us when he became a high priest eternally in the way that Melchizedek was a high priest.
\c 7
\s1 There are ways in which Melchizedek was like God's Son.
\sr Hebrews 7:1-3
\p
\v 1 \add Now I will say more about\add* this \add man\add* Melchizedek. He was the king of Salem \add city and was\add* a priest of God, the one who is greater \add than anyone else\add*. He met Abraham who was returning \add home\add* after \add he and his men\add* had defeated the \add armies of four\add* kings [SYN]. Melchizedek \add asked God to\add* bless Abraham.
\v 2 Then Abraham gave to him one tenth of all \add the spoils he\add* took after winning \add the battle. Melchizedek's name\add* means firstly ❛king \add who rules\add* righteously❜, and since Salem means ❛peace❜, he was the ❛king \add who rules\add* peacefully❜.
\v 3 \add In the Scriptures there is\add* no \add record of who his\add* father \add was\add*, nor \add is there any record of who his\add* mother \add was\add*, nor \add is there any record of who his\add* ancestors \add were\add*. There is no \add record of when he was\add* born, nor \add is there any record of when he\add* died. \add For these reasons\add*, \add it is as though\add* he continues to be a priest forever, and for this reason he is like God's Son.
\s1 Melchizedek was greater than Abraham.
\sr Hebrews 7:4-10
\p
\v 4 You can realize how great this \add man Melchizedek was\add* from the fact that Abraham, \add our famous\add* ancestor, gave him ◄a tithe/one tenth► of the spoils \add from the battle\add*.
\v 5 According to the laws \add God gave Moses\add*, the descendants of \add Abraham's great-grandson\add* Levi, who were priests, should take tithes from \add God's\add* people who were their relatives, even though those people also were Abraham's descendants.
\v 6 But this man \add Melchizedek\add*, who was not among the descendants \add of Levi\add*, took tithes from Abraham. He also \add asked God to\add* bless Abraham, the man to whom \add God\add* promised \add many descendants\add*.
\v 7 We know for certain that it is the more \add important people\add* who \add ask God to\add* bless the less important people. \add And Melchizedek blessed Abraham. So we conclude that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham\add*.
\v 8 In the case of \add the priests who are descendants of Levi\add*, men who some day will die receive tithes. But in the case of \add Melchizedek it is as if God\add* testifies that he was still living, \add since there is no record in Scriptures about his death\add*.
\v 9 And it was as though Levi himself, and \add all the priests descended from him \add*—who received tithes \add from the people \add*—paid tithes \add to Melchizedek\add*. And when Abraham paid tithes, it \add was as though Levi and all the priests descended from him acknowledged that the work Melchizedek did as a priest was greater than the work Levi did\add*,
\v 10 since \add the sperm from which all those priests were eventually born\add* was still in Abraham's body [EUP] when Melchizedek met Abraham.
\s1 The former Jewish priests were not adequate, so a new one like Melchizedek had to come.
\sr Hebrews 7:11-19
\p
\v 11 \add God\add* gave his laws to his people at the same time he gave regulations about the priests. So, if what the priests who were descended from Levi did could have provided a way for God to completely \add forgive\add* people \add for disobeying those laws\add*, ◄certainly no other priest like Melchizedek would have been necessary./why would another priest like Melchizedek have been necessary?► [RHQ] Instead, priests who were descended from Aaron, \add Levi's descendant, would have been adequate\add*.
\v 12 \add But we know they were not adequate, because a new type of priest like Melchizedek has come\add*. And since \add God\add* has appointed a new type of priest, he also had to change the regulations \add concerning how priests were appointed\add* {\add he appointed priests\add*}.
\v 13 \add Jesus\add*, the one about whom I am saying these things, is a descendant of someone else, \add not a descendant of Levi\add*. None of the men from whom Jesus descended ever served as priests [MTY].
\v 14 \add We know that\add* since it is obvious that it is from \add the tribe of\add* Judah that our Lord was descended. Moses never said that any of Judah's descendants would \add become\add* priests.
\v 15 Furthermore, \add we know that the priests who were descended from Levi were inadequate, since\add* it is even more obvious that another priest has appeared who is like Melchizedek.
\v 16 Jesus became a priest, but not because \add he fulfilled\add* what \add God's\add* law required \add about being a descendant of Levi\add*. Instead, he has the kind of power that \add came from a\add* life that nothing can destroy (OR, \add enabled him to\add* live \add again after he was\add* killed).
\v 17 \add We know this\add* since \add God\add* confirmed it in \add the Scripture passage in which he said to his Son\add*,
\q You \add (sg)\add* are a priest eternally just like Melchizedek was a priest.
\p
\v 18 On the one hand, God canceled what he commanded previously \add concerning the priests\add* because it failed in every way to enable anyone \add to become all that God intended\add*.
\v 19 Remember that no one was able to become all that God intended \add by obeying\add* the laws \add that God gave Moses\add*. On the other hand, \add God caused that we could\add* confidently expect better things \add than we could expect by obeying God's laws\add*. \add He did that by his establishing Christ as priest\add*. Now by means of \add Christ sacrificing himself for us\add* we can come near to God.
\s1 Jesus lives eternally as a high priest to plead with God for us.
\sr Hebrews 7:20-25
\p
\v 20 Furthermore, \add when God appointed Christ, it was when God\add* solemnly declared \add that Christ would be a priest\add* [LIT]. When \add God appointed former\add* priests, it was not by his solemnly declaring \add that they would be priests\add*.
\v 21 However, when he \add appointed Christ to be a priest\add*, it was by these words that \add the Psalmist wrote in Scripture\add*:
\q The Lord has solemnly declared \add to the Messiah\add*,
\q —and he will not change his mind—
\q “You will be a priest forever!”
\p
\v 22 Because of that, Jesus guarantees that \add the new\add* covenant will be better \add than the old one\add*.
\p
\v 23 And formerly, the priests could not keep serving \add as priests\add*, because they all died [PRS]. So there were many priests \add to take the place of the ones who died\add*.
\v 24 But because \add Jesus\add* lives eternally, he will continue to be a high priest forever.
\v 25 So, he can completely and eternally save those who come to God by \add trusting in what\add* Christ \add has done for them\add*, since he lives forever to plead \add with God\add* to help them.
\s1 Jesus is the kind of high priest we need, because he was sinless.
\sr Hebrews 7:26-28
\p
\v 26 Jesus is the kind of high priest that we need. He was holy, he did no wrong, and he was innocent. \add God\add* has \add now\add* separated him from \add living among\add* sinners, and \add has now taken him\add* up to the highest heaven.
\v 27 \add The Jewish\add* high priests need to sacrifice \add animals\add* day by day \add as well as year by year\add*. They do this, firstly, \add to atone\add* for their own sins, and then \add to atone for other\add* people \add who have sinned\add*. \add But because Jesus never sinned\add*, he does not need to do that. The only thing \add he needed to do to save people\add* was to sacrifice himself once!
\v 28 \add We need a high priest like\add* him, because \add Moses\add* wrote in the laws \add that God gave him\add* [PRS] that the ones who would be appointed to be priests would be men who tended \add to sin easily\add*. But \add God\add* solemnly \add declared\add* [PRS] after \add he had given\add* his laws \add to Moses\add* that \add he would appoint\add* ◄his Son/the man who is also God► \add to be a high priest. Now\add* ◄\add his Son/the man who is also God\add*► has forever become all that God intends him to be.
\c 8
\s1 The rituals that were performed by the Jewish high priests were only a model of what Jesus our high priest does in heaven.
\sr Hebrews 8:1-6
\p
\v 1 The main point of \add all\add* that \add I\add* have written is that we have a high priest like that. He has sat down to rule [MTY] with God [EUP] at the place of greatest honor in heaven.
\v 2 He ministers in the Most Holy Place, that is, in the true place \add of worship in heaven\add*. That is a place that \add Moses'\add* tent \add represented\add*. The Lord set up the true place of worship. No human \add set it up\add*.
\p
\v 3 Every high priest was appointed {\add God\add* appointed every high priest} to offer \add to God\add* gifts and sacrifices \add for people who sinned\add*. So, since \add Christ became a high priest\add*, he also had to offer something.
\v 4 Since there are already \add Jewish\add* priests who offer gifts as God's laws \add require\add*, if Christ were \add now living\add* on the earth, he would not be a high priest.
\v 5 The \add Jewish\add* priests perform rituals which are only a model [DOU] of \add what Christ would do in heaven\add* [MTY]. What \add God\add* told Moses when Moses was about to set up the tent \add for worshipping him supports the idea that those rituals were only a model. God said\add*, “Be sure that you \add (sg)\add* make everything according to the model that I showed you on Sinai Mountain!”
\v 6 But now as it is, \add Christ\add* ministers in a more excellent way \add than the Jewish priests do\add*. Likewise, the \add new\add* covenant that he established \add between God and people\add* is better \add than the old one. When the new covenant was established\add* {\add God established the new covenant\add*}, he promised us better things \add than the laws that God gave Moses did\add*.
\s1 The first covenant was not adequate, so God needed a new one.
\sr Hebrews 8:7-13
\p
\v 7 If that first covenant had been perfectly adequate [LIT], God would not have thought that he needed another \add covenant to replace it\add*. But \add it was not adequate, so he needed a new one\add*.
\v 8 Because God declared \add that the Israelites\add* were guilty \add of not obeying the first covenant, he wanted a new covenant. This is what\add* ◄\add a prophet/Jeremiah\add*► \add wrote about that\add*:
\q The Lord says, “Listen! There will soon be a time
\q when I will make a new covenant with the people [MTY] of Israel and the people [MTY] of Judah.
\q
\v 9 That covenant will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors
\q when I led them out of Egypt [MET] \add like a father leads a child\add* by the hand.
\q They did not continue to \add obey\add* my covenant,
\q so I rejected them,” says the Lord.
\q
\v 10 “This is the covenant that I will make with the Israelites [MTY],
\q after \add the first covenant has ended\add* [MTY],” says the Lord:
\q “I will enable them to understand my laws [MTY],
\q and I will enable them to obey them (OR, truly know them) [MTY] sincerely.
\q I will be their God, and they will be my people [DOU].
\q
\v 11 \add As a result\add*, no one will \add need to\add* teach a fellow citizen
\q or tell his fellow kinsmen, ‘\add You need to\add* know the Lord,’
\q because all \add my people\add* will know me:
\q \add My people\add* of every status \add will know me\add*.
\q
\v 12 I will mercifully \add forgive them for\add* the wicked things they have done.
\q I will no longer \add consider\add* that \add they are guilty for\add* [DOU] \add their\add* sins.”
\p
\v 13 Since God spoke about a new \add covenant\add*, he considered that the first \add covenant\add* was no longer in use, and that it would soon disappear, just like \add anything that\add* gets old \add will disappear\add* [MET, DOU].
\c 9
\s1 A description of the man-made sanctuary that accompanied the first covenant.
\sr Hebrews 9:1-5
\p
\v 1 \add To continue\add*: In the first \add covenant God\add* regulated how people \add should perform\add* rituals, and \add he told them to make\add* [MTY] a sanctuary.
\v 2 \add That sanctuary\add* was a tent that \add the Israelites\add* set up. In its outer room there was the lampstand and the table \add on which they put\add* the bread that \add the priests\add* presented \add to God. That room\add* was called ❛the holy place❜.
\v 3 Behind the curtain inside \add the holy place\add* there was \add another\add* room. That was called ❛the very holy place❜.
\v 4 It had an altar, \add made from\add* gold, \add for burning\add* incense. \add It also had the chest which they called\add* the chest of the covenant. All its sides were covered with gold. In it was the golden pot which contained \add pieces of the food they called\add* manna. \add That was the food with which God miraculously fed the people before they entered the promised land\add*. In the chest there was also Aaron's walking stick that budded \add to prove that he was God's true priest\add*. In the chest were also the stone tablets \add on which God had written\add* the Ten Commandments.
\v 5 On top of \add the chest\add* were \add figures of\add* winged creatures \add that symbolized God's\add* glory. Their \add wings\add* overshadowed the chest's lid where \add the high priest sprinkled the blood\add* ◄to \add atone for/to forgive\add*► \add those who had sinned. I\add* do not \add need\add* to write about these things in detail now.
\s1 Offerings that were made under the first covenant were not able to remove a sense of guilt for sin.
\sr Hebrews 9:6-10
\p
\v 6 After all those things were prepared {After they had prepared all those things like that} \add in the two rooms of the tent\add*, the \add Jewish\add* priests habitually went into the outer \add room of the\add* tent to perform their rituals.
\v 7 But into the inner room, only the high priest \add went\add*, once a year. He always took [LIT] the blood \add of animals that they had slaughtered\add*. He offered them \add to God\add* for his own \add sins\add* and for the sins that other people had committed. They included sins that they did not realize \add were sinful\add*.
\v 8 By those things the Holy Spirit indicated that \add just like God\add* did not reveal the way \add for ordinary people\add* to enter into the inner room while the outer room still existed [MET], \add similarly he did not reveal the way for ordinary people to enter the presence of God while the Jewish system of offering sacrifices was in effect\add*.
\v 9 \add The things that the priests did inside the outer room\add* [MTY] symbolized \add what was true\add* during the time \add when the first covenant was in effect\add*. According to \add the first covenant\add* (OR, \add In that outer room\add*), \add priests\add* offered gifts and other sacrifices to God. But \add by offering them\add*, the people who brought them were unable to make themselves feel that they were no longer guilty for having sinned.
\v 10 \add They brought those gifts and made those sacrifices\add* according to \add regulations concerning\add* things to eat and drink, and \add according to rules that required people to\add* wash various things. \add God\add* declared that those regulations about our bodies were to be in effect until \add he put into effect the new covenant\add*; that was a better system.
\s1 Christ redeemed us by offering his own blood as a sacrifice.
\sr Hebrews 9:11-14
\p
\v 11 But when Christ came as our high priest, \add he brought\add* the good things that are now available. When he appeared, \add he went into God's presence in heaven. That is like a\add* [MET] very great and perfect tent not made by humans {which no human made} [SYN]; that is, it is not part of the world \add God\add* created. It was better \add than the tent Moses set up here on earth\add*.
\v 12 \add When a high priest goes into the inner room in the tent each year, he takes\add* goats' blood and calves' blood \add to offer as a sacrifice\add*. But Christ did not \add do that. It was as though\add* he went into that very holy place only once, taking his own blood with him. By doing that, he eternally redeemed us.
\v 13 The priests sprinkle on people goats' blood and bulls' blood and \add the water that has been filtered through\add* the ashes of a \add red\add* heifer that has been \add completely burned. By performing that ritual, they can ritually\add* cleanse the bodies of those who are \add ceremonially\add* unclean. Furthermore, performing those rituals enabled people to have fellowship with God again.
\v 14 \add So, because we know what\add* Christ \add accomplished when\add* his blood flowed \add when he died for us\add* [PRS, MTY], we will be very certain that we are not guilty \add for having\add* done those things \add that those who are spiritually\add* dead do. \add As a result\add*, we can serve the all-powerful God. \add The priests always offer to God animals\add* with no defects. Similarly, when Christ offered himself \add as a sacrifice\add* to God, he was sinless [MET]. He did that as a result of \add God's\add* eternal Spirit \add helping him\add*.
\s1 Christ has put the new covenant into effect with his own blood.
\sr Hebrews 9:15-22
\p
\v 15 \add By\add* dying \add for us\add*, \add Christ\add* ◄\add redeemed/\add*set free from the penalty for their sins► even those who disobeyed the \add conditions of\add* (OR, \add during the time of\add*) the first covenant. So, \add because\add* no \add one could be made perfect by obeying the old covenant\add*, now Christ establishes \add between God and people\add* a new covenant. He does that in order that those whom God has chosen may eternally have \add the blessings that God\add* has promised them.
\v 16 A covenant \add is like a will. In the case of a will\add*, \add in order to put its provisions into effect\add*, someone must prove that the one who made it has died.
\v 17 A will goes into effect \add only when the one who makes the will\add* has died. It is not in effect when the one who made it is still alive.
\v 18 And so \add God\add* put the first covenant into effect only [LIT] by means of \add animals'\add* blood that was shed \add when they were slaughtered\add*.
\v 19 After Moses had declared to all the Israelites everything that God commanded in the laws \add that God gave him\add*, he took calves' and goats' blood \add mixed\add* with water. He \add dipped into it\add* scarlet wool \add that he tied around\add* a sprig of hyssop. Then he sprinkled \add with some of the blood\add* the scroll itself containing God's laws. Then he sprinkled \add more of that blood on all the\add* people,
\v 20 saying to them, “This is the blood \add which brings into effect\add* the covenant that God commanded that you \add obey\add*.”
\v 21 Likewise, he sprinkled with that blood the tent and every object that they used in performing rituals.
\v 22 It was by \add sprinkling\add* blood that they \add ritually\add* cleansed almost everything. That was what \add was stated in\add* God's laws. If blood is not shed \add when people offer a sacrifice, God\add* cannot forgive \add the person who is making the sacrifice\add*.
\s1 The Jewish priests kept offering the blood of animal sacrifices every year, but Christ sacrificed himself once to take away our guilt.
\sr Hebrews 9:23-28
\p
\v 23 So, by rituals like that, it was necessary for \add the priests\add* to cleanse the things that symbolized what Christ does [MTY] in heaven. But God has to \add consecrate\add* the \add people who will enter\add* [MTY] heaven \add by means of\add* better sacrifices than those.
\v 24 Christ did not enter a sanctuary that humans made. That one only represented the true \add sanctuary\add*. Instead, he entered heaven itself, in order to now be in God's presence ◄\add to plead with\add* God for/to \add represent\add*► us.
\v 25 The \add Jewish\add* high priest enters the very holy place once every year, taking blood that is not his own, \add to offer it as a sacrifice\add*. But when Christ entered heaven, it was not in order to offer himself repeatedly like that.
\v 26 \add If that were so\add*, he would have needed to suffer \add and shed his blood\add* repeatedly since \add the time when God\add* created the world. But instead, in this final age, \add Christ\add* has appeared once in order that by sacrificing himself he could cause \add that people\add* no longer will be \add punished for their\add* sins.
\v 27 All people must die once, and after that \add God\add* will judge them \add for their sins\add*.
\v 28 Likewise, when Christ \add died\add*, \add God\add* offered him once to be a sacrifice, to punish him instead of the many \add people who had\add* sinned. He will come \add to earth\add* a second time, not \add in order to sacrifice himself again for those who\add* have sinned, but in order to \add complete\add* his saving those who expectantly wait for him.
\c 10
\s1 The blood of animals can never take away the guilt for sins.
\sr Hebrews 10:1-4
\p
\v 1 Just like a shadow vaguely represents the thing that it is a shadow of, the laws that God  \add gave Moses\add* only poorly represent [MET] the good things that were to come later. Those laws were not all the good things themselves that God has promised. So, by offering the same kinds of sacrifices every year, people [PRS] who approach God can never become ◄perfect/all that God intends them to be►.
\v 2 If God had removed the guilt for having sinned of those who brought the sacrifices, they would not feel that they were still guilty. So ◄they would certainly have stopped offering those sacrifices!/would they not have stopped offering those sacrifices?► [RHQ]
\v 3 But rather, the fact that they offer those sacrifices each year reminds them that they are still guilty for their sins.
\v 4 The principle is that blood of animals such as bulls or goats can never remove the guilt of those who have sinned.
\s1 Christ set us apart for God by offering his own body once as a sacrifice.
\sr Hebrews 10:5-10
\p
\v 5 So, as  \add Christ\add* was coming into the world, he said  \add to his Father about offering himself as a sacrifice for people's sin, in words that the Psalmist wrote\add*, 
\q It is not sacrifices and offerings that you  \add (sg)\add* have wanted,
\q but you have prepared for me a body  \add to serve you\add*.
\q
\v 6 Animals that are completely burned up as sacrifices have not pleased you,
\q and  \add other sacrifices that atone\add* for those who have sinned have not pleased you.
\q
\v 7 Then  \add because of this\add*, I said, “My God, ◄listen!/here I am!►
\q I have come  \add here\add* in order to do what you want me  \add to do\add*, 
\q  \add just like\add* has been written {as they have written} about me in the Scriptures.”
\p
\v 8 First he said, “It is not sacrifices and offerings and animals that  \add the priests\add* have completely burned up and other  \add offerings to atone for\add* those who have sinned that you have really wanted. They have not pleased you.” \add He said that even though\add* those things were offered {they offered all those things} according to the laws  \add God gave Moses!\add*
\v 9 Then, \add concerning his offering himself as a sacrifice to atone for people's sin\add*, he said, “Listen! I have come  \add here\add* to do what you want me  \add to do!\add*” Thus Christ got rid of the first  \add way of atoning for sin\add*, in order to establish the second  \add way of atoning for\add* sin.
\v 10 Because of Jesus Christ  \add doing what God\add* wanted him to do, we have been set apart {\add he\add* has set us apart} for God by his offering his own body only once  \add as a sacrifice, a sacrifice that will not need to be repeated\add*.
\s1 Scripture supports the claim that Christ made one sacrifice that will be adequate forever.
\sr Hebrews 10:11-18
\p
\v 11 As every  \add Jewish\add* priest stands daily  \add in front of the altar\add*, he performs rituals and offers the same kind of sacrifices that could never remove  \add the guilt from anyone who\add* sinned [MTY].
\v 12 But  \add Christ\add* offered a sacrifice that  \add will be adequate\add* forever, and he offered it only one time! Then he sat down  \add to rule\add* with God at the place of highest honor [MTY].
\v 13 From now on, he is waiting for  \add God\add* to completely subdue  \add all\add* his enemies [MTY].
\v 14 By offering himself once, he has provided that those whom  \add God\add* has set apart will be eternally made ◄perfect/all that God intends them to be►.
\v 15 The Holy Spirit also confirms to us  \add that that is true\add*. First the Lord says:
\q
\v 16 When the time [MTY] \add of the first covenant\add* with my people has finished,
\q I will make a new covenant with them [MTY].
\q I will do like this for them:
\q I will cause them to understand my laws
\q and I will cause them to obey them (OR, enable them to know them sincerely).
\p
\v 17 Then  \add he said\add*: 
\q  \add I will forgive them for\add* their [DOU] sins,
\q and I will  \add consider\add* that they are no longer  \add guilty for\add* having sinned.
\p
\v 18 When  \add God\add* has forgiven someone's sins, that person does not  \add need to make\add* any more offerings  \add to atone for his sin!\add*
\s1 Let us come to God and let him make us pure and help us to hold fast to his truth and do things that please him.
\sr Hebrews 10:19-25
\p
\v 19 So, my fellow believers, because we  \add trust in what Jesus accomplished when\add* his own blood  \add flowed for us\add*, we can confidently go into  \add God's very presence\add* that was  \add symbolized\add* by the very holy place  \add in the tent\add* [MTY].
\v 20 He enabled us to go into  \add God's presence\add* by making a new and effective way. \add Specifically\add*, he  \add offered\add* his body  \add as a sacrifice\add* for us  \add in order that nothing would stop us\add* from entering  \add God's presence, just like\add* [MET] the curtain  \add of the very holy place prevented people from entering God's presence\add*.
\v 21 Christ is a great priest  \add who rules over us, who are\add* God's people [MTY].
\v 22 \add Just like the priests\add* were sprinkled {\add as Moses\add* sprinkled  \add the priests\add*} \add with blood\add* [MET] to symbolize that they were no longer guilty for having sinned, we also no longer are  \add guilty for having done\add* evil. \add Just like the priests ceremonially\add* washed their bodies with pure water  \add to prepare themselves to serve God\add*, we are allowing  \add God\add* to continually make us pure. So, we  \add (inc)\add* must approach  \add God\add* sincerely by confidently trusting  \add in him\add*.
\v 23 We must unwaveringly keep professing  \add what we believe. Since God\add* faithfully  \add does all\add* he promised  \add to do\add*, we must confidently expect  \add him to keep doing that\add*.
\v 24 \add Since God\add* faithfully  \add does all that\add* he promised  \add to do\add*, let us consider how each of us can stimulate the others, in order that  \add each one\add* will love the others, and in order that each one will do good deeds.
\v 25 We must not cease assembling ourselves  \add to worship the Lord\add*, as some people have done. Instead, each one of us must encourage/exhort the others. \add Let us do that\add* all the more since we know that the day  \add that the Lord will return\add* [MTY] is near.
\s1 If we have known and then rejected the message about Christ, God will surely punish us.
\sr Hebrews 10:26-31
\p
\v 26 \add We(inc) must do those things\add*, because if we deliberately and habitually sin after we have known the true  \add message about Christ\add*, no other sacrifice will remove our guilt for having sinned in this way.
\v 27 Instead, we must fearfully expect that  \add God will\add* judge us, and then he will angrily  \add punish\add* his enemies in a furious fire [MET].
\v 28 Everyone who rejected the laws  \add that God gave\add* Moses was mercilessly killed when  \add at least\add* two or three people testified that they had done that.
\v 29 \add That was severe punishment\add*. But  \add Christ\add* is ◄God's Son/the man who is also God►. His blood, by means of which  \add he put into effect\add* the new covenant, is sacred. Because of  \add Christ's\add* [MTY] blood  \add flowing for us when he died\add*, \add God\add* freed us from our guilt. So, you can be sure [RHQ] that anyone who shows contempt for  \add those truths\add* and who insults the Spirit of God, the one who acts with kindness toward us in a way we do not deserve, deserves to be punished even worse than that [MET]!
\v 30 \add We can be sure of that\add* (OR, \add  need to think about that carefully\add*) since we know that God said, “I myself will get revenge on those who sinned, and I will give them the punishment that they deserve [DOU].” And  \add Moses wrote\add*, “The Lord will judge his people.”
\v 31 It will be a terrible thing if the all-powerful God [MTY] seizes and punishes you [IDM]!
\s1 Remember how you accepted persecution because of your faith in Christ, and do not be discouraged if you are persecuted now.
\sr Hebrews 10:32-39
\p
\v 32 Recall the former times when you  \add first\add* understood [MET] \add the message about Christ\add*. You endured a hard struggle, and you  \add continued to trust him\add* when you suffered  \add because you believed in Christ\add*.
\v 33 At times you were publicly insulted {people publicly insulted you} and you were caused to suffer {people persecuted you}. At other times you showed great concern for those who were treated like that.
\v 34 You not only were kind to those who were in prison  \add because they believed in Christ\add*, but you also accepted it joyfully when  \add unbelievers\add* took away your possessions. You accepted it because you yourselves knew very well that you have eternal possessions  \add in heaven\add* that are much better  \add than those that they took from you!\add*
\v 35 So, do not become discouraged  \add when they cause you to suffer\add* {\add you are persecuted\add*}, because  \add if you continue to trust in God\add*, he will greatly reward you.
\v 36 You must patiently continue  \add to trust in him\add* in order that, because of your doing what God wants you to do, he will give you what he has promised.
\v 37 \add You must do that\add* since  \add a prophet wrote\add* in the Scriptures  \add that God said about the Messiah\add*, 
\q In just a short time the one  \add I promised\add* would come will surely come;
\q he will not delay coming.
\q
\v 38 But those whom I have summoned, who  \add act\add* righteously, must continually live trusting in me,
\q because if they, in a cowardly manner, cease  \add to trust in me\add*, I
\q ◄will not be pleased/will be angry► with them.
\p
\v 39 But we are not ones who in a cowardly manner cease  \add to trust in God\add*, with the result that God will severely punish us. Instead, we are ones who trust in him, with the result that  \add God\add* will save us [SYN] eternally.
\c 11
\s1 Because of our faith, we confidently expect to receive God's promises.
\sr Hebrews 11:1-3
\p
\v 1 It is because people trust \add God\add* that they are sure that they will receive the things that they confidently expect \add God to give them\add*. They are also certain \add that they will see those things happen\add*, though no one sees them yet.
\v 2 It was because our ancestors trusted in God that \add he\add* commended them.
\v 3 It is because we trust in God that we understand that God formed the universe by commanding \add that it exist\add*. The result is that the things that we see were not made from things that already existed.
\s1 Because of his faith, Abel made a better sacrifice than his brother Cain did.
\sr Hebrews 11:4
\p
\v 4 It was because \add Adam's son\add* Abel trusted God that he sacrificed something better to God than what \add his older brother\add* Cain offered to God. Because Abel did that, when God spoke well about what Abel sacrificed, God declared that Abel was righteous. And although Abel is dead, we still learn from him \add about trusting God\add*.
\s1 Because of their faith, God blessed Enoch, Noah, and Abraham.
\sr Hebrews 11:5-12
\p
\v 5 It was because Enoch believed \add God that God\add* took him \add up to heaven\add*. The result was that he did not die. No one found him, because he was taken up {\add God\add* had removed him} from the earth \add to heaven\add*. Before \add God\add* took him away, \add he\add* testified that Enoch pleased him well.
\v 6 It is possible for people to please God only if they trust God, because anyone who wants to come to God must first believe that God exists and that he rewards those who seek \add to know\add* him.
\p
\v 7 It was because Noah trusted \add God\add* that after he was warned by God {after \add God\add* warned him} about \add a flood that\add* had not yet happened, Noah \add showed that he\add* revered God by building a huge ship to save his family. By doing that, he \add showed all the people who did not believe him\add* [MTY] \add that they deserved to be condemned\add* {\add that God would\add* condemn them}. He became one whom God declared to be righteous because of his trusting in God.
\p
\v 8 It was because Abraham trusted God that when he was called {when \add God\add* called him}, he obeyed \add God\add*, he left \add his own country\add*, and went to a place that God would give him. Abraham left his own country, even though he did not know where he would be going.
\v 9 It was because Abraham trusted God that he lived as though he was a foreigner in a land that \add God\add* had promised to him. Abraham lived in tents, and his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob did also. God promised to give to Isaac and Jacob the same things that he promised to give Abraham.
\v 10 Abraham was waiting to live in a city \add in heaven\add* that would remain forever [MET]. It was a city that God is building [DOU].
\v 11 It was because Abraham trusted God that God gave Abraham strength so that he \add was\add* able to produce a son. Even though his wife Sarah was beyond the time \add when women bear children\add*, \add God\add* promised \add that he would give her a son\add*, and Abraham considered that God would do what he promised to do.
\v 12 So, although Abraham was too old to have children, from that one man people descended who are as many in number as the stars in the sky and are as countless as the grains of sand along the shore, \add just like God promised him\add*.
\s1 All those people who had faith in God died without receiving what God promised.
\sr Hebrews 11:13-16
\p
\v 13 It was while they still trusted in God that all those people died. Even though they had not yet received the things that God had promised to give them, \add it was as though\add* they saw those things in a distance. They were glad \add to know\add* about what he promised. It was as though they admitted that they were not from this earth, but that they were only here temporarily.
\v 14 As for those people who say/believe such things, they clearly show that they long for \add a place that will become\add* their true native land.
\v 15 If they had been thinking about \add that place being\add* the place from which they had come, they would have taken the opportunity to return there.
\v 16 But, instead, they desired a better \add place in which to live\add*; that is, they desired \add a home\add* in heaven. So God has prepared a city for them to live \add with him\add*, and he is pleased [LIT] for them to say that he is their God.
\s1 It was because Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, the Israelite people, and Rahab trusted God that he blessed them.
\sr Hebrews 11:17-31
\p
\v 17 It was because Abraham trusted \add God\add* that he \add was ready to\add* kill his son Isaac as a sacrifice when \add God\add* tested him. This same man to whom \add God\add* promised \add to give him\add* ◄\add a son/many descendants\add*► was going to sacrifice \add that same son\add*, the only son \add whom his own wife had borne!\add*
\v 18 It was to him that God said, “It is \add only\add* from Isaac that I will consider your family to descend.”
\v 19 Abraham considered that \add to fulfill that promise\add*, God could make \add Isaac\add* live again \add even if\add* he had died \add after Abraham sacrificed him!\add* The result was that when Abraham did receive Isaac back \add after God told him not to harm Isaac\add*, it was as though he received him back even after he died.
\p
\v 20 It was because Isaac trusted God that he \add prayed that after he died, God would\add* bless \add his\add* sons Jacob and Esau.
\p
\v 21 It was because Jacob trusted God that, as he was dying, he \add prayed that God would\add* bless each of the sons of \add his own son Joseph\add*. He worshipped God as he leaned upon his walking stick \add before he died\add*.
\v 22 It was because Joseph trusted God that, when he was about to die \add in Egypt\add*, he anticipated the time when the Israelites would leave Egypt; and he instructed \add that\add* his people \add should carry\add* his bones \add with them when they\add* ◄\add left Egypt/returned to Canaan\add*►.
\p
\v 23 It was because Moses' father and mother trusted God that they hid \add their son\add* for three months shortly after he was born, because they saw that the child was beautiful. They were not afraid of \add disobeying\add* what the king of Egypt had commanded, \add namely, that all the Jewish male babies must be killed\add*.
\v 24 The daughter of the \add king, whom they called\add* Pharaoh, \add raised\add* Moses, but when he had grown up it was because he trusted God that he refused to \add accept the privileges that would have been his if people\add* considered that he was ◄the son of the king's daughter/the king's own grandson►.
\v 25 He decided that it was better for others to mistreat him for a time along with the Israelite people, than to temporarily enjoy living sinfully \add in the King's palace\add*.
\v 26 This is because he decided that if he suffered for the Messiah, it would be worth far more \add in God's sight\add* than his owning all the treasures of Egypt \add that he would receive as Pharaoh's heir. He decided that\add* because he looked forward to the time when \add God would give him\add* an \add eternal\add* reward.
\v 27 It was because he trusted God that he left Egypt. He was not afraid that the king would be angry \add because of his doing that\add*. He ◄kept going/did not turn back► because \add it was as though\add* he kept seeing \add God\add*, whom no one can see.
\v 28 It was because Moses believed \add that God would save his own people\add* that he instituted the \add festival called\add* Passover. He did that \add by commanding that the people should kill lambs and\add* sprinkle their blood \add on their\add* doorposts. They did that in order that \add the angel who\add* causes people to die would not kill [EUP] the oldest male Israelites \add when he killed the oldest sons in each Egyptian family\add*.
\p
\v 29 It was because they trusted God that when the \add Israelite\add* people walked through where the Red Sea had been, it was as though they walked on dry land! But, when the \add army of\add* Egypt also attempted to \add cross that same water\add*, they drowned, because \add the sea came back and flooded them!\add*
\p
\v 30 It was because the \add Israelite\add* people trusted God that the walls around Jericho \add city\add* collapsed, after the Israelites marched around the walls for seven days.
\p
\v 31 Rahab \add had been\add* a prostitute, but because she trusted God, she did not perish with those \add inside Jericho\add* who disobeyed \add God. Joshua sent some spies\add* into the city \add in order\add* to find ways to destroy it, but God saved her because she welcomed those spies \add peaceably\add*.
\s1 Some who trusted God gained great victories and others were tortured and killed.
\sr Hebrews 11:32-38
\p
\v 32 I do not know what more I should say [RHQ] \add about others who trusted in God\add*. It would take too much time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the \add other\add* prophets.
\v 33 It was because they trusted God that some of them \add did great deeds for him\add*. Some conquered lands ruled by powerful men. Some ruled \add Israel\add* and justly \add punished those men and nations who rebelled against God\add*. Some obtained \add from God\add* the things that he promised to give them [MTY].
\v 34 Some forced lions to keep their mouths shut. Some escaped from being destroyed by fire. Some of those people escaped from \add being killed with\add* a sword [MTY]. Some of those \add people who trusted God\add* were made strong {became mighty} again after they had once been weak. Some became powerful when they fought wars. Some caused armies \add that came from foreign lands\add* to run away from them.
\v 35 Some women \add who trusted God\add* received \add their relatives\add* back again when \add God\add* ◄\add made them live again after they had died/raised them from the dead\add*►. But \add others who trusted God\add* were tortured until they died. They were tortured because they refused to agree when \add their captors said, “We will\add* release you \add if you deny that you believe in God.” They refused to do that\add*, because they wanted to live with God forever, which is better than \add continuing to live on earth\add* after having almost died.
\v 36 Other \add people who trusted God\add* were mocked; \add some had their backs\add* cut \add open by being struck\add* with whips. Some were chained and put in prison.
\v 37 \add Some of\add* those believers were stoned to death {People \add killed some of those believers by\add* throwing stones at them}. Others were cut completely in two. Others were killed with swords. Others of these people who trusted God wandered around the land \add wearing garments made only of\add* skins from sheep and goats. They did not have any money. They were continually oppressed and tormented {People continuously oppressed them and tormented them}.
\v 38 \add The people on earth who caused those who trusted in God to suffer were so bad that\add* they did not deserve \add to live with people\add* like those \add who trusted God. Some who trusted God\add* wandered in deserts and mountains. Some lived in caves and in other \add large\add* holes in the ground.
\s1 Only when we are together with all these people who trusted God will we receive all God has promised.
\sr Hebrews 11:39-40
\p
\v 39 Although all these people were commended \add by God\add* {\add God\add* commended all these people} because they all trusted him, God did not give them all that he promised them \add while they were alive\add*.
\v 40 God knew ahead of time that what he would give us and them \add later\add* would be better than giving \add them immediately what he promised\add*. What God intends is that only when they and we are together will we have all that God intends us to have.
\c 12
\s1 Since we know so many people with faith like that, we must put aside anything, especially sin, which hinders us, and we must strive to achieve God's will and concentrate on Jesus.
\sr Hebrews 12:1-2
\p
\v 1 We  \add know about\add* many people like that  \add who showed they trusted in God\add*. They are like a crowd of spectators  \add who are cheering for us inside a stadium\add* [MET]. Knowing that, we must put away all the things that hinder us, \add as a runner puts aside everything that would hinder him because they are heavy\add* [MET]. Especially we must put away sinful actions that  \add hinder us, as a runner\add* sets aside clothes he does not need, clothes that would entangle him [MET]. Let us  \add wholeheartedly strive to achieve what God has planned for us, as someone\add* in a race wholeheartedly runs the course that is before him [MET].
\v 2 And let us  \add keep our minds on\add* Jesus, \add as a runner\add* keeps his eyes on  \add the goal\add* [MET]. He is the one we should imitate concerning how he perfectly trusted  \add God. When he died on\add* the cross he endured it when he suffered greatly [MTY], instead of  \add thinking about the things he would\add* rejoice about  \add later\add*. He disregarded being disgraced by  \add dying that way\add*. He is now sitting at the place of highest honor [MTY] at the throne  \add where God rules\add*.
\s1 Do not become discouraged when you are suffering as you struggle against evil.
\sr Hebrews 12:3-6
\p
\v 3 \add Jesus\add* patiently endured it when sinful people acted so hostilely against him. Compare yourselves with him so that you do not give up  \add trusting\add* God or become discouraged.
\v 4 While you have struggled against  \add being tempted to\add* sin, you have not yet bled  \add and died because of resisting evil, as Jesus did\add*.
\v 5 Do not forget [RHQ] these words  \add that Solomon spoke to his son, that are the same as God\add* would exhort you as his children:
\q My child, pay attention [LIT] when the Lord is disciplining you,
\q and do not be discouraged when the Lord punishes you [DOU],
\q
\v 6 because it is everyone whom he loves whom the Lord disciplines,
\q and he punishes everyone whom he accepts as his child.
\s1 Since our sufferings are to discipline us, if we have not experienced God's discipline we are not his true children. We should accept God's discipline, because it is always to help us.
\sr Hebrews 12:7-11
\p
\v 7 It is in order that God may discipline you that he requires you to endure the disagreeable things  \add that happen to you\add*. \add When God disciplines you\add* he is treating you as a father treats his children. All fathers [RHQ] discipline their children [LIT].
\v 8 So, if you have not experienced God disciplining you just like he disciplines all his other children, you are  \add not true children of God\add* [MET]. \add You are like\add* illegitimate children; \add no father disciplines them\add*.
\v 9 Furthermore, our natural fathers disciplined us  \add when we were young\add*, and we respected them for doing that. So ◄we should certainly more readily accept God our spiritual Father disciplining us, with the result that we live eternally!/shouldn't we more readily accept  \add God\add*, our spiritual Father, \add disciplining us\add*, with the result that we live  \add eternally\add*?► [RHQ]
\v 10 Our natural fathers disciplined us for a short time just like they considered right, but God always disciplines us to help us. He does it so that we may be holy as he is.
\v 11 During the time that God is disciplining us, that does not seem to be something about which we should rejoice. Instead, it is something that pains us. But later it causes those who have learned from it to be peaceful and to  \add live\add* righteously.
\s1 Renew yourselves spiritually; go forward in your Christian life; try to live peacefully with everyone; seek to be holy; guard against bitterness; do not be immoral; and do not refuse to listen to God.
\sr Hebrews 12:12-17
\p
\v 12 So, \add instead of acting as though you were spiritually exhausted\add*, renew yourselves [MET] spiritually.
\v 13 Go straight forward  \add in your Christian life\add* [MET], in order that believers who are uncertain about their faith  \add will imitate you\add* and not ◄\add leave God's way/\add*become useless  \add to God\add*► [MET]. Instead, they will be spiritually restored [MET] as an injured and useless limb is restored.
\v 14 Try to live peacefully with all people. Seek to be holy, since no one will see the Lord if he is not holy.
\v 15 Beware that none of you stops  \add trusting in\add* God, \add who has done kind things for us that we did not deserve\add* (OR, Beware that you have never  \add experienced\add* God kindly  \add saving you\add*). Be on guard lest any of you  \add act evilly towards others\add*, because that will  \add grow like\add* [MET] a root  \add grows into a big plant\add*, and the result  \add of your\add* doing that will be that many believers will sin and become unacceptable to God.
\v 16 Do not let anyone be immoral, or be irreligious as Esau was. He exchanged the rights he had as a firstborn son for only one meal.
\v 17 You know that after he did that, he wanted to receive  \add what his father would promise to give him if\add* he blessed him. But  \add his father\add* refused  \add to do what he requested\add*. And Esau found no way to change what he had done, even though he sought tearfully to do that.
\s1 You have not experienced the terrifying things your ancestors did; you have come to Christ and benefited from his blood flowing for you.
\sr Hebrews 12:18-24
\p
\v 18 In coming  \add to God\add* you have not  \add experienced things like what the Israeli people experienced\add* at Sinai Mountain. \add They\add* approached  \add a mountain that God told them they\add* should not touch. \add They approached\add* a blazing fire, and it was gloomy and dark [DOU], and there was a hurricane/cyclone.
\v 19 They heard a trumpet sounding and they heard  \add God\add* speak. The result was that those who heard it pleaded for him not to speak to them like that again.
\v 20 When  \add God\add* commanded them saying, “If  \add a person or\add* even an animal touches this mountain, \add you\add* must  \add kill him/it by\add* throwing stones at him/it,” they were terrified.
\v 21 Truly, because Moses was terrified after seeing what happened  \add on the mountain\add*, he said, “I am trembling because I am very afraid!”
\v 22 Instead, \add it is as though\add* you have come to  \add the presence of God in heaven\add* [MET]. \add That is like what your ancestors did when they came to worship\add* God on Zion Hill, in Jerusalem, in the city of the all-powerful God. You have come (OR, you are coming) to where there are countless angels, who are rejoicing as they have gathered together.
\v 23 You have joined all the believers  \add who have privileges like\add* firstborn sons, whose names  \add God\add* has written down in heaven. You have come to God, who will judge everyone. You have come to where the spirits of God's people are, people who lived righteously  \add before they died\add*, and who now have been made perfect  \add in heaven\add*.
\v 24 You have come to Jesus, who arranged a new covenant  \add between us and God\add*. You have accepted  \add what he accomplished when\add* his blood flowed  \add when he died on the cross. His doing that made it possible for God to forgive us\add*. That is better than the blood of Abel, \add who just\add* wanted revenge because his brother Cain murdered him.
\s1 We should be in awe before God, who will punish us if we reject him.
\sr Hebrews 12:25-29
\p
\v 25 Beware that you do not refuse to listen to  \add God\add* who is speaking to you. The Israelite people did not escape  \add God punishing them\add* when  \add Moses\add* (OR, \add God\add*) warned them here on earth. So ◄we shall surely not escape  \add God punishing us\add* if we reject him when he warns us from heaven!/how shall we escape  \add God punishing us\add* if we reject him when he warns us from heaven?► [RHQ]
\v 26 The earth shook [PRS] then when he spoke [MTY] \add at Sinai Mountain\add*. But now he has promised, “I will shake the earth again, one more time, but I will shake heaven too.”
\v 27 The words “again, one more time” indicate that things  \add on earth\add* will be shaken {that  \add he\add* will shake things  \add on earth\add*}, meaning that he will set aside all that  \add he\add* has created, in order that the things  \add in heaven\add* that cannot be shaken {that nothing can shake} may remain forever.
\v 28 So, let us thank God that we are becoming members of a kingdom that nothing can shake. Let us worship/serve God in a way that pleases him by being greatly in awe [DOU] before him.
\v 29 Remember that the God we  \add worship/serve\add* is like a fire that burns up everything  \add that is impure\add* [MET]!
\c 13
\s1 Love one another, be hospitable, and help imprisoned and other mistreated believers.
\sr Hebrews 13:1-3
\p
\v 1 Continue to love your fellow believers.
\v 2 Do not forget to be hospitable to needy travelers [LIT]. You need to know that by being hospitable, some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
\v 3 Remember  \add to help\add* those who are in prison  \add because they are Christians\add*, as though you were in prison with them. Remember those who are being mistreated {whom people are mistreating} \add because they are believers. As you do that\add*, consider that you are also alive [MTY], \add and you could suffer as they do\add*.
\s1 Respect the marriage relationship, and avoid covetousness.
\sr Hebrews 13:4-6
\p
\v 4 You must ◄respect/keep sacred► the marriage relationship in every way, and you must keep sexual relations [EUP] pure, because God will surely condemn those who act immorally and those who act adulterously.
\v 5 Live without constantly coveting money, and be content with the things you possess, remembering what  \add Moses\add* wrote  \add that God\add* has said  \add about supplying what you need\add*, 
\q I will never leave you,
\q I will never stop providing for you [DOU].
\p
\v 6 So we can say confidently  \add as the Psalmist said\add*, 
\q Since the Lord is the one who helps me, I will not be afraid! ◄People can do nothing to me  \add that will deprive me of God's blessings\add*./What can people do to me  \add that will deprive me of God's blessings\add*?► [RHQ]
\s1 Remember the manner of life of your former spiritual leaders and imitate their faith; since Christ never changes, do not be diverted to strange teachings.
\sr Hebrews 13:7-9
\p
\v 7 Your spiritual leaders used to tell you the message of God  \add before they died\add*. Remember how they conducted their lives. By considering ◄how they died/what resulted from how they lived►, imitate how they believed  \add in Christ/God\add*.
\v 8 Jesus Christ  \add is\add* the same now as he was previously, and he will be the same forever.
\v 9 \add So\add*, do not let yourselves be diverted {let anything divert you} so that you believe various teachings  \add that are contrary to God's truth\add*. It is good that God acts kindly toward us so that we may be strengthened spiritually. \add Obeying rules about\add* various foods, rules that have not benefited those who obeyed them, will not benefit us.
\s1 We must stop practicing Jewish sacrifices and rituals, and go to Jesus to be saved, since we do not have a city like Jerusalem where we must offer sacrifices, but instead we wait for a future everlasting heavenly city.
\sr Hebrews 13:10-14
\p
\v 10 We have  \add Jesus\add* [MTY]. All those who continue to observe the Jewish rituals [MTY] of sacrifice have no right to obtain the benefits of his sacrifice [MET].
\v 11 After the high priest brings into the most holy place the blood of animals  \add that they have sacrificed to atone\add* for sins, the bodies of those animals are burned {they burn the bodies of those animals} outside the camp.
\v 12 Similarly, Jesus suffered  \add and died\add* outside the gate  \add of Jerusalem\add* in order that he might make  \add us\add*, his people, holy by  \add offering\add* his own blood  \add as a sacrifice to atone for our sins\add*.
\p
\v 13 So, we must abandon  \add performing Jewish\add* sacrifices and rituals [MET] \add in order to be saved\add*, and let us go to Jesus  \add to be saved\add*. As we do that, we must  \add be willing to\add* let others reproach us just like people reproached him.
\v 14 Here on earth, we believers do not have a city  \add such as Jerusalem where we must\add* continually  \add offer sacrifices\add* [MET]. Instead, we are waiting for a future  \add heavenly\add* city  \add that will last forever\add*.
\s1 Since Christ sacrificed himself for us, let our continual praise of God be our sacrifice.
\sr Hebrews 13:15
\p
\v 15 With  \add the help of\add* Jesus, we must continually praise God. That will be something we can sacrifice  \add to him\add* [MET] \add instead of our sacrificing animals only at specific times\add*. Specifically, we must say openly [MTY] \add that we have trusted\add* in Christ [MTY].
\s1 Continually do good deeds and share with others, because this too will be a sacrifice pleasing to God.
\sr Hebrews 13:16
\p
\v 16 Be continually [LIT] doing good deeds  \add for others\add*, and be continually sharing  \add with others the things you have\add*, because doing things like that will  \add also\add* be  \add as though you are offering\add* sacrifices that will please God.
\s1 Obey and submit to your spiritual leaders.
\sr Hebrews 13:17
\p
\v 17 Obey your  \add spiritual\add* leaders and do what they tell you, since they are the ones who are guarding your spiritual welfare [SYN]. \add Some day\add* they will have to stand before God so that he can say if he approves of what they have done. Obey them in order that they can do the work of guarding you joyfully and not have to do it sadly, because if you cause them to do it sadly, that will certainly not help you at all (OR, they will not be able to help you at all).
\s1 Pray for me that God will quickly remove the things that hinder my coming to you.
\sr Hebrews 13:18-19
\p
\v 18 Pray for me. I am certain that I have not done anything that displeases God. I have tried to act honorably  \add toward you\add* in every way.
\v 19 I urge you earnestly to pray that  \add God\add* will quickly remove the things that hinder my coming to you.
\s1 May God equip you with everything good that you need, and may Christ be praised forever.
\sr Hebrews 13:20-21
\p
\v 20 Jesus  \add provides for us\add*, \add protects us, and guides us as\add* a great shepherd does for his sheep [MET]. And God, who gives us  \add inner\add* peace, raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. By doing that, God ratified his eternal covenant with us by the blood  \add that flowed from Christ when he died on the\add* cross.
\v 21 So I pray that God will equip you with everything good  \add that you need in order\add* that you may do the things that he desires. May he accomplish in us the things that he considers pleasing as a result of Jesus Christ  \add doing this for us\add*. May Jesus Christ be praised forever. ◄Amen!/May it be so!►
\s1 Patiently consider what I have written in this short exhortation.
\sr Hebrews 13:22
\p
\v 22 My fellow believers, since this is a short letter that I have written to you, I appeal to you that you patiently consider  \add what\add* I have  \add just written you\add* to exhort you.
\s1 Since Timothy has been released from prison, he will accompany me when I go to see you.
\sr Hebrews 13:23
\p
\v 23 I want you to know that our fellow believer Timothy has been released {\add the authorities\add* have released our fellow believer Timothy} \add from prison\add*. If he comes here soon, he will accompany me when I go to see you.
\s1 Greet your spiritual leaders and all other believers; the believers who are from Italy send you their greetings.
\sr Hebrews 13:24
\p
\v 24 Tell all your  \add spiritual\add* leaders and all the  \add other\add* fellow believers  \add in your city\add* that ◄I am thinking fondly about them/I am sending them my greetings►. The believers  \add in this area who have come\add* from Italy  \add want you to know they\add* are ◄thinking about you/sending you their greetings►.
\s1 May God act graciously to you all.
\sr Hebrews 13:25
\p
\v 25 \add I pray that\add* you will continue to experience God's acting kindly toward you all.