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Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and ^(a)sin which clings so closely, and ^(b)let us run ^(c)with endurance the race that is ^(d)set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, ^(e)who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising ^(f)the shame, and ^(g)is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Do Not Grow Weary

^3 (h)Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or ⁽ⁱ⁾fainthearted. ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. ^(m)God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ If you are left without discipline, ⁽ⁿ⁾in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to ^(o)the Father of spirits ^(p)and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, ^(q)that we may share his holiness. ^11 (r)For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields ^(s)the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

¹² Therefore ^(t)lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³ and ^(u)make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint ^(v)but rather be healed. ^14 (w)Strive for peace with everyone, and for the ^(x)holiness ^(y)without which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵ See to it that no one ^(z)fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ^(aa)"root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; ¹⁶ that no one is ^(ab)sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷ For you know that ^(ac)afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

¹⁸ For you have not come to ^(ad)what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest ¹⁹ and ^(ae)the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words ^(af)made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. ²⁰ For they could not endure the order that was given, ^(ag)"If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned." ²¹ Indeed, ^(ah)so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear." ²² But you have come to ^(ai)Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, ^(aj)the heavenly Jerusalem, and to ^(ak)innumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³ and to ^(al)the assembly^[a] of the firstborn who are ^(am)enrolled in heaven, and to ^(an)God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ and to Jesus, ^(ao)the mediator of a new covenant, and to ^(ap)the sprinkled blood ^(aq)that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵ See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For ^(ar)if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. ²⁶ At that time ^(as)his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ^(at)"Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." ²⁷ This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates ^(au)the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore let us be grateful for receiving ^(av)a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus ^(aw)let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our ^(ax)God is a consuming fire.