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Christ's One Sacrifice for Sin

¹ For the law, possessing a shadow of the good things that are about to come, not the form of things itself, is never able year by year^[a] by means of the same sacrifices which they offer without interruption to make perfect those who draw near. ² For otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the ones who worship, having been purified once and for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? ³ But in them there is a reminder of sins year by year^[b]. ⁴ For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵ Therefore, when he^[c] came into the world, he said,

⁸ When he says above,

which are offered according to the law, ⁹ then he has said,

He takes away the first in order to establish the second, ¹⁰ by which will we are made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹ And every priest stands every day serving and offering the same sacrifices many times, which are never able to take away sins. ¹² But this one, after he^[f] had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ from now on waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. ¹⁴ For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy. ¹⁵ And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,

¹⁷ He also says,

¹⁸ Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

Hold Fast the Confession of Our Hope

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers, since we^[i] have confidence for the entrance into the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by the new and living way which he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, his flesh, ²¹ and since we have^[j] a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us approach with a true heart in the full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for the one who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us think about how to stir one another up to love^[k] and good works, ²⁵ not abandoning our meeting together^[l], as is the habit of some, but encouraging each other, and by so much more as you see the day drawing near.

A Serious Warning Against Continuing Deliberate Sin

²⁶ For if^[m] we keep on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that is about to consume the adversaries. ²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much worse punishment do you think the person will be considered worthy of who treats with disdain the Son of God and who considers ordinary the blood of the covenant by which he was made holy and who insults the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know the one who said,

and again,

³¹ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³² But remember the former days in which, after you^[p] were enlightened, you endured a great struggle with sufferings, ³³ sometimes being publicly exposed both to insults and to afflictions, and sometimes becoming sharers with those who were treated in this way. ³⁴ For you both sympathized with the prisoners and put up with the seizure of your belongings with joy because you^[q] knew that you yourselves had a better and permanent possession. ³⁵ Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward. ³⁶ For you have need of endurance, in order that after you^[r] have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. ³⁷ For yet

³⁹ But we are not among those who shrink back to destruction, but among those who have faith to the preservation of our souls.