Therefore let us ^aget past ^bthe elementary stage in the teachings about the Christ, advancing on to ^cmaturity and perfection and spiritual completeness, doing this without laying again a foundation of repentance from ^ddead works and of faith toward God, 2 of ^ateaching about washings (ritual purifications) , the ^blaying on of hands, the ^cresurrection of the dead, and ^deternal judgment. These are all important matters in which you should have been proficient long ago. 3 And we will do this that is, proceed to maturity, ^aif God permits. 4 For it is impossible to restore to repentance those who have once been ^aenlightened spiritually and who have ¹tasted and consciously experienced ^bthe heavenly gift and have ^cshared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and ^ahave tasted and consciously experienced the good ^bword of God and the powers of ^cthe age (world) to come, 6 ¹and then have fallen away—it is ^aimpossible to bring them back again to repentance, ^bsince they again nail the Son of God on the cross for as far as they are concerned, they are treating the death of Christ as if they were not saved by it, and are holding Him up again to public disgrace. 7 For soil that drinks the rain which often falls on it and produces crops useful to those ^afor whose benefit it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God; 8 but if it persistently produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and ^aclose to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. Gen 3:17, 18

9 But, ^abeloved, even though we speak to you in this way, ¹we are convinced of better things concerning you, and of things that accompany salvation. 10 For ^aGod is not unjust so as to forget ^byour work and the love which you have shown for His name in ^cministering to the needs of the saints (God’s people) , as you do. 11 And we desire for each one of you to show the same diligence all the way through so as to realize and enjoy the ^afull assurance of ^bhope until the end, 12 so that you will not be spiritually sluggish, but will instead be ^aimitators of those who through ^bfaith lean on God with absolute trust and confidence in Him and in His power and by patient endurance even when suffering are now ^cinheriting the promises.

13 For ^awhen God made the promise to Abraham, He ^bswore an oath by Himself, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, 14 saying, “^aI WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU.” Gen 22:16, 17 15 And so, ^ahaving patiently waited, he realized the promise in the miraculous birth of Isaac, as a pledge of what was to come from God. 16 Indeed ^amen swear an oath by ¹one greater than themselves, and with them in all disputes ^bthe oath serves as confirmation of what has been said and is an end of the dispute. 17 In the same way God, in His desire to show to ^athe heirs of the promise ^bthe unchangeable nature of His purpose, intervened and guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things His promise and His oath in which ^ait is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to Him for refuge would have strong encouragement and indwelling strength to hold tightly to ^bthe hope set before us. 19 This ^ahope this confident assurance we have as an anchor of the soul it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it—a safe and steadfast hope that ^benters within the veil of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells, Lev 16:2 20 ^awhere Jesus has entered in advance as a forerunner for us, having become a ^bHigh Priest forever according to the order of ¹Melchizedek. Ps 110:4