Therefore aleaving bthe 1elementary teaching about the 2Christ, let us press on to 3cmaturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from ddead works and of faith toward God,Lit word of the beginningI.e., MessiahOr perfectionPhil 3:13fHeb 5:12Heb 5:14Heb 9:14 2 of ainstruction about 1washings and blaying on of hands, and about the cresurrection of the dead and deternal judgment.Or baptismsJohn 3:25; Acts 19:3fActs 6:6Acts 17:31f 3 And this we will do, aif God permits.Acts 18:21 4 For it is aimpossible, in the case of those who have once been benlightened and have tasted of cthe heavenly gift and have been made dpartakers of the Holy Spirit,2 Cor 4:4, 6; Heb 10:32John 4:10; Eph 2:8Gal 3:2; Heb 2:4 5 and ahave tasted the good bword of God and the powers of cthe age to come,1 Pet 2:3Eph 6:17Heb 2:5 6 and then have 1fallen away, to arestore them again to repentance, 2bsince they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.Or committed apostasy; i.e., renounced the faithOr whileMatt 19:26; Heb 10:26f; 2 Pet 2:21; 1 John 5:16Heb 10:29 7 For ground that drinks the rain which often 1falls on it and produces vegetation useful to those afor whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;Lit comes2 Tim 2:6 8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and 1aclose to being cursed, and 2it ends up being burned.Lit near to a curseLit whose end is for burningGen 3:17f; Deut 29:22ff
9 But, abeloved, we are convinced of better things regarding you, and things that 1accompany salvation, even though we are speaking in this way.Or belong to1 Cor 10:14; 2 Cor 7:1; 12:19; 1 Pet 2:11; 2 Pet 3:1; 1 John 2:7; Jude 3 10 For aGod is not unjust so as to forget byour work and the love which you have shown toward His name, by having cserved and by still serving the 1saints.Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s peopleProv 19:17; Matt 10:42; 25:40; Acts 10:41 Thess 1:3Rom 15:25; Heb 10:32-34 11 And we desire that each one of you demonstrate the same diligence 1so as to realize the afull assurance of bhope until the end,Lit to the fullHeb 10:22Heb 3:6 12 so that you will not be sluggish, but aimitators of those who through bfaith and endurance cinherit the promises.Heb 13:72 Thess 1:4; James 1:3; Rev 13:10Heb 1:14
13 For awhen God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear an oath by no one greater, He bswore by Himself,Gal 3:15, 18Gen 22:16; Luke 1:73 14 saying, “aINDEED I WILL GREATLY BLESS YOU AND I WILL GREATLY MULTIPLY YOU.”Gen 22:17 15 And so, ahaving patiently waited, he obtained the promise.Gen 12:4; 21:5 16 aFor people swear an oath by 1one greater than themselves, and with them ban oath serving as confirmation is an end of every dispute.Or Him who is greaterGal 3:15Ex 22:11 17 1In the same way God, desiring even more to demonstrate to athe heirs of the promise 2bthe fact that His purpose is unchangeable, 3confirmed it with an oath,Lit In whichLit the unchangeableness of HisOr mediatedHeb 11:9Ps 110:4; Prov 19:21; Heb 6:18 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which ait is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to hold firmly to bthe hope set before us.Num 23:19; Titus 1:2Heb 3:6; 7:19 19 1This ahope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and reliable and one which benters 2within the veil,Lit Which hope we haveOr insidePs 39:7; 62:5; Acts 23:6; Rom 4:18; 5:4, 5; 1 Cor 13:13; Col 1:27; 1 Pet 1:3Lev 16:2, 15; Heb 9:3, 7 20 awhere Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a bhigh priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.John 14:2; Heb 4:14Ps 110:4; Heb 2:17; 5:6