Hebrews 4-12

21st Century King James Version

4 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left to us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

² For unto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto them; but the Word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

³ For we who have believed do enter into rest, as He said, “As I have sworn in My wrath, ‘If they shall enter into My rest’”—although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

⁴ For He spoke in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.”

⁵ And again in this place: “If they shall enter into My rest”—.

⁶ Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter in because of unbelief,

⁷ again He designates a certain day, saying in David “today,” after so long a time, as it is said, “Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterwards have spoken of another day.

⁹ There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God.

¹⁰ For he that has entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His.

¹¹ Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall according to the same example of unbelief.

¹² For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

¹³ Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

¹⁴ Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed into the Heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our profession.

¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

5 For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins;

² who can have compassion on the ignorant and on those who are outside of the Way, since he himself is also encompassed by infirmity.

³ And by reason hereof, he ought, both for the people and also for himself, to make offering for sins.

⁴ And no man taketh this honor unto himself, except he that is called by God, as was Aaron.

⁵ So also Christ glorified not Himself to be made a high priest, but He that said unto Him, “Thou art My Son; today have I begotten Thee.”

⁶ And He saith also in another place, “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”

⁷ Christ, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared,

⁸ though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered.

⁹ And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all those who obey Him,

¹⁰ being called by God as a high priest after the order of Melchizedek,

¹¹ of whom we have many things to say, which are hard to utter seeing ye are dull of hearing.

¹² For at the time when ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and have become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

¹³ For every one that useth milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

¹⁴ But strong meat belongeth to those who are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

6 Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

² of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment.

³ And this we will do, if God permit.

⁴ For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

⁵ and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come,

⁶ if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing that they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put Him to open shame.

⁷ For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for those by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God.

⁸ But that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

⁹ But, beloved, though we thus speak, we are persuaded that there are better things for you, things that accompany salvation.

¹⁰ For God is not unrighteous so as to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have shown toward His name, in that ye have ministeredto the saints, and do minister.

¹¹ And we desire that every one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end,

¹² that ye be not slothful, but followers of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

¹³ For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself,

¹⁴ saying, “Surely in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thee.”

¹⁵ And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

¹⁶ For men verily swear by the greater, and an oath of confirmation is to them an end to all strife.

¹⁷ Thereby God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath,

¹⁸ that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we, who have fled for refuge, might have strong consolation to lay hold upon the hope set before us.

¹⁹ This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil,

²⁰ where the Forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, who is made a high priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.

7 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham, who was returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him.

² To him also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, Melchizedek first being by interpretation “king of righteousness,” and after that also king of Salem, which means “king of peace.”

³ Without father, without mother and without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, he abideth a priest continually.

⁴ Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.

⁵ And verily, those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes from the people according to the law — that is, from their brethren — though they come out of the loins of Abraham.

⁶ But Melchizedek, whose descent is not counted from them, received tithes from Abraham and blessed him that had the promises.

⁷ And beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the greater.

⁸ And here men who die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.

⁹ And, as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes through Abraham,

¹⁰ for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met Abraham.

¹¹ If therefore perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?

¹² For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

¹³ For He of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.

¹⁴ For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.

¹⁵ And this is yet far more evident when there ariseth another priest according to the similitude of Melchizedek,

¹⁶ who is made not according to the law of a carnal commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.

¹⁷ For He testifieth: “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”

¹⁸ For there is verily an annulling of the former commandment because of the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.

¹⁹ For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did, by which we draw nigh unto God.

²⁰ And inasmuch as it was not without an oath that He was made priest

²¹ (for those priests were made without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said unto Him: “The Lord swore and will not repent, ‘Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.’”),

²² by so much more was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

²³ And those priests truly were many, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death;

²⁴ but this Man, because He continueth forever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.

²⁵ Therefore He is able also to save to the uttermost those who come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.

²⁶ For such a High Priest who is befitting for us, holy, undisposed to harm, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens,

²⁷ who needeth not, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice daily first for His own sins and then for the people’s; for this He did once when He offered up Himself.

²⁸ For the law maketh men high priests who have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which came since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

8 Now of the things of which we have spoken, this is the sum: We have such a High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

² a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man.

³ For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices; therefore it is of necessity that this Man have something also to offer.

⁴ For if He were on earth, He should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests who offer gifts according to the law,

⁵ and who serve unto the copy and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished by God when he was about to make the tabernacle. For, “See,” saith He, “that thou make all things according to the pattern shown to thee on the mount.”

⁶ But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the Mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

⁷ For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

⁸ For finding fault with them, He saith, “Behold, the days come,” saith the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—

⁹ not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they continued not in My covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds and write them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people.

¹¹ And they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest.

¹² For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

¹³ In that He saith “a new covenant,” He hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

9 Then verily, the first covenant also had ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary.

² For there was a tabernacle made, the first, wherein was the candlestick and the table and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary.

³ And after the second veil was the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All,

⁴ which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;

⁵ and over it were the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat, of which we cannot now speak particularly.

⁶ Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service to God.

⁷ But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people,

⁸ the Holy Ghost by this signifying that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest so long as the first tabernacle was yet standing.

⁹ It was a figure for the time then present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, which could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience,

¹⁰ since it concerned only meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation.

¹¹ But Christ, having come a High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands (that is to say, not of this building),

¹² neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered in once into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

¹³ For if sprinkling the unclean with the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh,

¹⁴ how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

¹⁵ And for this cause He is the Mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were covered under the first testament, those who are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

¹⁶ For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.

¹⁷ For a testament is of force after men are dead, otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

¹⁸ And so not even the first testament was dedicated without blood.

¹⁹ For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people,

²⁰ saying, “This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.”

²¹ Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.

²² And by the law almost all things are purged with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

²³ It was therefore necessary that the copies of things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

²⁴ For Christ has not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.

²⁵ Nor yet should He offer Himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place with blood of others every year;

²⁶ for then would He have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once, in the end of the world, hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

²⁷ And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment,

²⁸ so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto those who look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin, unto salvation.

10 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come and not the very image of those things, can never, with those sacrifices which they offered continually year by year, make those who come unto it perfect.

² For then would not sacrifices have ceased to be offered? For worshipers once purged should have had no more consciousness of sins.

³ But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year,

⁴ for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

⁵ Therefore when He cometh into the world, He saith, “Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not have, but a body hast Thou prepared for Me.

⁶ In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast had no pleasure.

⁷ Then said I, ‘Lo, I come (in the volume of the Book it is written of Me) to do Thy will, O God.’”

⁸ Above when He said, “Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings, and offering for sin Thou wouldest not have, neither hadst pleasure therein” (which are offered in accordance with the law),

⁹ then said He, “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God,” He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second.

¹⁰ By this will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹ And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering time and again the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

¹² But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down at the right hand of God,

¹³ from henceforth to wait until His enemies be made His footstool.

¹⁴ For by one offering He hath perfected for ever those who are sanctified.

¹⁵ Of this the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us; for after He had said before,

¹⁶ “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

¹⁷ and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”

¹⁸ Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

¹⁹ Having therefore boldness, brethren, to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,

²⁰ by a new and living Way, which He hath consecrated for us through the veil (that is to say, His flesh),

²¹ and having a High Priest over the house of God,

²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

²³ Let us hold fast to the profession of our faith without wavering (for He is faithful who promised),

²⁴ and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works,

²⁵ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as ye see the Day approaching.

²⁶ For if we sin willfully after having received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

²⁷ but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

²⁸ He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

²⁹ Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath accounted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath despised the Spirit of grace?

³⁰ For we know Him that hath said, “Vengeance belongeth unto Me; I will recompense,” saith the Lord. And again, “The Lord shall judge His people.”

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

³² But call to remembrance the former days in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions,

³³ partly while ye were being made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly while ye became companions of those who were so used.

³⁴ For ye had compassion on me in my bonds and took joyfully the despoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in Heaven a better and an enduring substance.

³⁵ Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.

³⁶ For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

³⁷ “For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

³⁸ Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him.”

³⁹ But we are not of those who draw back unto perdition, but of those who believe, to the saving of the soul.

11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

² For by it the elders obtained a good report.

³ Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

⁴ By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh.

⁵ By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death, “and was not found because God had translated him.” For before his translation he had this testimony: that he pleased God.

⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

⁷ By faith Noah, being warned by God of things not yet seen, moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

⁸ By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should later receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

⁹ By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.

¹⁰ For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

¹¹ Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

¹² Therefore there sprang even from one, and him as good as dead, as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the promises but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded by them and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

¹⁴ For those who say such things declare plainly that they are seeking a fatherland.

¹⁵ And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

¹⁶ But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a City.

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

¹⁸ of whom it was said, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called,”

¹⁹ accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence he also received him, in a figurative sense.

²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff.

²² By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel, and gave commandment concerning his bones.

²³ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a handsome child; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he had come of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,

²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season,

²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.

²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

²⁸ Through faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, but the Egyptians, in attempting to do so, were drowned.

³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been compassed about for seven days.

³¹ By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with those who believed not, having received the spies with peace.

³² And what shall I say more? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak and of Samson and of Jephthah, of David also and Samuel and of the prophets,

³³ who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

³⁴ quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword. Out of weakness they were made strong, waxed valiant in battle, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

³⁵ Women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.

³⁶ And others endured the trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea moreover, of bonds and imprisonment.

³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented

³⁸ (of whom the world was not worthy). They wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

³⁹ And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise,

⁴⁰ God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

12 Therefore, seeing we also are compassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

³ For consider Him that endured such contradiction from sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

⁴ In striving against sin, ye have not yet resisted unto bloodshed.

⁵ And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children: “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked by Him;

⁶ for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”

⁷ If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

⁸ But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all arepartakers, then ye are bastards and not sons.

⁹ Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not far rather be in subjection unto the Father of Spirits, and live?

¹⁰ For verily they chastened us for a few days according to their own pleasure, but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.

¹¹ Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto those who are exercised thereby.

¹² Therefore, lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees,

¹³ and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed.

¹⁴ Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord,

¹⁵ looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness spring up to trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

¹⁶ lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

¹⁷ For ye know how afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

¹⁸ For ye have not come unto the mount which might be touched and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest,

¹⁹ and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, which voice those who heard entreated that the Word should not be spoken to them any more.

²⁰ (For they could not endure that which was commanded, that: “if even so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart.”

²¹ And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, “I fear exceedingly and quake.”)

²² But ye have come unto Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

²³ to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, who are written in Heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

²⁴ and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

²⁵ See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh, for if they escaped not who refused Him that spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him that speaketh from Heaven,

²⁶ whose voice then shook the earth. But now He hath promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.”

²⁷ And these words, “yet once more,” signifieth the removing of those things which can be shaken, such as things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸ Therefore, we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear.

²⁹ For our God is a consuming fire.