Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith
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Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and 1sin which clings so closely, and 2let us run 3with endurance the race that is 4set before us,
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looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, 5who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising 6the shame, and 7is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Do Not Grow Weary
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8Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or 9fainthearted.
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In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
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And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? 10"My son, 11do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.
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It is for discipline that you have to endure. 13God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
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If you are left without discipline, 14in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
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Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to 15the Father of spirits 16and live?
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For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, 17that we may share his holiness.
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18For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields 19the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
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and 21make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint 22but rather be healed.
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23Strive for peace with everyone, and for the 24holiness 25without which no one will see the Lord.
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See to it that no one 26fails to obtain the grace of God; that no 27"root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
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that no one is 28sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
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For you know that 29afterward, 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
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For you have not come to 30what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest
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and 31the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words 32made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them.
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For they could not endure the order that was given, 33"If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned."
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But you have come to 35Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, 36the heavenly Jerusalem, and to 37innumerable angels in festal gathering,
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and to 38the assemblya of the firstborn who are 39enrolled in heaven, and to 40God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
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and to Jesus, 41the mediator of a new covenant, and to 42the sprinkled blood 43that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
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See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For 44if 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.
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At that time 45his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, 46"Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."
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This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates 47the removal of things that are shaken--that is, things that have been made--in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)