Hebrews 13:1-19 - Concluding Ethical Instructions

¹ You must let your brotherly love continue. ² Do not remain neglectful of hospitality to strangers, for by it some have entertained angels without knowing it. ³ Continue to remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them, and those who are being ill-treated, since you, too, are liable to similar physical punishment. ⁴ Marriage must be held in honor by all, and the marriage relations kept sacred. Persons who are sexually vicious and immoral God will punish. ⁵ You must have a turn of mind that is free from avarice; you must be content with what you have, for God Himself has said, "I will never fail you, I will never forsake you." ⁶ So we can confidently say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can men do to me?"

⁷ You must not forget your former leaders, for it was they who brought you the message of God. Consider how they closed their lives; imitate their faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes, forever. ⁹ You must stop being carried away with varied and strange teachings. For it is a good thing for the heart to be strengthened by God's spiritual strength, not by special kinds of food, from which those adhering to them have gotten no good. ¹⁰ We Christians have an altar at which the ministers of the Jewish tent of worship have no right to eat. ¹¹ For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is taken into the sanctuary by the priest as a sin-offering, are burned outside the camp. ¹² So Jesus, too, in order to purify the people by His own blood, suffered outside the gate. ¹³ Let us, therefore, go to Him outside the camp, enduring the reproach that He endured; ¹⁴ for we have no permanent city here, but we are searching for that city which is to be ours. ¹⁵ So then, through Christ, let us always offer God the sacrifice of praise; that is, the speech of lips that glorify the name of God. ¹⁶ And stop neglecting to do good and to be generous, for God is highly pleased with just such sacrifices as these. ¹⁷ Continue to obey and to be submissive to your leaders, for they are ever watching in defense of your souls, as men who will have to give account of their trust. Treat them in this way, so that they may work with joy and not with grief. ¹⁸ Pray for me, for I am sure that I have a clear conscience, and in everything I want to live a noble life. ¹⁹ And more especially do I beg you to do so, that I may very soon be brought back to you.