Hebrews 12:14-29 - Warning Against Rejecting God's Grace

¹⁴ Pursue peace and holiness with all people, for no man will see the Lord without it. ¹⁵ See that no one misses the grace of God; that no bitter root spring up to cause trouble and defile many. ¹⁶ Let no one become immoral or unspiritual like Esau. He sold his birthright for a single meal! ¹⁷ Afterward, you know, he wanted to receive (inherit) his father's blessing. He was turned back, because he could not find any way to change what he had done. He was in tears when he looked for it.

¹⁸ You have not come to a mountain that can be touched, to Mount Sinai with its blazing fire, the darkness and the gloom, the storm. ¹⁹ You have not come to the blast of a trumpet, and the sound of a voice. When the people heard the voice, they begged not to hear another word. ²⁰ They could not bear the order: If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned. ²¹ The sight was so terrible (formidable) (fearful) that Moses said: I am full of fear and trembling. ²² You have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads (thousands of thousands) of angels, ²³ to the general assembly and congregation of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just (righteous) (holy) men made perfect (mature) (having all needed qualities). ²⁴ You have come to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks in a better way than the blood of Abel.

²⁵ Be careful, then, and do not refuse to hear him who speaks. Those who refused to hear the one who gave the divine message on earth did not escape. How much less shall we escape then, if we turn away from the one who speaks from heaven! ²⁶ His voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised: I will once more shake not only the earth but also heaven. ²⁷ The words once more plainly show that the created things will be shaken and removed, so that the things that cannot be shaken will remain. ²⁸ Let us be thankful, because we will receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Let us be grateful and worship (serve) (intensely adore) God in a way that will please him, with reverence and awe. ²⁹ Our God is a destroying (consuming) fire.