of how much sorer punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

For we know him who said, Vengeance is for me, I will repay, says Lord. And again, Lord will judge his people.

partly by being exposed as a public spectacle to insults and violent sufferings, and partly by showing yourselves ready to share with those who were living in this condition.

For you showed sympathy with those who were in prison and cheerfully submitted to the violent seizure of your property, for you knew that you had in yourselves and in heaven one that was lasting.

For yet a very little while, he who is coming will come, and will not delay.

And he whom I accept as righteous will find life through his faith. But if a man draws back, my heart can take no pleasure in him."

But we are not of those who go back to destruction; but of those who have faith even to the salvation of the soul.

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, because of which he was reported to be righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through it, he who died still speaks.

By faith Enoch was taken away without experiencing death. He could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he won approval as one who pleased God.

And apart from faith it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is, and becomes a rewarder of those who search for him.

By faith [with confidence in God and His word] Noah, being warned by God about events not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his family. By this [act of obedience] he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which comes by faith.

'Twas by faith that he who was named Abraham, showed his obedience in travelling to a foreign country, which he was afterwards to inherit; and began his journey without knowing where he was going.

By faith he made his temporary home in the land that God had promised him, although a land inhabited by others, living merely in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were to share the promise with him.

By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised:

So that from one man, who was near to death, came children in number as the stars in heaven, or as the sand by the seaside, which may not be numbered.

All these died in faith, not having taken the promises, but who saw and greeted them from afar, and who confessed that they were foreigners and sojourners on the earth.

For those who say such things show that they are seeking a fatherland.

By faith Abraham, being tested, offered Isaac. And he who received the promises offered his only begotten son,

even he to whom it was said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called:

He considered the reproach of the Christ [that is, the rebuke he would suffer for his faithful obedience to God] to be greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt; for he looked ahead to the reward [promised by God].

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

By faith he performed the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who was destroying the firstborn would not touch them.

By faith Rahab the harlot was not destroyed with those who were disobedient, having received the spies with peace.

And what more shall I say? Time would fail me to tell of Gideon, of Barak and Samson and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets ??33 men who by faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouth of lions,

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

quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, whose weakness was turned to strength, who became mighty in war, and put foreign armies to flight.

They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, persecuted, tormented??38 of whom the world was not worthy??andering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

(of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth.

And none of these who became martyrs through faith received the promise,

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us,

looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider the man who endured such hostility against him by sinners, so that ye may not be weary in your souls, being disheartened.

For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, And scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

It is for chastening that ye endure; God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father chasteneth not?

Furthermore, we had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we used to treat them with respect; how much more cheerfully should we submit to the Father of our spirits, and live!

But of course no chastening for the present seems to be of joy but of sorrow, yet afterward it yields peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Look carefully that there be no one who falls back from the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up to trouble you, and by its means many become defiled.

lest there be any fornication, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright.

and a sound of a trumpet, and a voice of words, of which those who heard begged that a word not be added to them.

But you [Christians] have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. [Note: These terms describe people who have entered a spiritual relationship with God as part of the church]. [You have come] to a praise gathering of innumerable angels [Note: Christians are here pictured as assembled in worship of God, along with angels],

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

And to Jesus by whom the new agreement has been made between God and man, and to the sign of the blood which says better things than Abel's blood.

See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not when they refused him that warned them on earth, much more'shall not we escape who turn away from him that warneth from heaven:

Therefore, let us, who have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken, be thankful, and so offer acceptable worship to God, with awe and reverence.

Remember the prisoners as being in bondage together, those who are ill-treated as also yourselves being in the body.

Marriage must be held in honor by all, and the marriage relations kept sacred. Persons who are sexually vicious and immoral God will punish.

Remember those who lead you, men who spoke the word of God to you, of whom, carefully observing the outcome of their conduct, imitate the faith--

Be not carried away by various and foreign doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established with grace, not with foods by which those who walked were not benefited.

We have an altar from which those priests who are servants in the Tent may not take food.

for of whom the blood of the living ones is brought for sin into the holies by the chief priest, the bodies of these are burned without the camp.

Have confidence in those who lead you, and yield yourselves, for they watch for your souls as men who will render account, so that they may do this with joy, and not groaning, for this is unprofitable for you.

Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus,

make you perfect in every good thing to do his will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Know ye that our brother Timothy hath been set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you.

Salute all those who lead you, and all the sanctified. The men from Italy salute you.