This is why we must pay much closer attention to the message once heard, to keep from drifting to one side.

You must not harden your hearts as they did in provoking me, as on the day in the desert they tested me,

and yet the warning continues to be spoken: "If you but hear His voice, you must not harden your hearts as they did in provoking me."

He again fixes a definite day, saying long afterward through David, as has been quoted: "If you but hear His voice, you must not harden your hearts."

Now see how great this man must have been that even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of his spoils.

For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; so this High Priest too must have some sacrifice to offer,

Indeed, just as men must die but once and after that be judged,

But you must continue to remember those earlier days when first you received the light and then endured so great a struggle with persecution,

So you must never give up your confident courage, for it holds a rich reward for you.

but without faith it is impossible to please Him, for anyone who approaches God must believe that there is a God and that He gives rewards to all who earnestly try to find Him.

of whom it had been said, "Through Isaac your offspring must be traced."

You must submit to discipline. God is dealing with you as His sons. For who is the son that his father never disciplines?

for they did not try to bear the order, "Even if a wild animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death,"

You must let your brotherly love continue.

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

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."

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.

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.

You must know that our brother Timothy has been released from prison. If he comes soon, he and I will see you together.