Then they can train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,

Slaves should be in subjection to their own masters in everything. They should try hard to please them, without talking back

or keeping [part of their master's] property for themselves, but proving to be completely trustworthy, so that they will make the teaching of God our Savior attractive in every way.

But you should avoid foolish arguments, and [pointless] discussions about ancestors, and quarrels and disputes about [observance of] the law of Moses, for they are unprofitable and useless.

Do all you can [materially] to send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey, so that they do not [have to] lack anything [they need].

Our people [i.e., the Christians there on Crete] also should learn to practice good deeds for meeting pressing needs, so that they can be productive [in the Lord's work].

They will be destroyed, but you will remain. And they [i.e., the heavens and earth] will all wear out like an article of clothing.

And you will fold them up like a robe, and they will be changed like an article of clothing. But you will stay the same and your years will never end."

You made him a little bit lower than the angels [i.e., a little less exalted]. [Note: Although these Psalms passages referred to mankind, they are here applied to Jesus. See verse 9]. You crowned him with splendor and honor {{some ancient manuscripts add "and placed him as ruler over what you made"}}.

For since He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is [also] able to help those who [suffer when they] are tempted.

where your forefathers tried me and tested [my patience] when they saw what I did for forty years.

Therefore, I was angry with that generation of people and said, 'They always go astray in their hearts, and they did not understand my ways.'

So I vowed in my anger, 'They will not enter a state of rest with me.'"

For who were they who heard [God] and provoked [Him]? Was it not everyone who was led out of Egypt by Moses?

And to whom did God vow that they would not enter a state of rest with Him? [Was it not] those who were disobedient to Him?

And [so] we see that they were not able to enter [a state of rest with God] because of [their] unbelief.

For we [Christians] have had the good news [about resting with God] preached to us, just as the Israelites [had good news proclaimed to them. See 1:16-19]. But the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not coupled with faith by those who heard it.

Now we who have believed [will someday] enter that rest, even as God has said [Psa. 95:11], "So, I vowed in my anger, 'They will not enter a state of rest with me,'" although God's works were completed since the creation of the world.

And again, this [is recorded, Psa. 95:11], "They will not enter a state of rest with me."

[Now] we have many things to say about Melchizedek, but because of your slowness to grasp things, they are hard to explain.

And we will do so [i.e., go on to more advanced teaching] if God allows us to. For it is impossible to get people who have [completely] fallen away [from God] to repent again, because they [continue to] crucify for themselves God's Son all over again, and hold Him up to contempt.

and who had experienced the good teaching of God and the powers of the coming age [i.e., they had already received some of the blessings of the Christian life, perhaps even miraculous signs].

And on one hand, many people were appointed to be [Levitical] priests because they were prevented by death from continuing [to serve]. [Note: The idea is that Levitical priests had to be constantly replaced].

[It will] not be like the Agreement that I made with their forefathers on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the country of Egypt. For they did not [continue to] keep my Agreement, so I did not regard them [as acceptable], says the Lord.

For this is the Agreement that I will make with the people of Israel in the coming days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and I will also write them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people.

since, with foods and drinks and various [ceremonial] washings, they are only outward regulations imposed until the time when everything would be made right [i.e., under the New Agreement].

These people [all] continued to have faith until they died, [even though] they had not obtained [all] the things God had promised, but had [only] seen them and welcomed them from a distance. And they had confessed to being strangers and aliens on earth.

For those who say such things make it obvious that they are looking for a country of their own [i.e. heaven].

And indeed, if they had remembered [with longing] the country they had left, they would have had the opportunity to return to it.

But instead, they longed for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

By [having] faith, when Joseph was about to die, he mentioned the Israelites' departure [from Egypt] and gave [them] instructions concerning his bones [i.e., that they were to take them back to Palestine. See Gen. 50:25].

By [having] faith, Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born because they saw that he was a handsome child, and they were not afraid of the king's decree [to destroy all male Hebrew children].

By [having] faith, the Israelites passed [safely] through the Red Sea as if it were dry ground, but when the Egyptians attempted to do it, they were drowned.

who, by [having] faith, conquered kingdoms, practiced what was right, and obtained what was promised [by God]. They shut the mouths of lions,

they put out raging fires, and they escaped being killed by swords. They were strengthened when weak, became mighty in battle, and defeated foreign armies.

Women received their dead [loved ones] back to life. Others were tortured but refused to be rescued, so they could obtain a better resurrection.

They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were executed by the sword. They traveled around in sheepskin and goatskin clothing; they were destitute, afflicted and mistreated.

(The world did not deserve such people). They wandered in deserts and mountains, [living] in caves and [even] holes in the ground.

because God had planned to give us something better [than they got], so that they would not be complete without us. [Note: The idea here is that these faithful people of Old Testament times did not receive the fullest of blessings until Christ came to make them available to both them and us together].

Pay careful attention so that you do not refuse [to hear] God when He speaks to you. [See verse 9]. For if those people [i.e., the Israelites] did not escape [judgment] when they refused [to hear] Him who warned them on earth [i.e., God speaking through Moses at Mount Sinai], how much less [likely] will we escape [judgment] if we reject Him who warns from heaven [i.e., Christ]?

Remember your leaders who told you God's message. [Note: This probably refers to former preachers who had since died]. Consider the outcome of the way they lived and imitate their faith.

[You should] obey your leaders [Note: This probably refers to church elders] and submit to their oversight, for they look out for [the welfare of] your souls as men who will give an accounting [for your spiritual progress]. [Be obedient], so that they will be able to do this joyfully and not with sorrow, for that would be unprofitable to you.

It was God's purpose to bring us into being [spiritually] by the message of truth, so that we could become a kind of "firstfruits" of those He created. [Note: "Firstfruits" here suggests either that Christians are the best of all of God's creatures (Num. 18:12), or that they were the first to be converted, with many more to come].

Do they not speak against the honorable name by which you are called? [i.e., the name "Christ" or "Christian"].

You believe that there is [only] one God; that is good! Even the demons believe [that], and they shudder [with fear at the thought].

Now if we put bits in the mouths of horses so that they will obey us, we can govern the direction of their entire bodies as well.

Where do conflicts and fights among you come from? Do they not come from your [desire for] pleasures which produces inner conflict?

Your gold and silver have tarnished and their tarnish will be a testimony against you [i.e., you have hoarded your wealth instead of using it to benefit others], and they will devour your flesh as fire [i.e., your riches will ultimately consume you]. You have hoarded up your riches in these last days.

Is anyone among you sick? [Then] he should call for the elders of the church and they should pray for him, after pouring [olive] oil on him in the name [i.e., by the authority] of the Lord.

These people have been [specially] selected, and [their acceptance was] pre-planned by God the Father, and they were set apart through [the work of] the Holy Spirit. This resulted in their obedience and sprinkling [Note: This is a figurative reference to the Old Testament practice of cleansing, See Exodus 24:7-8] by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God's unearned favor and peace be continually upon you.

They studied [their own prophecies] to learn what, or which, [person or] time the Holy Spirit in them pointed to, in predicting the sufferings of Christ and the glories yet to come.

It was revealed to these prophets that you people, not they, were the ones being ministered to in the matters now being announced to you by those who preached the Gospel to you by the Holy Spirit, who was sent from heaven. [This message contained] things which angels would like to look into.

[And it also says, Isa. 8:14, that He would be], "A stone that people would stumble over and a rock over which they would trip and fall." The way they stumble is by disobeying the Gospel message. They were destined [though not forced] to do this.

You should live such good lives before [unconverted] Gentiles, so that even though they accuse you of being evildoers, by seeing your good deeds, they will [be led to] honor God [for you] on the day He visits us again [i.e., to bring judgment].

In the same way [that Jesus was submissive], you wives should submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, even though they may not obey the [Gospel] message [they have heard] they may, without your talking [to them about it],

For this is the way holy women in ancient times decorated themselves. Their hope was in God and they were known for being in subjection to their own husbands.

Now, those people you used to run around with cannot understand why you have stopped living such wasteful lives, so they just "badmouth" you.

But, they will have to answer to God, who will judge both those who are now alive and those who have already died, [for the way they have lived].

This is the purpose that the Gospel was preached to those who have died physically [for the faith]: It was so that, even though they had been judged physically [i.e., by suffering death at the hands of men], they could still live spiritually in the presence of God.

Therefore, those who [are allowed to] suffer in harmony with God's [permissive] will, should commit their souls to a trustworthy Creator, [who will take everything into account], while they go on [trying] to do what is right.

Do not act as dictators over the people you are assigned to care for, but [rather] serve as examples of how they ought to live.

For if you people have a lot of these [qualities] they will keep you from being unproductive and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For prophecy was never produced by the will of man, but people spoke from God, as they were carried along [i.e., inspired] by the Holy Spirit.

But just as there were false prophets among the people before, there will also be false teachers among you [Christians]. They will privately teach harmful doctrines that destroy people [spiritually], by even denying [that Jesus is] the Master, [and thereby] destroying themselves quickly.

And through greedy desires and deceptive words they will exploit you [for evil purposes]. But the judgment that they have had coming for a long time, will not delay, but will eventually awaken [i.e., arrive] to bring destruction upon them.

[This fate will come upon] those people especially who corrupt themselves with physical desires and despise being ruled by others. They are daring, self-willed, and are not afraid to speak against glorious beings [i.e., angels],

while [those] angels, who are greater in strength and power than they, refuse to speak against such authorities, in condemnation, before the Lord.

However, these people are like unreasonable, ignorant creatures of instinct, born as animals which are [to be] caught and destroyed. They speak out against things about which they are ignorant. In [the process of] destroying others, they will certainly be destroyed themselves.

They suffer wrong themselves for doing wrong to other people. They consider it [especially] pleasurable to carry on their drunken revellings, [even] during the daytime. They become blots and blemishes [i.e., like spoiled food] in your fellowship meal, as they revel in their deceitful behavior.

Their eyes are filled with sexual lust, and they are never satisfied when it comes to sinning. They entice unstable people and have hearts trained to be greedy [i.e., they continually desire the possessions of others]. [In this condition] they are under God's curse.

They strayed away [from God] by taking the wrong road like Balaam, the son of Bosor did, who loved the reward for doing wrong.

[Although] their talk is big, what they say is worthless, and by [offering people] fleshly desires [i.e., sexual gratification], they lead people astray, who are barely escaping from the error of the world.

[Although] these people promise "liberty," they themselves are slaves to corrupting influences, for people are slaves to whatever controls them.

For if people who have escaped from the defiling practices of the world by coming to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, become tangled up in them again, and are overcome by them, these people are worse off than before they were converted.

It would have been better for them if they had not known the right way [to God] than, after knowing it, to turn back from the sacred message that had been presented to them.

He spoke about these things in all of his letters, which contain some parts that are difficult to understand. [Because of this], ignorant and unstable people twist [his writings], just as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

I am writing to you fathers, because you have known Him [i.e., Christ], [who has existed] from the beginning [See John 1:1]. I am writing to you young men, because you have overcome the [power of the] evil one [i.e., through faith they had gained victory over Satan, See 5:4].

These antichrists left our group [i.e., withdrew their fellowship from us], but they were not [really a part] of us, for if they had been, they would have continued [to participate] with us. But, by their leaving us, it proved that none of them were [really] a part of our group [after all].

Look at how much love the Father has shown to us [Christians], that we should be called His children! But, that is what we [really] are! The reason the people of the world do not know who we are is because they do not know who God [really] is.

Loved ones, do not believe [the message of] every spirit [i.e., every person claiming to be a teacher], but test the spirits [i.e., require proof that they and their message are genuine] to see whether they represent God [or not], because many false prophets have begun circulating throughout the world.

These [false teachers] are part of the world, so [naturally] they speak [a message endorsed] by the world and the world listens to them.

For many deceivers have begun circulating in the world; they are those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come [to earth] in a physical body. Such a person is the deceiver and the antichrist [See I John 2:18f].

Dear [friend], you are accomplishing a faithful work whenever you do something for the brothers [traveling in the Lord's work], especially when they are strangers [to you].

For they went out, [ministering] for the sake of [Jesus'] name, without taking [any money] from Gentiles [i.e., non-Christians].

For certain men have secretly infiltrated [your ranks]; they are men who had been written about long ago that they should be judged [and condemned] for perverting the unearned favor of our God into [a license for] living unrestrained, indecent lives, and who deny [the identity and work of] our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

And angels, who did not remain within [the bounds of] their proper authority, but left their own realm, God has kept in perpetual bondage, under [thick] darkness, awaiting judgment on the Great Day [when they will be punished].

In the same way, these people have dreams of committing physically corruptive practices; they reject authority over them [i.e., by both God and men], and speak against glorious [i.e., heavenly] beings.

But these people [i.e., the "certain men" of verse 4] speak against whatever they do not understand, and what they do understand naturally, the way animals do, proves to be their ruination.

It is too bad for these people, for they have followed the example of Cain [the murderer]; for the sake of money they have rushed into the [same] error as Balaam committed [See Num. 25:1-5; 31:16]; they [will] perish [spiritually] for having rebelled [against God] like Korah did. [See Num. 16:1-3, 31-35].

These people are like rotten spots [contaminating the food] at your love feasts, while they gorge themselves without fear [i.e., unashamed of their selfish indulgence]. [Note: This passage may mean "like selfish shepherds, looking out only for themselves, they eat the grain set out for the animals"]. They are like clouds that blow over without producing rain; [they are like] trees in the fall that do not produce any fruit and have been uprooted, [thus] being dead twice [i.e., fruitless and rootless].

[They are like] raging ocean waves, whose shameful actions bubble up like foam. [They are like] shooting stars [whose light quickly goes out], for whom total darkness has been reserved forever.

to bring judgment upon all [such people], and to convict every person of their ungodly behavior, which they have wickedly committed, and of all the evil things that [such] ungodly sinners have spoken against God."

for they were saying to you people, "In the last times [See I John 2:18; Heb. 1:1-2] there will be mockers [arise], who will live according to their [own] ungodly desires."

These are people who cause divisions [among God's people]; they follow their natural inclinations [i.e., worldly principles], for they do not have the Holy Spirit [in their lives].

And you should show pity toward some people because they have doubts [regarding spiritual matters];

Look, He [i.e., Jesus] is coming with [i.e., "on"] the clouds! And [then] every eye will see Him, including those who pierced Him, and all the peoples of the earth will grieve because of Him [i.e., because of how they had treated Him]. So it will be. May it be so.

I know [about] your suffering and your poverty (but you are [really] rich), and the slander of those who say they are Jews, though they [really] are not, but are a synagogue of Satan [i.e., they claimed to be an assembly of God's people, but in reality were serving Satan].

Listen, I will throw her, and those who commit sexual unfaithfulness with her, into a bed where they will experience terrible suffering unless they repent of her [or, their] practices.

So, remember how you have received and heard the message [i.e., they had eagerly accepted the Gospel]; [now] obey it and repent. For if you do not become [spiritually] alert, I will come as a thief [i.e. unexpectedly] and you will not know the [exact] time that I will come upon you [in judgment. See 2:16, 25].

"But you have a few people [there] in Sardis who have not [spiritually] polluted their clothing, and they will walk with me in [robes of] white [i.e., probably now on earth as well as in heaven], for they are worthy.