who by faith overcame kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped lions' mouths,

Women received their dead again by resurrection; and others were tortured, not having accepted deliverance, that they might get a better resurrection;

They were stoned, were sawn asunder, were tempted, died by the death of the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, evil treated,

God having foreseen some better thing for us, that they should not be made perfect without us.

For consider well him who endured so great contradiction from sinners against himself, that ye be not weary, fainting in your minds.

And ye have quite forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when reproved by him;

Moreover we have had the fathers of our flesh as chasteners, and we reverenced them; shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?

But no chastening at the time seems to be matter of joy, but of grief; but afterwards yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those exercised by it.

and make straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not turned aside; but that rather it may be healed.

watching lest there be any one who lacks the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it;

lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one meal sold his birthright;

For ye have not come to the mount that might be touched and was all on fire, and to obscurity, and darkness, and tempest,

(for they were not able to bear what was enjoined: And if a beast should touch the mountain, it shall be stoned;

Wherefore let us, receiving a kingdom not to be shaken, have grace, by which let us serve God acceptably with reverence and fear.

Be not forgetful of hospitality; for by it some have unawares entertained angels.

Let marriage be held every way in honour, and the bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers will God judge.

Let your conversation be without love of money, satisfied with your present circumstances; for he has said, I will not leave thee, neither will I forsake thee.

So that, taking courage, we may say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid: what will man do unto me?

Be not carried away with various and strange doctrines; for it is good that the heart be confirmed with grace, not meats; those who have walked in which have not been profited by them.

for of those beasts whose blood is carried as sacrifices for sin into the holy of holies by the high priest, of these the bodies are burned outside the camp.

Wherefore also Jesus, that he might sanctify the people by his own blood, suffered without the gate:

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually to God, that is, the fruit of the lips confessing his name.

But of doing good and communicating of your substance be not forgetful, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Obey your leaders, and be submissive; for they watch over your souls as those that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not groaning, for this would be unprofitable for you.

But I much more beseech you to do this, that I may the more quickly be restored to you.

perfect you in every good work to the doing of his will, doing in you what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for the ages of ages. Amen.

Grace be with you all. Amen.

But let endurance have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

But if any one of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all freely and reproaches not, and it shall be given to him:

but let him ask in faith, nothing doubting. For he that doubts is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed about;

Let no man, being tempted, say, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted by evil things, and himself tempts no one.

But every one is tempted, drawn away, and enticed by his own lust;

According to his own will begat he us by the word of truth, that we should be a certain first-fruits of his creatures.

So that, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;

But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, beguiling yourselves.

For if any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like to a man considering his natural face in a mirror:

But he that fixes his view on the perfect law, that of liberty, and abides in it, being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, he shall be blessed in his doing.

If any one think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his heart, this man's religion is vain.

But if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.

So speak ye, and so act, as those that are to be judged by the law of liberty;

for judgment will be without mercy to him that has shewn no mercy. Mercy glories over judgment.

and one from amongst you say to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled; but give not to them the needful things for the body, what is the profit?

So also faith, if it have not works, is dead by itself.

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and that by works faith was perfected.

But was not in like manner also Rahab the harlot justified on the principle of works, when she had received the messengers and put them forth by another way?

Be not many teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive greater judgment.

Behold also the ships, which are so great, and driven by violent winds, are turned about by a very small rudder, wherever the pleasure of the helmsman will.

For every species both of beasts and of birds, both of creeping things and of sea animals, is tamed and has been tamed by the human species;

Out of the same mouth goes forth blessing and cursing. It is not right, my brethren, that these things should be thus.

Adulteresses, know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore is minded to be the friend of the world is constituted enemy of God.

Be wretched, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

ye who do not know what will be on the morrow, (for what is your life? It is even a vapour, appearing for a little while, and then disappearing,)

Your gold and silver is eaten away, and their canker shall be for a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye have heaped up treasure in the last days.

Behold, the wages of your labourers, who have harvested your fields, wrongfully kept back by you, cry, and the cries of those that have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

Complain not one against another, brethren, that ye be not judged. Behold, the judge stands before the door.

But before all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath; but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay, that ye do not fall under judgment.

and the prayer of faith shall heal the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he be one who has committed sins, it shall be forgiven him.

Confess therefore your offences to one another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The fervent supplication of the righteous man has much power.

elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by sanctification of the Spirit, unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead,

who are kept guarded by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Wherein ye exult, for a little while at present, if needed, put to grief by various trials,

that the proving of your faith, much more precious than of gold which perishes, though it be proved by fire, be found to praise and glory and honour in the revelation of Jesus Christ:

To whom it was revealed, that not to themselves but to you they ministered those things, which have now been announced to you by those who have declared to you the glad tidings by the Holy Spirit, sent from heaven, which angels desire to look into.

Wherefore, having girded up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope with perfect stedfastness in the grace which will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

but as he who has called you is holy, be ye also holy in all your conversation;

because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy.

knowing that ye have been redeemed, not by corruptible things, as silver or gold, from your vain conversation handed down from your fathers,

but by precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ,

who by him do believe on God, who has raised him from among the dead and given him glory, that your faith and hope should be in God.

Having purified your souls by obedience to the truth to unfeigned brotherly love, love one another out of a pure heart fervently;

being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the living and abiding word of God.

as newborn babes desire earnestly the pure mental milk of the word, that by it ye may grow up to salvation,

To whom coming, a living stone, cast away indeed as worthless by men, but with God chosen, precious,

yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Because it is contained in the scripture: Behold, I lay in Zion a corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believes on him shall not be put to shame.

Be in subjection therefore to every human institution for the Lord's sake; whether to the king as supreme,

or to rulers as sent by him, for vengeance on evildoers, and praise to them that do well.

Because so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye put to silence the ignorance of senseless men;

Servants, be subject with all fear to your masters, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the ill-tempered.

who himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, in order that, being dead to sins, we may live to righteousness: by whose stripes ye have been healed.

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, that, even if any are disobedient to the word, they may be gained without the word by the conversation of the wives,

whose adorning let it not be that outward one of tressing of hair, and wearing gold, or putting on apparel;

Ye husbands likewise, dwell with them according to knowledge, as with a weaker, even the female, vessel, giving them honour, as also fellow-heirs of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered.

Finally, be all of one mind, sympathising, full of brotherly love, tender hearted, humble minded;

But if also ye should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed are ye; but be not afraid of their fear, neither be troubled;

but sanctify the Lord the Christ in your hearts, and be always prepared to give an answer to every one that asks you to give an account of the hope that is in you, but with meekness and fear;

having a good conscience, that as to that in which they speak against you as evildoers, they may be ashamed who calumniate your good conversation in Christ.

which figure also now saves you, even baptism, not a putting away of the filth of flesh, but the demand as before God of a good conscience, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

For to this end were the glad tidings preached to the dead also, that they might be judged, as regards men, after the flesh, but live, as regards God, after the Spirit.

But the end of all things is drawn nigh: be sober therefore, and be watchful unto prayers;

If any one speak as oracles of God; if any one minister as of strength which God supplies; that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the might for the ages of ages. Amen.

but if as a christian, let him not be ashamed, but glorify God in this name.

For the time of having the judgment begin from the house of God is come; but if first from us, what shall be the end of those who obey not the glad tidings of God?

The elders which are among you I exhort, who am their fellow-elder and witness of the sufferings of the Christ, who also am partaker of the glory about to be revealed:

shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising oversight, not by necessity, but willingly; not for base gain, but readily;

Likewise ye younger, be subject to the elder, and all of you bind on humility towards one another; for God sets himself against the proud, but to the humble gives grace.

Be vigilant, watch. Your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour.

to him be the glory and the might for the ages of the ages. Amen.