With this in view, we constantly pray for you, that our God will count you worthy of your calling [to faith] and with [His] power fulfill every desire for goodness, and complete [your] every work of faith,

nor to pay attention to legends (fables, myths) and endless genealogies, which give rise to useless speculation and meaningless arguments rather than advancing God’s program of instruction which is grounded in faith [and requires surrendering the entire self to God in absolute trust and confidence].

keeping your faith [leaning completely on God with absolute trust and confidence in His guidance] and having a good conscience; for some [people] have rejected [their moral compass] and have made a shipwreck of their faith.

For [there is] one God and one mediator between God and human beings, the man Christ Jesus,

And great, we confess, is the mystery [the hidden truth] of godliness:He (Jesus Christ) who was revealed in human flesh,
Was justified and vindicated in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory.

the [one who] alone possesses immortality, who lives [in] unapproachable light, whom no human being has seen nor is able to see, to whom [be] honor and eternal power. Amen.

[and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good,

and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings (Hebrew Scriptures) which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus [surrendering your entire self to Him and having absolute confidence in His wisdom, power and goodness].

But Jesus--who was made a little inferior to the angels in order that through God's grace He might taste death for every human being--we already see wearing a crown of glory and honour because of His having suffered death.

For it was fitting for God [that is, an act worthy of His divine nature] that He, for whose sake are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the author and founder of their salvation perfect through suffering [bringing to maturity the human experience necessary for Him to be perfectly equipped for His office as High Priest].

as when He says: "I will proclaim Thy name to My brothers: in the midst of the congregation I will hymn Thy praises;"

Therefore, since [these His] children share in flesh and blood [the physical nature of mankind], He Himself in a similar manner also shared in the same [physical nature, but without sin], so that through [experiencing] death He might make powerless (ineffective, impotent) him who had the power of death—that is, the devil—

For the one who has once entered His rest has also rested from [the weariness and pain of] his [human] labors, just as God rested from [those labors uniquely] His own.

For during His human life He offered up prayers and entreaties, crying aloud with tears to Him who was always able to save Him out of death, and because of His beautiful spirit of worship His prayer was heard.

But solid food is for the [spiritually] mature, whose senses are trained by practice to distinguish between what is morally good and what is evil.

who was not appointed on the basis of human regulations governing one's physical ancestry, but on the strength of One whose life never ends.

For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak [frail, sinful, dying men], but the word of the oath [of God], which came after [the institution of] the Law, permanently appoints [as priest] a Son who has been made perfect forever.

and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tent set up by the Lord and not by any human.

But when Christ appeared as a High Priest of the good things to come [that is, true spiritual worship], He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not a part of this [material] creation.

For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but [He entered] into heaven itself, now to appear in the very presence of God on our behalf;

Every priest stands [at his altar of service] ministering daily, offering the same sacrifices over and over, which are never able to strip away sins [that envelop and cover us];

by the way which he inaugurated for us--a new and living way, a way through the Sanctuary Curtain (that is, his human nature);

let us approach [God] with a true and sincere heart in unqualified assurance of faith, having had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

For our human fathers disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them; but God disciplines us for our [spiritual] good, so that we may share in His holiness.

Remember your leaders [for it was they] who brought you the word of God; and consider the result of their conduct [the outcome of their godly lives], and imitate their faith [their conviction that God exists and is the Creator and Ruler of all things, the Provider of eternal salvation through Christ, and imitate their reliance on God with absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness].

and the rich man is to glory in being humbled [by trials revealing human frailty, knowing true riches are found in the grace of God], for like the flower of the grass he will pass away.

Be sure of that, my beloved brothers. Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to talk, slow to be angry ??20 for human anger does not promote divine righteousness;

for human anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God.

For just as the [human] body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works [of obedience] is also dead.

And the tongue [is] a fire! The world of unrighteousness, the tongue, is set among our members, defiling the whole body and setting on fire {the course of human existence}, being set on fire by hell.

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;

But no one can tame the human tongue; it is a restless evil [undisciplined, unstable], full of deadly poison.

This is not the kind of wisdom that comes down from above; no, it is earthly, human, demoniacal.

If any one of you is in trouble, he should pray. If any one is in good spirits, he should sing a hymn.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours [with the same physical, mental, and spiritual limitations and shortcomings], and he prayed intensely for it not to rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

For "All human life is like grass, and all its glory is like a flower in the grass. The grass dries up and the flower drops off,

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

when they see your modest and respectful behavior [together with your devotion and appreciation—love your husband, encourage him, and enjoy him as a blessing from God].

For indeed Christ died for sins once for all, the Just and Righteous for the unjust and unrighteous [the Innocent for the guilty] so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit;

so that he can no longer spend the rest of his natural life living for human appetites and desires, but [lives] for the will and purpose of God.

Because for this reason also the gospel was preached to those who are dead, so that they were judged {by human standards} in the flesh, but they may live in the spirit {by God's standards}.

For it was through this that he gave us what we prize as the greatest of his promises, that through them you might participate in the divine nature, now that you have fled from the corruption in the world, resulting from human passions.

for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

they have gone wrong by leaving the straight road, by following the road of Balaam son of Bosor, who liked the profits of evil-doing ??16 but he got reproved for his malpractice: a dumb ass spoke with human voice and checked the prophet's infatuation.

but he was rebuked for his own transgression: a mute donkey spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

This is how you can recognize God's Spirit: Every spirit who acknowledges that Jesus the Messiah has become human and remains so is from God.

No human eyes have ever seen God, yet, if we love one another, God remains in union with us, and his love attains its perfection in us.

If we accept [as we do] the testimony of men [that is, if we are willing to take the sworn statements of fallible humans as evidence], the testimony of God is greater [far more authoritative]; for this is the testimony of God, that He has testified regarding His Son.

For many deceivers have gone out into the world--men who do not acknowledge Jesus as Christ who has come in human nature. Such a one is 'the deceiver' and 'the anti-Christ.'

Yet in the very same way these men, too, cherishing vain dreams, pollute our human nature, reject control, and malign the Mighty.

and in the middle of the lampstands One who resembled a human being, with a long robe, and a belt of gold round his breast;

The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature was like an ox, the third living creature had a face like a human, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.

They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but [to hurt] only the people who do not have the seal (mark of ownership, protection) of God on their foreheads.

The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were victor's crowns that looked like gold, and their faces were like human faces.

Their faces seemed human and they had hair like women's hair, but their teeth resembled those of lions.

So the four angels who were prepared for the hour, day, month, and year were released to kill a third of the human race.

A third of the human race was killed by these three plagues—by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths.

He also works great miracles, so as even to make fire come down from Heaven to earth in the presence of human beings.

Here is wisdom. Let the person who has enough insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the [imperfect] number of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.

These are the ones not defiled with women, for they have kept their virginity. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were redeemed from the human race as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb.

Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud One resembling a human being, a golden crown upon his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

and cinnamon and amomum and incense and ointment and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine wheat flour and wheat and domesticated animals and sheep and horses and carriages and {slaves} and human lives.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: "Look! The residence of God is among human beings. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them.

And he measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits {according to human measure}, which is the angel's.