Then, indeed, fathers of our flesh we have had, chastising us, and we were reverencing them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of the spirits, and live?

for they, indeed, for a few days, according to what seemed good to them, were chastening, but He for profit, to be partakers of His separation;

Stretch forth therefore again the hands which were let down, and the weak knees,

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

to a festal gathering and assembly of firstborn sons who were enrolled in the heavens, and to God, a Judge of all, and to spirits of righteous men who were made fully perfect,

See that you give ear to his voice which comes to you. For if those whose ears were shut to the voice which came to them on earth did not go free from punishment, what chance have we of going free if we give no attention to him whose voice comes from heaven?

and this expression, yet once more" signifies the abolition of those changeable things which were only contriv'd, that what is unalterable might lastingly succeed.

Forget not hospitality: for by it some having entertained angels were incognizant.

Remember those who are in prison, as if you were their fellow prisoner, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body [and subject to physical suffering].

Keep in mind those who were over you, and who gave you the word of God; seeing the outcome of their way of life, let your faith be like theirs.

Be not carried away by divers and strange teachings: for it is good that the heart be established by grace; not by meats, wherein they that occupied themselves were not profited.

than the sacrificers had to eat of the flesh of those beasts, which were burnt without the camp, and whose blood the highpriest carried into the sanctuary.

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit to them : for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with grief: for this were unprofitable for 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].

Were ye not separated among yourselves, and become judges of evil reflections?

Do they not blaspheme the worthy name by which ye were called?

And one of you were to say to them--"Go, and peace be with you; find warmth and food for yourselves," and yet you were not to give them the necessaries of life, what good would it be to them?

And the holy Writings were put into effect which said, And Abraham had faith in God and it was put to his account as righteousness; and he was named the friend of God.

And in the same way, was not the righteousness of Rahab, the loose woman, judged by her works, when she took into her house those who were sent and let them go out by another way?

With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God.

Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

Behold, the wages that were held back by you from the workers who reap your fields cry out, and the cries of the reapers have come to the ears of the Lord of hosts.

ye did live in luxury upon the earth, and were wanton; ye did nourish your hearts, as in a day of slaughter;

let the prophets, my brethren, who were commission'd by the Lord, be your examples; suffer persecution with constancy like them.

You know we call those blessed [happy, spiritually prosperous, favored by God] who were steadfast and endured [difficult circumstances]. You have heard of the patient endurance of Job and you have seen the Lord’s outcome [how He richly blessed Job]. The Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace [that special sense of spiritual well-being] be yours in increasing abundance [as you walk closely with God].

There were Prophets who earnestly inquired about that salvation, and closely searched into it--even those who spoke beforehand of the grace which was to come to you.

They were eager to know the time which the Spirit of Christ within them kept indicating, or the characteristics of that time, when they solemnly made known beforehand the sufferings that were to come upon Christ and the glories which would follow.

to whom it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to us they were ministering these, which now were told to you (through those who did proclaim good news to you,) in the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, to which things messengers do desire to bend looking.

Like children ruled by God, do not go back to the old desires of the time when you were without knowledge:

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

but [you were actually purchased] with precious blood, like that of a [sacrificial] lamb unblemished and spotless, the priceless blood of Christ.

And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

But you are the elect race, the royal priesthood, the consecrated nation, the People who belong to Him, that you may proclaim the wondrous deeds of Him who has called you from darkness to his wonderful light ??10 you who once were no people and now are God's people, you who once were unpitied and now are pitied.

Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

for thus once also the holy women who did hope on God, were adorning themselves, being subject to their own husbands,

They were submissive to their husbands, as Sarah, for example, obeyed Abraham and called him master. You have become true daughters of hers, if you practice doing right and cease from every fear.

not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but contrariwise blessing; for hereunto were ye called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

in which He also went and proclaimed His Message to the spirits that were in prison,

Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

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.

if any man speaketh,'speaking as it were oracles of God; is any man ministereth, ministering as of the strength which God supplieth: that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Beloved, think it not strange at the fiery suffering among you that is coming to try you, as if a strange thing were happening to you,

I appeal therefore to those who are elders among you; I am their brother-elder and a witness to what the Christ suffered, and I am to share in the glory that is to be revealed??2 be shepherds of the flock of God that is among you, not as though it were forced upon you but of your own free will, and not from base love of gain but freely,

see that ye feed Christ's flock, which is among you, taking the oversight of them: not as though ye were compelled thereto, but willingly; Not for the desire of filthy lucre, but of a good mind.

Not as though ye were lords over the parishes: but that ye be an example to the flock.

as all things of his divine power to us, things toward life and piety, which were granted through the knowledge of him who called us through glory and virtue.

through which things very great and precious favors that were promised have been given us, that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through desire:

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

He received honour and glory from God the Father, and out of the wondrous glory words such as these were spoken to Him, "This is My dearly-loved Son, in whom I take delight."

And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

And still stronger is the assurance that we have in the teaching of the Prophets; to which you will do well to pay attention (as if it were a lamp shining in a gloomy place), until the Day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts.

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

For if God did not have pity for the angels who did evil, but sent them down into hell, to be kept in chains of eternal night till they were judged;

and if He did not spare the ancient world of Noah's day, when He brought a flood on those ungodly people (though Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven other people, were saved from it);

and if He reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to ruin, making them an example to those who were going to be ungodly;

And, righteous Lot, when getting worn out by the behaviour of them who were impious in wantonness, he rescued -

(For their lawless deeds were torture, day after day, to the pure soul of that righteous man--all that he saw and heard whilst living in their midst.)

leaving the right way, they were led astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness,

For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

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.

For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:

And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

as it were in all his epistles, where he takes notice of these things: in which there are some passages that are difficult to understand, which the illiterate, and unstable wrest, as they do the rest of the scriptures, to their own ruin.

Little children, it is the last hour; and as you were given word that the Antichrist would come, so now a number of Antichrists have come to you; and by this we are certain that it is the last hour.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

But as for you, keep in your hearts the things which were made clear to you from the first. If you keep these things in your hearts you will be kept in the Father and the Son.

Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

and every spirit which does not confess Jesus [incarnate] does not come from God. This latter is the spirit of antichrist; you were told it was coming, and here it is already in the world.

It gave me great joy to see some of your children walking in the true way, even as we were ordered to do by the Father.

Now I ask you, lady, not as if I were writing to you a new commandment, but [simply reminding you of] the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love and unselfishly seek the best for one another.

For it gave me great joy when some of the brothers came and gave witness that you had the true faith and were walking in the true way.

My loved ones, while my thoughts were full of a letter which I was going to send you about our common salvation, it was necessary for me to send you one requesting you with all my heart to go on fighting strongly for the faith which has been given to the saints once and for ever.

For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now I want to remind you, although you are fully informed once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe [who refused to trust and obey and rely on Him].

So Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities which were about them, in like manner giving themselves over to lewdness, and following after other flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

Woe to them for they went in the way of Cain, and were poured out in the error of Balaam for a reward, and they were destroyed in the controversy of Core.

But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;

that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.”

you should save others [from hell, as though you were] snatching them out of the fire. And you should show pity toward some people, [coupled] with a fear [of the consequences of sin], hating the clothing contaminated by a physical sore [i.e., hating sin so much as to avoid it at all costs].

[This is the record of] the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave [Him] to show to His servants. [It contains] the things which were soon to happen, and Christ sent His angel [i.e., messenger] to inform His servant, [the apostle] John, [about them].

saying, "Write down in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicia" [Note: These seven congregations were all located in western Asia Minor].

His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

and his feet [were] like fine bronze when it has been fired in a furnace, and his voice [was] like the sound of many waters,

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if I were dead. But He laid His right hand upon me and said, "Do not be afraid: I am the First and the Last, and the ever-living One.

I know thy works, and thy toil, and endurance, and that thou canst not bear bad men, and thou hast tried them who were affirming themselves to be apostles, and they were not, and hast found them false;

So keep in mind where you were at first, and be changed in heart and do the first works; or I will come to you, and will take away your light from its place, if your hearts are not changed.

But you have this [in your favor]: You hate the [evil] deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate [Note: These people were probably followers of someone named Nicolas and were known to be false teachers. See verse 15].

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].

I have knowledge that your living-place is where Satan has his seat: and you are true to my name, and were not turned away from your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my true witness, who was put to death among you, where Satan has his place.

Be thou watchful, and establish the things that remain, which were ready to die: for I have found no works of thine perfected before my God.

‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold (invigorating, refreshing) nor hot (healing, therapeutic); I wish that you were cold or hot.

Would that you were either cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spew you out of my mouth.