Besides, we indeed have had chastisers--the fathers of our flesh--and we were turned around. Shall we not much more be subordinate to the Father of the spirits, and we will live?

For, they, indeed, for a few days, according to that which seemed good to them, were administering discipline; but, he, unto that which is profitable, with view to our partaking of his holiness:

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

for they were not bearing that which is commanded, 'And if a beast may touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or with an arrow shot through,'

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 the, Yet once, signifies the removal of the things being shaken--as of things that were made--so that the things not being shaken may remain.

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

Keep in mind those who are in chains, as if you were chained with them, and those who are in trouble, as being yourselves in the body.

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?

By it we bless the God and Father, and by it we curse men, who were made according to a likeness of God.

Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up your treasure in the last days [when it will do you no good].

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 have lived in luxury on the earth, and were self-indulgent. Ye have nourished 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.

Remember we count those that were stedfast happy. You have heard of the stedfastness of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord with him, seen how the Lord is full of tenderness.

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 searching to know to what time, or to what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them kept pointing, when he ever testified beforehand concerning the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

To whom it was revealed, that they were serving not themselves, but you, those things that were now reported to you by those who preached good-news to you in Holy Spirit, which was sent forth from heaven, into which things heavenly

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

knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down 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; for they stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people, that you may show forth the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light??10 you who once were not a people, but now are the people of God; who were once without mercy, but now you have found mercy.

who in time past were no people, but now are the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

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

who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.

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

For in this way in the olden time the holy women also, who put their trust in God, used to adorn themselves. They were ever in submission 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.

(It was in spirit that he went and preached the Word to the spirits who were in prison,

that aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water:

The gospel was preached for this cause to those who were dead also, that they might be judged according to men in flesh, but live according to God in 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.

Dearly beloved, do not be astonished that a test by fire is coming upon you, as though something strange 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 did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

For when he was so honored and glorified by God the Father and from the supreme glory there were borne to him such words as these: "This is my Son, my Beloved! He is my Chosen!"??18 we heard these words borne from heaven when we were with him on that sacred mountain.

and this voice we ourselves heard borne out of heaven, 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 no prophecy has ever yet originated in man's will, but men who were led by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

But there were false prophets, too, among the people, just as among you also there will be false teachers. These will secretly bring in destructive sects, denying even the Master who bought them, and bringing swift ruin upon themselves.

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 he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, being reduced to ashes, having made an example of men who were going to be irreverent,

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.)

having forsaked a straight path, they were led astray, men who followed the way of Balaam, son of Beor, who loved the wage 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 should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandments of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles:

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

For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God;

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 have continued with us: but they went out , that they might be made manifest that they all are not 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 was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his 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.

And now I am entreating you, Lady, not as though I were writing some new commandment to you, but one which we have had from the beginning, let us love 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 privily, even they who were of old written of beforehand unto this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying our only Master and 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 it was with Sodom, Gomorrha, and the neighbouring cities, who abandoning themselves to the same licentiousness and abominable passions, were made examples by 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 ye, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,

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."

of others be compassionately tender, snatching them, as it were, out of the fire: and avoid even the garment of the infected.

[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, as white wool, and as snow: and his eyes were as a flame of fire:

His feet were like bronze refined to white heat in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.

And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as [though I were] dead. And He placed His right hand on me and said, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last,

"I know what you have done; your hard work and patient endurance; that you cannot tolerate wicked persons; that you have tested those who claimed to be apostles although they were not, and have found them to be imposters,

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 thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou 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.