A Call to Maturity

¹Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works,and of faith in God,

²instruction about baptisms,the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

³And this we will do, if God permits.

⁴It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,

⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age—

⁶and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame.

⁷For land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is tended receives the blessing of God.

⁸But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned.

⁹Even though we speak like this, beloved, we are convinced of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation.

¹⁰For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.

¹¹We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.

¹²Then you will not be sluggish, but will imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

God’s Unchangeable Promise

¹³When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,

¹⁴saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply your descendants.”

¹⁵And so Abraham, after waiting patiently, obtained the promise.

¹⁶Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument.

¹⁷So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath.

¹⁸Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.

¹⁹We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,

²⁰where Jesus our forerunner has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

The Earthly Tabernacle

¹Now the first covenanthad regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary.

²A tabernacle was prepared. In its first room were the lampstand, the table, and the consecrated bread.This was called the Holy Place.

³Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place,

⁴containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.

⁵Above the ark were the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat.But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

⁶When everything had been prepared in this way, the priests entered regularly into the first room to perform their sacred duties.

⁷But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.

⁸By this arrangement the Holy Spirit was showing that the way into the Most Holy Placehad not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing.

⁹It is an illustration for the present time, because the gifts and sacrifices being offered were unable to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper.

¹⁰They consist only in food and drink and special washings—external regulations imposed until the time of reform.

Redemption through His Blood

¹¹But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come,He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made by hands and is not a part of this creation.

¹²He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.

¹³For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean,

¹⁴how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify ourconsciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!

¹⁵Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

¹⁶In the case of a will,it is necessary to establish the death of the one who made it,

¹⁷because a will does not take effect until the one who made it has died; it cannot be executed while he is still alive.

¹⁸That is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.

¹⁹For when Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats,along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people,

²⁰saying, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”

²¹In the same way, he sprinkled with blood the tabernacle and all the vessels used in worship.

²²According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

²³So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

²⁴For Christ did not enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself, now to appear on our behalf in the presence of God.

²⁵Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.

²⁶Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

²⁷Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

²⁸so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.

The Coming Judgment

¹Beloved, this is now my second letter to you. Both of them are reminders to stir you to wholesome thinking

²by recalling what was foretold by the holy prophets and commanded by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

³Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.

⁴“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”

⁵But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water,

⁶through whichthe world of that time perished in the flood.

⁷And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

The Day of the Lord

⁸Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

⁹The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

¹⁰But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyedby fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.

¹¹Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness

¹²as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat.

¹³But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

Final Exhortations

¹⁴Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.

¹⁵Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him.

¹⁶He writes this way in all his letters,speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort,as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

¹⁷Therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, be on your guard so that you will not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure standing.

¹⁸But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.Amen.

Tell of His Wonders

¹Give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name;make known His deeds among the nations.

²Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;tell of all His wonders.

³Glory in His holy name;let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

⁴Seek out the LORD and His strength;seek His face always.

⁵Remember the wonders He has done,His marvels, and the judgments He has pronounced,

⁶O offspring of His servant Abraham,O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones.

⁷He is the LORD our God;His judgments carry throughout the earth.

⁸He remembers His covenant forever,the word He ordained for a thousand generations—

⁹the covenant He made with Abraham,and the oath He swore to Isaac.

¹⁰He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

¹¹“I will give you the land of Canaanas the portion of your inheritance.”

¹²When they were few in number,few indeed, and strangers in the land,

¹³they wandered from nation to nation,from one kingdom to another.

¹⁴He let no man oppress them;He rebuked kings on their behalf:

¹⁵“Do not touch My anointed ones!Do no harm to My prophets!”

¹⁶He called down famine on the landand cut off all their suppliesof food.

¹⁷He sent a man before them—Joseph, sold as a slave.

¹⁸They bruised his feet with shacklesand placed his neck in irons,

¹⁹until his prediction came trueand the word of the LORD proved him right.

²⁰The king sent and released him;the ruler of peoples set him free.

²¹He made him master of his household,ruler over all his substance,

²²to instructhis princes as he pleasedand teach his elders wisdom.

²³Then Israel entered Egypt;Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.

²⁴And the LORD made His people very fruitful,more numerous than their foes,

²⁵whose hearts He turned to hate His people,to conspire against His servants.

²⁶He sent Moses His servant,and Aaron, whom He had chosen.

²⁷They performed His miraculous signs among them,and wonders in the land of Ham.

²⁸He sent darkness, and it became dark—yet they defied His words.

²⁹He turned their waters to bloodand caused their fish to die.

³⁰Their land teemed with frogs,even in their royal chambers.

³¹He spoke, and insects swarmed—gnats throughout their country.

³²He gave them hail for rain,with lightning throughout their land.

³³He struck their vines and fig treesand shattered the trees of their country.

³⁴He spoke, and the locusts came—young locusts without number.

³⁵They devoured every plant in their landand consumed the produce of their soil.

³⁶Then He struck all the firstborn in their land,the firstfruits of all their vigor.

³⁷He brought Israel out with silver and gold,and none among His tribes stumbled.

³⁸Egypt was glad when they departed,for the dread of Israel had fallen on them.

³⁹He spread a cloud as a coveringand a fire to light up the night.

⁴⁰They asked, and He brought quailand satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

⁴¹He opened a rock, and water gushed out;it flowed like a river in the desert.

⁴²For He remembered His holy promiseto Abraham His servant.

⁴³He brought forth His people with rejoicing,His chosen with shouts of joy.

⁴⁴He gave them the lands of the nations,that they might inherit the fruit of others’ labor,

⁴⁵that they might keep His statutesand obey His laws.Hallelujah!