Hebrews 12
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · AD 60 – AD 69 · The early church · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
29 verses · 665 words · ~3 min read · ~4 min listen
A Call to Endurance
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
God Disciplines His Sons
4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:
7Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live?
10Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness. 11No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it.
12Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees. 13Make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
A Call to Holiness
14Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. 15See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many. 16See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his birthright. 17For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. He could find no ground for repentance, though he sought the blessing with tears.
An Unshakable Kingdom
18For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm; 19to a trumpet blast or to a voice that made its hearers beg that no further word be spoken. 20For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” 21The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
22Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels 23in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven? 26At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well.” 27The words “Once more” signify the removal of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that the unshakable may remain.
28Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. 29“For our God is a consuming fire.”
Footnotes (11)
- a v2 Or pioneer or founder
- b v6 Literally and He flogs every son He receives; Proverbs 3:11–12(see also LXX)
- c v11 Or it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness
- d v12 Isaiah 35:3
- e v13 Proverbs 4:26(see also LXX)
- f v15 See Deuteronomy 29:18
- g v18 Literally to what can be touched and
- h v20 Exodus 19:12–13
- i v21 Deuteronomy 9:19
- j v26 Haggai 2:6
- k v29 Deuteronomy 4:24
Study notes on this chapter · 3
The Lord disciplines the one he loves
Hebrews quotes Proverbs to comfort readers enduring hardship: the discipline of the Lord is a sign of a father's love for a child. The writer calls it an exhortation addressed to them as sons.
When: Proverbs, c. 950–700 BC; Hebrews, before AD 70 (most likely).
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
The latter glory of this house
To discouraged builders of the second temple Haggai says the glory of this latter house will be greater than the former, and that God will give peace in this place. Interpreters differ on what 'glory' means and when it is fulfilled.
When: Haggai, 520 BC; second temple completed 516/515 BC; Herod's rebuilding from c. 20 BC.
Ways people read this (4)
- Fulfilled in the presence of Christ in the temple (the 'desired of all nations' read as the Messiah).
- Fulfilled by the wealth of nations and Herod's rebuilding of the temple.
- Fulfilled in a future glory, at the end of the age or in a future temple.
- The 'glory' is God's presence in a renewed community, as in Zechariah 2:5.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
Once more I will shake heaven and earth
Haggai says that God will shake the heavens, the earth, the sea and the nations. Hebrews quotes this to argue that the shaking signals the removal of what is made and the receiving of an unshakable kingdom, so believers should worship with reverence.
When: Haggai, 520 BC; Hebrews, before AD 70 (most likely).
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.