1Wherefore seeing we alsoare compassed aboutwith so great a cloud of witnesses, letus lay asideeveryweight, and the sin which doth so easily besetus, andletusrunwithpatience the race that is set beforeus,
2LookinguntoJesus the authorandfinisher of our faith; whofor the joy that was set beforehimendured the cross, despising the shame, and is set downat the right hand of the throne of God.
3Forconsider him that enduredsuchcontradictionofsinnersagainsthimself, lest ye be wearied and faint in yourminds.
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Ye have not yetresisteduntoblood, strivingagainstsin.
5And ye have forgotten the exhortationwhichspeaketh unto youas unto children, Myson, despisenotthou the chasteningof the Lord, norfaint when thou art rebukedofhim:
6Forwhom the Lordloveth he chasteneth, andscourgetheverysonwhom he receiveth.
7If ye endurechastening, Goddealeth with youas with sons; forwhatson is hewhom the fatherchastenethnot?
9Furthermorewe have hadfathers of ourflesh which corrected us, andwe gave them reverence: shall wenotmuchrather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, andlive?
10For they verilyfor a fewdayschastened us after their ownpleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of hisholiness.
11Nownochasteningfor the presentseemeth to bejoyous, butgrievous: neverthelessafterward it yieldeth the peaceablefruit of righteousness unto them which are exercisedthereby.
12Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feebleknees;
13Andmakestraightpaths for yourfeet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let itrather be healed.
14Followpeacewithall men, andholiness, withoutwhich no man shall see the Lord:
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Looking diligentlylestanymanfailof the graceofGod; lestanyrootofbitternessspringinguptrouble you, andtherebymany be defiled;
16Lest there be anyfornicator, or profane person, asEsau, whoforone morsel of meatsoldhisbirthright.
17For ye knowhow that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he foundnoplace of repentance, though he soughtitcarefullywithtears.
18For ye arenotcome unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, anddarkness, andtempest,
19And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; whichvoice they that heardintreated that the wordshouldnot be spoken to them any more:
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(For they couldnotendure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beasttouch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
21Andsoterriblewas the sight, that Mosessaid, I exceedingly fearandquake:)
22But ye are come unto mountSion, and unto the city of the livingGod, the heavenlyJerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
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To the general assemblyandchurch of the firstborn, which are writteninheaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24And to Jesus the mediator of the newcovenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better thingsthan that of Abel.
25See that ye refusenothim that speaketh. Foriftheyescapednot who refused him that spakeonearth, muchmore shall notwe escape, ifwe turn away fromhim that speakethfromheaven:
26Whosevoicethenshook the earth: butnow he hath promised, saying, Yet once moreIshakenot the earthonly, butalsoheaven.
27And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us havegrace, whereby we may serveGodacceptablywithreverenceand godly fear: