Hebrews 2

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Philemon Illustration

Philemon

Greeting

Paul, aa prisoner for Christ Jesus, and bTimothy our brother,

To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and cArchippus our dfellow soldier, and ethe church in your house:

fGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

gI thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hhear of your love and iof the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full jknowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.1 For I have derived much joy and kcomfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints lhave been refreshed through you.

Paul’s Plea for Onesimus

Accordingly, mthough I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do nwhat is required, yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to youI, Paul, an old man and now oa prisoner also for Christ Jesus 10 I appeal to you for pmy child, qOnesimus,2 rwhose father I became in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me son your behalf tduring my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be uby compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why vhe was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 wno longer as a bondservant3 but more than a bondservant, as xa beloved brotherespecially to me, but how much more to you, yboth in the flesh and in the Lord.

17 So if you consider me zyour partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 aI, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay itto say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. bRefresh my heart in Christ.

21 cConfident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for dI am hoping that ethrough your prayers fI will be graciously given to you.

Final Greetings

23 gEpaphras, my hfellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24 and so do iMark, iAristarchus, jDemas, and jLuke, my fellow workers.

25 kThe grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Hebrews Illustration

Hebrews

The Supremacy of God’s Son

Long ago, at many times and ain many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but bin these last days che has spoken to us by dhis Son, whom he appointed ethe heir of all things, fthrough whom also he created gthe world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and hthe exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. iAfter making purification for sins, jhe sat down kat the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name lhe has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

For to which of the angels did God ever say,

mYou are my Son,

today I have begotten you?

Or again,

nI will be to him a father,

and he shall be to me a son?

And again, when he brings othe firstborn into the world, he says,

pLet all God’s angels worship him.

Of the angels he says,

qHe makes his angels winds,

and his ministers a flame of fire.

But of the Son he says,

rYour throne, O God, is forever and ever,

the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

therefore God, your God, shas anointed you

with tthe oil of gladness beyond your companions.

10 And,

uYou, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,

and the heavens are the work of your hands;

11  they will perish, but you remain;

they will all wear out like a garment,

12  like a robe you will roll them up,

like a garment they will be changed.1

But you are vthe same,

and your years will have no end.

13 And to which of the angels has he ever said,

wSit at my right hand

xuntil I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?

14 Are they not all ministering spirits ysent out to serve for the sake of those who are to zinherit salvation?

Warning Against Neglecting Salvation

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since athe message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and bevery transgression or disobedience received a just cretribution, dhow shall we escape if we eneglect such a great salvation? It was fdeclared at first by the Lord, and it was gattested to us hby those who heard, gwhile God also bore witness iby signs and wonders and various miracles and by jgifts of the Holy Spirit kdistributed according to his will.

The Founder of Salvation

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world lto come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere,

mWhat is man, that you are mindful of him,

or the son of man, that you care for him?

You made him for a little while lower than the angels;

you have crowned him with glory and honor,1

putting everything in subjection under his feet.

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, nwe do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him owho for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, pcrowned with glory and honor qbecause of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might rtaste death sfor everyone.

10 For it twas fitting that he, ufor whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons vto glory, should make the wfounder of their salvation xperfect through suffering. 11 For yhe who sanctifies and zthose who are sanctified aall have one source.2 That is why he is not ashamed to call them bbrothers,3 12 saying,

cI will tell of your name to my brothers;

in the midst of the dcongregation I will sing your praise.

13 And again,

eI will put my trust in him.

And again,

fBehold, I and the children gGod has given me.

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise hpartook of the same things, that ithrough death he might jdestroy kthe one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who lthrough fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he mhelps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had nto be made like his brothers in every respect, oso that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest pin the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered qwhen tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Jesus Greater Than Moses

Therefore, holy brothers,1 you who share in ra heavenly calling, consider Jesus, sthe apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, tjust as Moses also was faithful in all God’s2 house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Mosesas much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but uthe builder of all things is God.) vNow Moses was faithful in all God’s house was a servant, xto testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as ya son. And zwe are his house, if indeed we ahold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.3

A Rest for the People of God

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

bToday, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

on the day of testing in the wilderness,

where your fathers put me to the test

and saw my works for cforty years.

10  Therefore I was provoked with that generation,

and said, They always go astray in their heart;

they have not known my ways.

11  dAs I swore in my wrath,

They shall not enter my rest.

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from ethe living God. 13 But fexhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by gthe deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, hif indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said,

bToday, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

16 For iwho were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not jall those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, kwhose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that lthey would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that mthey were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem nto have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because othey were not united by faith with those who listened.1 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

pAs I swore in my wrath,

They shall not enter my rest,

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: qAnd God rested on the seventh day from all his works. And again in this passage he said,

rThey shall not enter my rest.

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news sfailed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, Today, saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

tToday, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts.

For if Joshua had given them rest, God2 would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also urested from his works as God did from his.

11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so vthat no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For wthe word of God is living and xactive, ysharper than any ztwo-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and adiscerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And bno creature is hidden from his sight, but all are cnaked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

14 Since then we have da great high priest ewho has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, flet us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest gwho is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been dtempted as we are, hyet without sin. 16 iLet us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.