1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also ^ylay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us ^zrun with ^aendurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the ^bfounder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him ^cendured the cross, despising the shame, and is ^dseated at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or ^efainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the ^fexhortation that addresses you as sons?

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. ⁱGod is treating you as sons. For ^jwhat son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father ^kof spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that ^lwe may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the ^mpeaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been ⁿtrained by it.

12 Therefore ^olift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 ^pStrive for peace with everyone, and for the ^qholiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ^r“root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is ^ssexually immoral or unholy like Esau, ^twho sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that ^uafterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

18 For you have not come to what may be touched, ^va blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the ^wsound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers ^xbeg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, ^y“If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ^z“I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount ^aZion and to the ^bcity of the ^cliving God, the ^dheavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly¹ of the firstborn who are ^eenrolled in heaven, and to God, the ^fjudge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous ^gmade perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the ^hmediator of a ⁱnew covenant, and to the ^jsprinkled blood that speaks a better word than ^kthe blood of ^lAbel.

25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not ^mescape when they refused him who warned them on earth, ⁿmuch less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 ^oAt that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ^p“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a ^qkingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for ^rour God is a consuming fire.