1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since ^wthe message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 ^xhow shall we ^yescape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and ^zit was attested to us by those who heard,

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

16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, ^twhose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he ^uswear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were ^vdisobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of ^wunbelief.

1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

26 For ^tif we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the ^uknowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a ^vfury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy ^won the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 ^xHow much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has ^ytrampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the ^zblood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, ^a“Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, ^b“The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a ^cfearful thing to fall into the hands of the ^dliving God.

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.