Common - Hebrews - 6

6:1  Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

6:2  with instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

6:3  And this we will do, if God permits.

6:4  For it is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit,

6:5  and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,

6:6  and then have fallen away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put him to an open shame.

6:7  For land which drinks the rain that often falls upon it, and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.

6:8  But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed; its end is to be burned.

6:9  Even though we speak like this, beloved, we are confident of better things in your case, things that accompany salvation.

6:10  For God is not so unjust as to forget your work and the love which you have shown for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do.

6:11  And we desire each one of you to show the same diligence in realizing the full assurance of hope until the end,

6:12  so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

6:13  For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,

6:14  saying, "I will surely bless you and multiply you."

6:15  And so Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise.

6:16  Men swear by one greater than themselves, and in all their disputes the oath is final for confirmation.

6:17  So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he interposed with an oath,

6:18  so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

6:19  We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,

6:20  where Jesus has entered as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.