Hê-bơ-rơ 13

Keep loving one another

¹Let your love for one another as brothers and sisters remain. ²Do not forget to open your homes to strangers. By doing this, some people have had angels as their guests and never knew it. ³Keep in mind those in prison, as if you were in chains alongside them, and those who are being ill-treated, since you also live in a body. ⁴All of you should treat marriage as precious and keep the marriage bed undefiled; God will judge those who are sexually immoral and those who are unfaithful in marriage. ⁵Do not let love of money rule the way you live; be satisfied with what you have. For God himself has said, “I will not ever let you go, and I will never, never abandon you.” ⁶That is why we can say boldly, “The Lord is the one who helps me; I will have no fear. What can any human being do to me?” ⁷Keep in mind those who led you, who brought you the word of God. Look closely at where their way of life led them, and follow the example of their faith. ⁸Yesterday and today, Jesus Christ is the same, and so he will be for all the ages. ⁹Do not let all kinds of unfamiliar teachings sweep you off course. It is good for the heart to be made firm by grace, not by foods; those who have lived by them have gained nothing.^{a 10}There is an altar that is ours, and those who carry out the service of the tabernacle are not allowed to eat from it.^{b 11}When animals are offered for sin, the high priest takes their blood into the sanctuary, and their bodies are burned outside the camp. ¹²That is why Jesus, too, suffered outside the gate: so that by his own blood he might make the people holy. ¹³So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and share the insults heaped on him.^{c 14}There is no city here that remains for us; the city we are looking for is the one still to come. ¹⁵So through him let us offer God a sacrifice of praise at all times: the fruit of lips that give thanks to his name. ¹⁶And do not forget to be kind and to share with one another: God delights in sacrifices of this kind.

Leaders, and a request for prayer

¹⁷Follow your leaders and yield to them. They stay awake watching over your souls, as people who will have to answer for them. Make it possible for them to do this with joy instead of sighing, since that would bring you no gain.

¹⁸Keep praying for us. We are confident that our conscience is good, since we want to live rightly in every way. ¹⁹And I ask you even more earnestly to do this, so that I may be brought back to you all the sooner.

A closing blessing

²⁰May the God of peace, who led our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, up from the dead through the blood of an eternal covenant, ²¹make you ready in every good thing for doing his will. May he bring about in us whatever pleases him, through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory for all the ages. Amen.^defg

Final words

²²Brothers and sisters, I urge you to put up with this message of encouragement; after all, I have written you only a short letter. ²³You should know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he gets here soon enough, he will be with me when I see you.^{h 24}Greet all your leaders and all God’s holy people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.^{i 25}Grace be with all of you.^j