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“Let Us Continually Offer Up a Sacrifice of Praise to God”
1 Brotherly love must never cease.
2 Don’t neglect to show travelers hospitality, because by so doing some have had angels as guests without even realizing it.
3 Remember those in prison as if you were in prison with them, and those who are being cruelly treated as if you, too, were there suffering the same kind of treatment yourselves.
4 Marriage must be in all respects held in high honor, and the marriage bed kept undefiled. God will punish the sexually immoral, you see, and those who commit adultery.
5 Keep your conduct free, as well, from the love of money, being content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I abandon ˢyou;
never will I forsake ˢyou.”+
6 And so it is with confidence that we can say,
“The LORD is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere men do to me?”+
7 Keep in mind the example of your leaders, who taught you the word of God. Giving careful thought to the outcome of their way of life, follow the example of their faith.
8 Jesus the Messiah is the same indeed yesterday and today and forever into the very ages.
9 Don’t allow yourselves to be carried away by teachings that are foreign to the gospel, of which there are many different kinds. It is good for the heart to be established, you see, by God’s gracious mercy and help, not by regulations about foods, which were of no help to those who observed them.
10 We have an altar from which the priests whose duties are carried out in the tabernacle have no right to eat.
11 The animals, you see, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest to atone for sin: The bodies of these animals are burned outside the camp.
12 That is why Jesus, similarly, in order to set apart to God by his own blood the people, suffered outside the city gate.
13 So then, in our own situation, let us go to him, as it were, outside the camp, patiently bearing insult along with him.
14 We don’t have here a lasting city, you see; no, it is the city to come on which we are setting our hearts.
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit presented by lips that profess allegiance to his name.
16 Do not neglect to do good, moreover, and share what you have, because these are the kind of sacrifices with which God is pleased.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep vigilant watch over you as those who will have to give of their service a full account. Do this so that they may do their work not begrudgingly, but with joy, since the former would be to you of no help at all.
18 Please keep on praying for us, convinced as we are that we really do have a clear conscience, resolving to conduct ourselves honorably in indeed every respect.
19 I plead even more earnestly for such prayer to be lifted up, though, that I may in answer be sent back to you very soon.
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd who saves the sheep on the basis of the blood of a covenant that endures forever into the ages, namely, our Lord Jesus,
21 provide you with every good thing you need in order to “carry out his will,”+ producing inside of us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus the Messiah, to whom be the glory forever into the ages. Amen.
“Grace Be with All of You”
22 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to take kindly this message whose purpose is to give you strength and encouragement, since I have in fact written to you only in brief.
23 You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, in company with whom, if he arrives soon, I will come to visit you.
24 Please give greetings to all your leaders and to all the Lord’s holy people.+ Those from Italy send you greetings.
25 Grace be with all of you.