¹Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God,[#tn Grk “Therefore leaving behind.” The implication is not of abandoning this elementary information, but of building on it.; #tn Or “basic.”; #tn Grk “the message of the beginning of Christ.”; #tn Grk “leaving behind…let us move on.”]

²teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

³And this is what we intend to do, if God permits.[#tn Grk “and we will do this.”]

⁴For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit,

⁵tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age,

⁶and then have committed apostasy, to renew them again to repentance, since they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again and holding him up to contempt.[#tn Or “have fallen away.”; #tn Or “while”; Grk “crucifying…and holding.” The Greek participles here (“crucifying…and holding”) can be understood as either causal (“since”) or temporal (“while”).; #tn Grk “recrucifying the son of God for themselves.”]

⁷For the ground that has soaked up the rain that frequently falls on it and yields useful vegetation for those who tend it receives a blessing from God.[#tn Grk “comes upon.”]

⁸But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed; its fate is to be burned.[#tn Grk “near to a curse.”]

⁹But in your case, dear friends, even though we speak like this, we are convinced of better things relating to salvation.

¹⁰For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints.

¹¹But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end,

¹²so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises.[#tn Or “dull.”]

¹³Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,

¹⁴saying, “Surely I will bless you greatly and multiply your descendants abundantly .”[#tn Grk “in blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply you,” the Greek form of a Hebrew idiom showing intensity.sn A quotation from Gen 22:17.]

¹⁵And so by persevering, Abraham inherited the promise.[#tn Grk “he”; in the translation the referent (Abraham) has been specified for clarity.]

¹⁶For people swear by something greater than themselves, and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute.[#tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποι (anqrwpoi) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, and is thus translated “people.”; #tn Grk “by something greater”; the rest of the comparison (“than themselves”) is implied.; #tn Grk “the oath for confirmation is an end of all dispute.”]

¹⁷In the same way God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, and so he intervened with an oath,[#tn Grk “in which.”; #tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”]

¹⁸so that we who have found refuge in him may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.[#tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.]

¹⁹We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain,[#sn The curtain refers to the veil or drape in the temple that separated the holy place from the holy of holies.]

²⁰where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since he became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek .[#sn A quotation from Ps 110:4, picked up again from Heb 5:6, 10.]