A Letter to the HEBREWS Chapter12

The Letter to the HEBREWS 

Chapter Twelve

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 

2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Do Not Grow Weary

3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 

4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 

5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,

    nor be weary when reproved by him.

6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

    and chastises every son whom he receives.”

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 

8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 

9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 

10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 

11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 

13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 

14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 

15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 

16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 

17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 

19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 

20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 

21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 

22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 

23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 

24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 

26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 

27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 

28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 

29 for our God is a consuming fire.

PSALM 66

Psalm 66

How Awesome Are Your Deeds

To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.

1 

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;

2 

    sing the glory of his name;

    give to him glorious praise!

3 

Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!

    So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.

4 

All the earth worships you

    and sings praises to you;

    they sing praises to your name.” Selah

5 

Come and see what God has done:

    he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.

6 

He turned the sea into dry land;

    they passed through the river on foot.

There did we rejoice in him,

7 

    who rules by his might forever,

whose eyes keep watch on the nations—

    let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

8 

Bless our God, O peoples;

    let the sound of his praise be heard,

9 

who has kept our soul among the living

    and has not let our feet slip.

10 

For you, O God, have tested us;

    you have tried us as silver is tried.

11 

You brought us into the net;

    you laid a crushing burden on our backs;

12 

you let men ride over our heads;

    we went through fire and through water;

yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

13 

I will come into your house with burnt offerings;

    I will perform my vows to you,

14 

that which my lips uttered

    and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.

15 

I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,

    with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;

I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah

16 

Come and hear, all you who fear God,

    and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

17 

I cried to him with my mouth,

    and high praise was on my tongue.

18 

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,

    the Lord would not have listened.

19 

But truly God has listened;

    he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

20 

Blessed be God,

    because he has not rejected my prayer

    or removed his steadfast love from me!

-=-=-=-=-=-

Psalm 66 · Ian White

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9uXCAQoztM

Psalms 64 and 65

Psalm 64

Hide Me from the Wicked

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1 

Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;

    preserve my life from dread of the enemy.

2 

Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,

    from the throng of evildoers,

3 

who whet their tongues like swords,

    who aim bitter words like arrows,

4 

shooting from ambush at the blameless,

    shooting at him suddenly and without fear.

5 

They hold fast to their evil purpose;

    they talk of laying snares secretly,

thinking, “Who can see them?”

6 

    They search out injustice,

saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”

    For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.

7 

But God shoots his arrow at them;

    they are wounded suddenly.

8 

They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them;

    all who see them will wag their heads.

9 

Then all mankind fears;

    they tell what God has brought about

    and ponder what he has done.

10 

Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord

    and take refuge in him!

Let all the upright in heart exult!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Psalm 65

O God of Our Salvation

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

1 

Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion,

    and to you shall vows be performed.

2 

O you who hear prayer,

    to you shall all flesh come.

3 

When iniquities prevail against me,

    you atone for our transgressions.

4 

Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,

    to dwell in your courts!

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,

    the holiness of your temple!

5 

By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,

    O God of our salvation,

the hope of all the ends of the earth

    and of the farthest seas;

6 

the one who by his strength established the mountains,

    being girded with might;

7 

who stills the roaring of the seas,

    the roaring of their waves,

    the tumult of the peoples,

8 

so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.

You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

9 

You visit the earth and water it;

    you greatly enrich it;

the river of God is full of water;

    you provide their grain,

    for so you have prepared it.

10 

You water its furrows abundantly,

    settling its ridges,

softening it with showers,

    and blessing its growth.

11 

You crown the year with your bounty;

    your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.

12 

The pastures of the wilderness overflow,

    the hills gird themselves with joy,

13 

the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,

    the valleys deck themselves with grain,

    they shout and sing together for joy.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

PSALM 65 by Ian White

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NawW4gNZcfQ

A Letter to the HEBREWS Chapter11

A Letter to the HEBREWS 

Chapter Eleven

By Faith

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 

3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 

5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 

6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 

7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 

9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 

10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 

11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 

12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 

14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 

15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 

16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 

18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 

19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 

20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 

21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 

22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 

24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 

25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 

26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 

27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 

28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 

31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 

33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 

34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 

35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 

36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 

38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 

40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

A Letter to the HEBREWS Chapter10

A Letter to the HEBREWS 

Chapter Ten

Christ's Sacrifice Once for All

1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 

2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 

3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 

4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,

    but a body have you prepared for me;

6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings

    you have taken no pleasure.

7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,

    as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 

9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 

10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 

12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 

13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 

14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them

    after those days, declares the Lord:

I will put my laws on their hearts,

    and write them on their minds,”

17 then he adds,

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

The Full Assurance of Faith

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 

20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 

21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 

22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 

25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 

27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 

28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 

29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 

30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 

31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 

33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 

34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 

35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 

36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 

37 For,

“Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay;

38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back,

my soul has no pleasure in him.”

39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.