1 T herefore let us go on and get past the elementary stage in the teachings and doctrine of Christ (the Messiah), advancing steadily toward the completeness and perfection that belong to spiritual maturity. Let us not again be laying the foundation of repentance and abandonment of dead works (dead formalism) and of the faith to God,

So let us leave the first things you need to know about Christ. Let us go on to the teaching that full-grown Christians should understand. We do not need to teach these first truths again. You already know that you must be sorry for your sins and turn from them. You know that you must have faith in God.

2 W ith teachings about purifying, the laying on of hands, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment and punishment.

You know about being baptized and about putting hands on people. You know about being raised from the dead and about being punished forever.

3 I f indeed God permits, we will proceed.

We will go on, if God lets us.

4 F or it is impossible those who have been once for all enlightened, who have consciously tasted the heavenly gift and have become sharers of the Holy Spirit,

There are those who have known the truth. They have received the gift from heaven. They have shared the Holy Spirit.

5 A nd have felt how good the Word of God is and the mighty powers of the age and world to come,

They know how good the Word of God is. They know of the powers of the world to come.

6 I f they then deviate from the faith and turn away from their allegiance— to bring them back to repentance, for (because, while, as long as) they nail upon the cross the Son of God afresh and are holding up to contempt and shame and public disgrace.

But if they turn away, they cannot be sorry for their sins and turn from them again. It is because they are nailing the Son of God on a cross again. They are holding Him up in shame in front of all people.

7 F or the soil which has drunk the rain that repeatedly falls upon it and produces vegetation useful to those for whose benefit it is cultivated partakes of a blessing from God.

It is the same with a piece of ground that has had many rains fall on it. God makes it possible for that ground to give good fruits and vegetables.

8 B ut if persistently bears thorns and thistles, it is considered worthless and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

But if it gives nothing but weeds, it is worth nothing. It will be hated and destroyed by fire.

9 E ven though we speak this way, yet in your case, beloved, we are now firmly convinced of better things that are near to salvation and accompany it.

Dear friends, even as we tell you this, we are sure of better things for you. These things go along with being saved from the punishment of sin.

10 F or God is not unrighteous to forget or overlook your labor and the love which you have shown for His name’s sake in ministering to the needs of the saints (His own consecrated people), as you still do.

God always does what is right. He will not forget the work you did to help the Christians and the work you are still doing to help them. This shows your love for Christ.

11 B ut we do '> strongly and earnestly] desire for each of you to show the same diligence and sincerity in realizing and enjoying the full assurance and development of hope until the end,

We want each one of you to keep on working to the end. Then what you hope for, will happen.

12 I n order that you may not grow disinterested and become sluggards, but imitators, behaving as do those who through faith ( by their leaning of the entire personality on God in Christ in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) and by practice of patient endurance and waiting are inheriting the promises.

Do not be lazy. Be like those who have faith and have not given up. They will receive what God has promised them. God’s Promise

13 F or when God made promise to Abraham, He swore by Himself, since He had no one greater by whom to swear,

When God made a promise to Abraham, He made that promise in His own name because no one was greater.

14 S aying, Blessing I certainly will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you.

He said, “I will make you happy in so many ways. For sure, I will give you many children.”

15 A nd so it was that he, having waited long and endured patiently, realized and obtained what God had promised him.

Abraham was willing to wait and God gave to him what He had promised.

16 M en indeed swear by a greater, and with them in all disputes the oath taken for confirmation is final.

When men make a promise, they use a name greater than themselves. They do this to make sure they will do what they promise. In this way, no one argues about it.

17 A ccordingly God also, in His desire to show more convincingly and beyond doubt to those who were to inherit the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose and plan, intervened (mediated) with an oath.

And so God made a promise. He wanted to show Abraham that He would never change His mind. So He made the promise in His own name.

18 T his was so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before.

God gave these two things that cannot be changed and God cannot lie. We who have turned to Him can have great comfort knowing that He will do what He has promised.

19 w e have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul '> break down under whoever steps out upon it—a hope] that reaches farther and enters into within the veil,

This hope is a safe anchor for our souls. It will never move. This hope goes into the Holiest Place of All behind the curtain of heaven.

20 W here Jesus has entered in for us, a Forerunner having become a High Priest forever after the order (with the rank) of Melchizedek.

Jesus has already gone there. He has become our Religious Leader forever and has made the way for man to go to God. He is like Melchizedek.