Hebrews 12:5-29 — Legacy Standard Bible

⁵And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “^aMy son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the ¹Lord,Nor ^bfaint when you are reproved by Him;

⁶^aFor those ^bwhom the ¹Lord loves He disciplines,And He flogs every son whom He receives.”

⁷It is for discipline that you endure; ^aGod deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸But if you are without discipline, ^aof which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹Furthermore, we ¹had ²earthly fathers to discipline us, and we ^arespected them. Shall we not much rather be subject to ^bthe Father of ³spirits, and ^clive? ¹⁰For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our benefit, ^aso that we may share His holiness. ¹¹And all discipline ^afor the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful, but to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the ^bpeaceful fruit of righteousness.

¹²Therefore, ¹^,^astrengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, ¹³and ^amake straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather ^bbe healed.

¹⁴^aPursue peace with all men, and the ^bsanctification without which no one will ^csee the Lord, ¹⁵seeing to it that no one ^afalls short of the grace of God; that no ^broot of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be ^cdefiled; ¹⁶that also there be no ^asexually immoral or ^bgodless person like Esau, ^cwho sold his own birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷For you know that even afterwards, ^awhen he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

Contrast of Sinai and Zion

¹⁸^aFor you have not come to ^ba mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, ¹⁹and to the ^ablast of a trumpet and the ^bsound of words which was such that those who heard ^cbegged that no further word be spoken to them. ²⁰For they could not bear what was being commanded, “^aIf even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.” ²¹And so terrible was what appeared, that Moses said, “^aI am full of fear and trembling.” ²²But ^ayou have come to Mount Zion and to ^bthe city of ^cthe living God, ^dthe heavenly Jerusalem, and to ^emyriads of ¹angels, ²³to the festal gathering and ^aassembly of the firstborn who ^bare enrolled in heaven, and to God, ^cthe Judge of all, and to the ^dspirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴and to Jesus, the ^amediator of a new covenant, and to the ^bsprinkled blood, which speaks better than ^cthe blood of Abel.

An Unshakable Kingdom

²⁵^aSee to it that you do not refuse Him who is ^bspeaking. For ^cif those did not escape when they ^drefused him who ^ewarned them on earth, ¹much less will we escape who turn away from Him who ^fwarns from heaven. ²⁶And ^aHis voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “^bYet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” ²⁷Now this expression, “Yet once more,” indicates ^athe removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a ^akingdom which cannot be shaken, let us ¹show gratitude, by which we may ^boffer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; ²⁹for ^aour God is a consuming fire.