World English Bible · Under Rome
Hebrews 12
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Therefore let's also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of , lay aside every weight and the which so easily entangles us, and let's run with the race that is set before us, looking to , the author and perfecter of , who for the joy that was set before him , despising its , and has sat down at of of . For consider him who has such contradiction of against himself, that you don't grow weary, fainting in your . You have not yet resisted to , striving against . You have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children, "My son, don't take lightly the chastening of , nor faint when you are reproved by him; for whom loves, he disciplines, and chastises every son whom he receives." It is for that you . deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his doesn't ? But if you are without , of which all have been made partakers, then you are illegitimate, and not children. Furthermore, we had the fathers of our to us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to of spirits and live? For they indeed for days us as seemed good to them, but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his . All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees, and make straight for your feet, so what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see , looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the of , lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and many be defiled by it, lest there be any sexually immoral person or profane person, like , who sold his for one meal. For you know that even when he afterward to the , he was rejected, for he found no place for a change of though he sought it diligently with tears. For you have not come to a mountain that might be touched and that burned with , and to blackness, , storm, the sound of a , and the voice of words; which those who heard it begged that not one more word should be spoken to them, for they could not stand that which was commanded, "If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned". So fearful was the appearance that said, "I am terrified and trembling." But you have come to Mount and to the city of the living , the , and to innumerable of , to the festal gathering and of who are enrolled in , to the Judge of all, to the spirits of men made perfect, to , the mediator of a , and to of sprinkling that speaks better than that of . See that you don't refuse him who speaks. For if they didn't escape when they refused him who warned on the earth, how much more will we not escape who turn away from him who warns from , whose voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised, saying, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also ." This phrase, "Yet once more" signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may . Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can't be shaken, let's have , through which we acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our is a .
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.