Hebrews 13

Let brotherly love continue

Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters.a ²Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!b ³Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.c

⁴Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.d

Jesus Christ is the same

⁵Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”e ⁶So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?”f ⁷Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.g

⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.h ⁹So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.i ¹⁰We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat.

¹¹Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp.j ¹²So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood.k ¹³So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore.l

¹⁴For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.m

A sacrifice of praise

¹⁵Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.n ¹⁶And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.o ¹⁷Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.p

¹⁸Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do.q ¹⁹And especially pray that I will be able to come back to you soon.

The God of peace

²⁰Now may the God of peace— who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—r ²¹may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.s ²²I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, to pay attention to what I have written in this brief exhortation.

²³I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released from jail. If he comes here soon, I will bring him with me to see you. ²⁴Greet all your leaders and all the believers there. The believers from Italy send you their greetings. ²⁵May God’s grace be with you all.