23 December - Hebrews 11-13

Jude Sat Nov 24, 2018 10:56 pm

My soul doth magnify my YAH, and my spirit hath rejoiced in EL my Saviour; For HE that is mighty hath done to me great things; and Holy is HIS Name. Now unto HIM who is ever present in my helpless estate; who is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise EL our Saviour be honour and glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and for ever Halleluyah!

HEBREWS 11

1And belief is the substance of what is expected, the proof of what is not seen.

2For by this the elders obtained witness.

3By belief, we understand that the ages were prepared by the word of Elohim, so that what is seen was not made of what is visible.

4By belief, Heḇel offered to Elohim a greater slaughter offering than Qayin, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, Elohim witnessing of his gifts. And through it, having died, he still speaks.

5By belief, Ḥanoḵ was translated so as not to see death, “and was not found because Elohim had translated him.” For before his translation he obtained witness, that he pleased Elohim.

6But without belief it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to Elohim has to believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him.

7By belief, Noaḥ, having been warned of what was yet unseen, having feared, prepared an ark to save his house, through which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to belief.

8By belief, Aḇraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he was about to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

9By belief, he sojourned in the land of promise as a stranger, dwelling in tents with Yitsḥaq and Ya‛aqoḇ, the heirs with him of the same promise,

10for he was looking for the city having foundations, whose builder and maker is Elohim.

11By belief also, Sarah herself was enabled to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the normal age, because she deemed Him trustworthy who had promised.

12And so from one, and him as good as dead, were born as numerous as the stars of the heaven, as countless as the sand which is by the seashore.

13In belief all these died, not having received the promises,a but seeing them from a distance, welcomed and embraced them, and confessed that they were aliens and strangers on the earth.

14For those who speak this way make it clear that they seek a fatherland.

15And yet, if they had indeed kept remembering that place from which they had come out, they would have had the chance to return.

16But now they long for a better place, that is, a heavenly. Therefore Elohim is not ashamed to be called their Elohim, for He has prepared a city for them.

17By belief, Aḇraham, when he was tried, offered up Yitsḥaq, and he who had received the promises offered up his only brought-forth son,

18of whom it was said, “In Yitsḥaq your seed shall be called,”

19reckoning that Elohim was able to raise, even from the dead, from which he received him back, as a type.

20By belief, Yitsḥaq blessed Ya‛aqoḇ and Ěsaw concerning that which was to come.

21By belief, Ya‛aqoḇ, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Yosĕph, and did reverence on the top of his staff.

22By belief, Yosĕph, when he was dying, made mention of the outgoing of the children of Yisra’ĕl, and gave orders concerning his bones.

23By belief, Mosheh, having been born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a comely child, and were not afraid of the sovereign’s command.

24By belief, Mosheh, having become great, refused to be called the son of the daughter of Pharaoh,

25choosing rather to be afflicted with the people of Elohim than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time,

26deeming the reproach of Messiah greater riches than the treasures in Mitsrayim, for he was looking to the reward.

27By belief, he left Mitsrayim, not fearing the wrath of the sovereign, for he was steadfast, as seeing Him who is invisible.

28By belief, he performed the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the first-born should touch them.

29By belief, they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, and when the Mitsrites tried it, they were drowned.

30By belief, the walls of Yeriḥo fell, having been surrounded for seven days.

31By belief, Raḥaḇ the whore did not perish with those who did not believe, having received the spies with peace.

32And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to relate of Gid‛on and Baraq and Shimshon and Yiphtaḥ, also of Dawiḏ and Shemu’ĕl and the prophets,

33who through belief, overcame reigns, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

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

35Women received back their dead by resurrection. And others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain a better resurrection.

36And others had trial of mockings and floggings and more, of chains and imprisonment.

37They were stoned, they were tried, they were sawn in two, they were slain with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being in need, afflicted, mistreated,

38of whom the world was not worthy – wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes of the earth.

39And having obtained witness through the belief, all these did not receive the promise,a

40Elohim having provided what is better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

HEBREWS 12

1We too, then, having so great a cloud of witnesses all around us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race set before us,

2looking to the Princely Leader and Perfecter of our belief, יהושע, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the stake, having despised the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of Elohim.

3For consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and faint in your lives.

4You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

5And you have forgotten the appeal which speaks to you as to sons, “My son, do not despise the discipline of יהוה, nor faint when you are reproved by Him,

6for whom יהוה loves, He disciplines, and flogs every son whom He receives.”a

7If you endure discipline, Elohim is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline?

8But if you are without discipline, of which all have become sharers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

9Moreover, we indeed had fathers of our flesh disciplining us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?

10For they indeed disciplined us for a few days as seemed best to them, but He does it for our profit, so that we might share His apartness.

11And indeed, no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but grievous, but afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.a

12So, strengthen the hands which hang down and the weak knees,

13and make straight paths for your feet, lest the lame be turned aside, but instead, to be healed.

14Pursue peace with all, and pursue apartness without which no one shall see the Master.

15See to it that no one falls short of the favour of Elohim, that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, by which many become defiled,

16lest there be anyone who whores, or profane one, like Ěsaw, who for a single meal sold his birthright.

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

18For you have not drawn near to a mountain touched and scorched with fire, and to blackness, and darkness and storm,

19and a sound of a trumpet, and a voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that no further Word should be spoken to them,a

20for they could not bear what was commanded, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot through with an arrow.”

21And so fearsome was the sight that Mosheh said, “I exceedingly fear and tremble.”

22But you have drawn near to Mount Tsiyon and to the city of the living Elohim, to the heavenly Yerushalayim, to myriads of messengers,

23to the entire gathering and assembly of the first-born having been enrolled in heaven, and to Elohim the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,

24and to יהושע the Mediatora of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling which speaks better than the blood of Heḇel.

25Take heed not to refuse the One speaking. For if those did not escape who refused the warning on earth, much less we who turn away from Him from heaven,

26whose voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.”

27And this, “Yet once more,” makes clear the removal of what is shaken – as having been made – so that the unshaken matters might remain.

28Therefore, receiving an unshakeable reign, let us hold the favour, through which we serve Elohim pleasingly with reverence and awe,

29for indeed, our Elohim is a consuming fire.

HEBREWS 13

1Let the brotherly love continue.

2Do not forget to receive strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained messengers.

3Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, and those being mistreated, since you yourselves also are in the body.

4Let marriage be respected by all, and the bed be undefiled. But Elohim shall judge those who whore, and adulterers.

5Let your way of life be without the love of money, and be satisfied with what you have. For He Himself has said, “I shall never leave you nor forsake you,”

6so that we boldly say, “יהוה is my helper, I shall not fear what man shall do to me.”

7Remember those leading you, who spoke the Word of Elohim to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their belief.

8יהושע Messiah is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

9Do not be borne about by various and strange teachings.a For it is good for the heart to be established by favour, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.

10We have an altar from which those serving the Tent have no authority to eat.

11For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the Set-apart Place by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp.

12And so יהושע also suffered outside the gate, to set apart the people with His own blood.

13Let us, then, go to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

14For we have no lasting city here, but we seek the one coming.

15Through Him then, let us continually offer up a slaughter offering of praise to Elohim, that is, the fruit of our lips,a giving thanks to His Name.

16And do not forget to do good and to share, for with such slaughter offerings Elohim is well pleased.

17Obey those leading you, and be subject to them, for they watch for your lives, as having to give account. Let them do so with joy and not groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

18Pray for us, for we trust that we have a good conscience, desiring to behave well in every way.

19But I particularly encourage you to do this, that I might be restored to you the sooner.

20And the Elohim of peace who brought up our Master יהושע from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

21make you perfecta in every good work to do His desire, working in youb what is pleasing in His sight, through יהושע Messiah, to whom be esteem forever and ever. Amĕn.

22And I call upon you, brothers, bear with the word of encouragement for I have written to you in few words.

23Know that brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly.

24Greet all those leading you, and all the set-apart ones. Those from Italy greet you.

25Favour be with you all. Amĕn.