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By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went.

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By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.

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For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

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By faith, even Sarah herself received power to conceive, and she bore a child when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised.

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Therefore as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as innumerable as the sand which is by the sea shore, were fathered by one man, and him as good as dead.

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These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

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For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.

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If indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return.

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But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

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By faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his one and only son;

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even he to whom it was said, “In Isaac will your seed be called;”

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concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead.

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By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.

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By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

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By faith, Joseph, when his end was near, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel; and gave instructions concerning his bones.

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By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.

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By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,

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choosing rather to share ill treatment with God’s people, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time;

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accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

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By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

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By faith, he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them.

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By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do so, they were swallowed up.

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By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days.

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By faith, Rahab the prostitute, didn’t perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace.

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What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets;

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who, through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

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quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee.

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Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.

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Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment.

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They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated

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(of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.

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These all, having had testimony given to them through their faith, didn’t receive the promise,

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God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

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Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

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looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

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For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don’t grow weary, fainting in your souls.

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You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin;

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and you have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children, “My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him;

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For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.”

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It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline?

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But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then are you illegitimate, and not children.

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Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?

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For they indeed, for a few days, punished us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness.

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All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been exercised thereby.

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Therefore, lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees,

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and make straight paths for your feet, so that which is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

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Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord,

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looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it;

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lest there be any sexually immoral person, or profane person, like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal.

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For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for a change of mind though he sought it diligently with tears.

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For you have not come to a mountain that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and to blackness, darkness, storm,

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the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which those who heard it begged that not one more word should be spoken to them,

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for they could not stand that which was commanded, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned;”

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and so fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling.”

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But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable multitudes of angels,

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to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,

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to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel.

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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 heaven,

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whose voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.”

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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 remain.

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Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can’t be shaken, let us have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe,

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for our God is a consuming fire.

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Let brotherly love continue.

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Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.

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Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you are also in the body.

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Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

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Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.”

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So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

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Remember your leaders, men who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith.

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Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

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Don’t be carried away by various and strange teachings, for it is good that the heart be established by grace, not by food, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.

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We have an altar from which those who serve the holy tabernacle have no right to eat.

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For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp.

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Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate.

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Let us therefore go out to him outside of the camp, bearing his reproach.

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For we don’t have here an enduring city, but we seek that which is to come.

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Through him, then, let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name.

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But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

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Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you.

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Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things.

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I strongly urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you sooner.

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Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus,

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make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

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But I exhort you, brothers, endure the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words.

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Know that our brother Timothy has been freed, with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you.

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Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. The Italians greet you.

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Grace be with you all. Amen.

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James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings.

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Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations,

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knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

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Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

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But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him.

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But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed.

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For let that man not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.

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He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

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But let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position;

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and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away.

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For the sun arises with the scorching wind, and withers the grass, and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in his pursuits.

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Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.

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Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.