6:1 ·So [Therefore] let us ·go on to grown-up teaching [L move forward to maturity/completeness]. Let us ·not go back over [L leave behind] the ·beginning [rudimentary; elementary] ·lessons [teaching; L word] we learned about ·Christ [or the Messiah; 5:5]. We should not again ·start teaching [L lay a foundation] about ·turning away [repentance] from ·those acts that lead to death [or useless works; L dead works] and about faith in God.
6:2 We should not return to the teaching about baptisms [C either Christian baptism or Jewish ceremonial washings], about laying on of hands [C a ritual of blessing and/or conferring of authority], about the raising of the dead and eternal judgment [C these may be Jewish practices or foundational Christian teaching].
6:3 And we will ·go on to grown-up teaching [L do this] if God allows.
6:4 For it is impossible to ·bring back again to a changed life [L renew again to repentance] those who were once ·in God’s light [enlightened], and ·enjoyed [experienced; L tasted] ·heaven’s gift [or the heavenly gift; C perhaps the gift of salvation], and ·shared in [partook of] the Holy Spirit.
6:5 They ·found out [L tasted] how good God’s word is, and ·they received [L tasted] the ·powers [miracles] of ·his new world [the coming age/world].
6:6 If they have ·fallen away [committed apostasy], it is impossible to ·bring them back to a changed life again [L renew them again to repentance], because they are nailing the Son of God to a cross again and are ·shaming him in front of others [making a public disgrace/exhibition of him].
6:7 ·Some people are like land that gets plenty of rain and [L Land that drinks in the abundance of rain] produces a ·good [useful] crop for those who ·work [farm] it. That land receives God’s blessings.
6:8 ·Other people are like land that [L But if it…] grows thorns and ·weeds [thistles] and is worthless. It is about to be cursed by God and ·will be destroyed by fire [L its end/fate is burning].
6:9 ·Dear friends [Loved ones; T Beloved], we are saying this to you, but we ·really expect [are convinced/confident of] better things from you that ·will lead to [or accompany; come with] your salvation.
6:10 [For] God is ·fair [L not unjust]; he will not forget the work you did and the love you showed ·for him [L in his name] by ·helping [serving] his ·people [holy people; T saints]. And he will remember that you are still ·helping [serving] them.
6:11 We ·want [desire for] each of you to ·go on with the same hard work [demonstrate the same zeal/diligence] ·all your lives [L until the end] ·so you will surely get what you hope for [or until your hope is fulfilled/attained].
6:12 We do not want you to become ·lazy [sluggish; C in contrast to diligent; v. 11]. Be ·like [L imitators of] those who through faith and ·patience [endurance] will ·receive [inherit] what God has promised.
6:13 [L For] God made a promise to Abraham. And as there is no one greater than God, he ·used himself [vowed by his own name; L swore by himself] when he swore to Abraham,
6:14 saying, “I will ·surely [or greatly] bless you and ·give you many [greatly multiply your] descendants [Gen. 22:17].”
6:15 Abraham ·waited patiently for this to happen [persevered], and he received what God promised.
6:16 [L For] People always ·use the name of [L swear by] someone greater than themselves when they swear. The oath ·proves [is confirmation] that what they say is true, and this ·ends all arguing [or settles the dispute; C an oath by a higher authority is taken as a legal guarantee].
6:17 God wanted to ·make very clear [demonstrate convincingly] to ·those who would get what he promised [L the heirs of the promise] that his ·purposes [or plans] never change, so he ·made [L confirmed/guaranteed it with] an oath.
6:18 These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when he makes a promise, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. These things greatly encourage us, who ·came [L have fled] to God for safety, to hold on to the hope ·we have been given [L set before us].
6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for ·the soul [our lives], ·sure [stable; secure] and ·strong [reliable; unshifting]. It enters behind the curtain in the ·Most Holy Place in heaven [L inner place/sanctuary],
6:20 where Jesus has gone ·ahead of us [L as a forerunner] ·and for us [on our behalf]. He has become the high priest forever, a priest like Melchizedek [Ps. 110:4; Heb. 5:6, 10; 7:1–17].
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