Hebrews 13 - Good News Translation (GNT)

How to Please God

13 Keep on loving one another as Christians. ²^(A)Remember to welcome strangers in your homes. There were some who did that and welcomed angels without knowing it. ³Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them. Remember those who are suffering, as though you were suffering as they are.

⁴^(B)Marriage is to be honored by all, and husbands and wives must be faithful to each other. God will judge those who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

⁵^(C)Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.” ⁶^(D)Let us be bold, then, and say,

“The Lord is my helper,
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?”

⁷Remember your former leaders, who spoke God's message to you. Think back on how they lived and died, and imitate their faith. ⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. ⁹Do not let all kinds of strange teachings lead you from the right way. It is good to receive inner strength from God's grace, and not by obeying rules about foods; those who obey these rules have not been helped by them.

¹⁰The priests who serve in the Jewish place of worship have no right to eat any of the sacrifice on our altar. ¹¹^(E)The Jewish high priest brings the blood of the animals into the Most Holy Place to offer it as a sacrifice for sins; but the bodies of the animals are burned outside the camp. ¹²For this reason Jesus also died outside the city, in order to purify the people from sin with his own blood. ¹³Let us, then, go to him outside the camp and share his shame. ¹⁴For there is no permanent city for us here on earth; we are looking for the city which is to come. ¹⁵Let us, then, always offer praise to God as our sacrifice through Jesus, which is the offering presented by lips that confess him as Lord. ¹⁶Do not forget to do good and to help one another, because these are the sacrifices that please God.

¹⁷Obey your leaders and follow their orders. They watch over your souls without resting, since they must give to God an account of their service. If you obey them, they will do their work gladly; if not, they will do it with sadness, and that would be of no help to you.

¹⁸Keep on praying for us. We are sure we have a clear conscience, because we want to do the right thing at all times. ¹⁹And I beg you even more earnestly to pray that God will send me back to you soon.

Closing Prayer

^20-21God has raised from death our Lord Jesus, who is the Great Shepherd of the sheep as the result of his blood,^[a] by which the eternal covenant is sealed. May the God of peace provide you with every good thing you need in order to do his will, and may he, through Jesus Christ, do in us what pleases him. And to Christ be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

Final Words

²²I beg you, my friends, to listen patiently to this message of encouragement; for this letter I have written you is not very long. ²³I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been let out of prison. If he comes soon enough, I will have him with me when I see you.

²⁴Give our greetings to all your leaders and to all God's people. The believers from Italy send you their greetings.

²⁵May God's grace be with you all.

Footnotes

Hebrews 13:20 his blood; or his sacrificial death.

Cross references

Hebrews 13 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

13 Let brotherly love remain; 2 of the hospitality be not forgetful, for through this unawares certain did entertain messengers; 3 be mindful of those in bonds, as having been bound with them, of those maltreated, as also yourselves being in the body; 4 honourable [is] the marriage in all, and the b...
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Hebrews 13 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

13 The charity of brotherhood dwell in you, 2 and do not ye forget hospitality; for by this some men pleased to angels, that were received to harbour [for by this some pleased to angels received to harbour]. 3 Think ye on bound men, as ye were together bound [Be ye mindful of bound men, as ye toge...
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Hebrews 13 - Worldwide English (New Testament) (WE)

13 Keep on loving your Christian brothers. 2 Take strangers to your home and care for them. Some people who have done this found out the strangers were angels. 3 Remember those who are in prison as if you were in prison with them. And remember those who are having troubles, as if you were having the...
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Hebrews 13 - World English Bible (WEB)

13 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you are also in the body. 4 Let marriage be held in honor ...
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Hebrews 13 - The Voice (VOICE)

13 Let love continue among you. 2 Don’t forget to extend your hospitality to all—even to strangers—for as you know, some have unknowingly shown kindness to heavenly messengers in this way. 3 Remember those imprisoned for their beliefs as if you were their cellmate; and care for any who suffer hars...
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Hebrews 13 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Brotherly Love in the Community13 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers—for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember the prisoners as if you were fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you also were suffering bo...
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Hebrews 13 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Service Well-Pleasing to God13 [a]Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you also are in the body. 4 ...
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Hebrews 13 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Service Well-Pleasing to God13 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you also are in the body. 4 Let...
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Hebrews 13 - Revised Geneva Translation (RGT)

13 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers. For thereby some have unknowingly received angels into their houses. 3 Remember the prisoners, as though you were bound with them; and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 4 Marriage is honorable among all, ...
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Hebrews 13 - New Testament for Everyone (NTE)

The Practical Life of God’s People13 Let the family continue to care for one another. 2 Don’t forget to be hospitable; by that means, some people have entertained angels without realizing it. 3 Remember people in prison, as though you were in prison with them. When you think of people who are havi...
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Hebrews 13 - New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Service Well-Pleasing to God13 Let mutual love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you you...
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Hebrews 13 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition (NRSVACE)

Hebrews 13 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

Hebrews 13 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Service Well-Pleasing to God13 Let mutual affection continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.(A)3 Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them, those who are being tortured, as though yo...
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Hebrews 13 - New Matthew Bible (NMB)

He exhorts us to love, to be ready to take people in, to be thoughtful of persons in adversity, to maintain wedlock, to avoid covetousness, to make much of those who preach God’s word, to beware of other teaching, to be content to suffer rebuke with Christ, to be thankful to God, and to be obedient ...
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Hebrews 13 - New Living Translation (NLT)

Concluding Words13 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters.[a] 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! 3 Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if y...
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Hebrews 13 - New Life Version (NLV)

Christian Living13 Keep on loving each other as Christian brothers. 2 Do not forget to be kind to strangers and let them stay in your home. Some people have had angels in their homes without knowing it. 3 Remember those in prison. Think of them as if you were in prison with them. Remember those wh...
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Hebrews 13 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Concluding Moral Directions13 Let (A)brotherly love continue. 2 (B)Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing (C)some have unwittingly entertained angels. 3 (D)Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also. 4 (E)Marriag...
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