Hebrews 10 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10 Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it[a] can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach.(A)2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, since the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year.(B)4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.(C)5 Consequently, when Christ[b] came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body you have prepared for me;(D)
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘See, I have come to do your will, O God’
(in the scroll of the book[c] it is written of me).”(E)

8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. 10 And it is by God’s will[d] that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.(F)

11 And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins.(G)12 But when Christ[e] had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,” 13 and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.”(H)14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds,”(I)

17 and he adds,

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

A Call to Persevere

19 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus,(J)20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh),(K)21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,(L)22 let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.(M)23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.(N)24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.(O)

26 For if we willfully persist in sin after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins(P)27 but a fearful prospect of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.(Q)28 Anyone who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy “on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”(R)29 How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?(S)30 For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.”[f] And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”(T)31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32 But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,(U)33 sometimes being publicly exposed to insults and afflictions and sometimes becoming partners with those so treated.(V)34 For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting.[g](W)35 Do not, therefore, abandon that boldness of yours; it brings a great reward. 36 For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what was promised.(X)37 For yet

“in a very little while,
the one who is coming will come and will not delay,(Y)
38 but my righteous one will live by faith.
My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.”(Z)

39 But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but among those who have faith and so preserve our souls.(AA)

Footnotes

  1. 10.1Other ancient authorities read they
  2. 10.5Gk he
  3. 10.7Meaning of Gk uncertain
  4. 10.10Gk by that will
  5. 10.12Gk this one
  6. 10.30Other ancient authorities add says the Lord
  7. 10.34Other ancient authorities add in heaven

Cross references

  1. 10.1 : Heb 9.9, 11, 23
  2. 10.3 : Heb 9.7
  3. 10.4 : Mic 6.6, 7
  4. 10.5 : Ps 40.6–8; Heb 1.6; 1 Pet 2.24
  5. 10.7 : Jer 36.2
  6. 10.10 : Jn 17.19; Heb 7.27; 1 Pet 2.24
  7. 10.11 : v 4; Heb 5.1
  8. 10.13 : Ps 110.1; Heb 1.13
  9. 10.16 : Jer 31.33, 34
  10. 10.19 : Eph 2.18; Heb 9.8, 12
  11. 10.20 : Heb 9.3, 8
  12. 10.21 : 1 Tim 3.15; Heb 2.17
  13. 10.22 : Ezek 36.25; Eph 3.12; Heb 4.16; 9.14
  14. 10.23 : 1 Cor 1.9; Heb 4.14
  15. 10.25 : Acts 2.42; Phil 4.5; Heb 3.13
  16. 10.26 : Num 15.30; 2 Pet 2.20
  17. 10.27 : Isa 26.11; Heb 9.27
  18. 10.28 : Deut 17.2–6; Heb 2.2
  19. 10.29 : Eph 4.30; Heb 2.3; 6.4, 6; 13.20
  20. 10.30 : Deut 32.35, 36; Rom 12.19
  21. 10.32 : Phil 1.29, 30; Heb 6.4
  22. 10.33 : 1 Cor 4.9; 1 Thess 2.14
  23. 10.34 : Heb 9.15
  24. 10.36 : Lk 21.19; Col 3.24
  25. 10.37 : Hab 2.3, 4; Lk 18.8
  26. 10.38 : Rom 1.17; Gal 3.11
  27. 10.39 : Acts 16.30; 2 Pet 2.20

You Might Also Like:

Hebrews 10 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

10 For the law having a shadow of the coming good things -- not the very image of the matters, every year, by the same sacrifices that they offer continually, is never able to make perfect those coming near, 2 since, would they not have ceased to be offered, because of those serving having no more c...
Read More

Hebrews 10 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

10 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not that image of things, may never make men approaching perfect by those same sacrifices, which they offer without ceasing by all years; [Forsooth the law having shadow of goods to come, not that image of things, by all years by those same host...
Read More

Hebrews 10 - Worldwide English (New Testament) (WE)

10 The law can show only a little about the good things that are coming. It cannot show the good things themselves. People come to worship God. But the law can never make them all right by the same sacrifices that are brought every year. 2 If the law could make people all right, they would stop maki...
Read More

Hebrews 10 - World English Bible (WEB)

10 For the law, having a shadow of the good to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Or else wouldn’t they have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having been once cleanse...
Read More

Hebrews 10 - The Voice (VOICE)

He who embodied the sins of the world carries His own blood into the holy presence.10 We have seen how the law is simply a shadow of the good things to come. Since it is not the perfect form of these ultimate realities, the offering year after year of these imperfect sacrifices cannot bring perfecti...
Read More

Hebrews 10 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Perfect Pardon in the New Covenant10 The Torah has a shadow of the good things to come—not the form itself of the realities. For this reason it can never, by means of the same sacrifices they offer constantly year after year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased...
Read More

Hebrews 10 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All10 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near.[a] 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceas...
Read More

Hebrews 10 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All10 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased ...
Read More

Hebrews 10 - Revised Geneva Translation (RGT)

10 For the law, having the shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things, can never - with those sacrifices which they offer year by year continually - sanctify those who come to it. 2 For would they not, then, have ceased to have been offered, because those who offer (once purg...
Read More

Hebrews 10 - New Testament for Everyone (NTE)

The Stopping of the Sacrifices10 The law, you see, possesses a shadow of the good things that are coming, not the actual form of the things themselves. Thus it is unable to make worshippers perfect through the annual round of the same sacrifices which are continually being offered. 2 If the worship...
Read More

Hebrews 10 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All10 Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it[a] can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased being...
Read More

Hebrews 10 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All10 Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it[a] can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach.(A)2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased bein...
Read More

Hebrews 10 - New Matthew Bible (NMB)

The old law has no power to cleanse away sin, but Christ did it with the offering of his body once and for all. An exhortation to receive this goodness of God thankfully, with patience and steadfast faith. 10 For the law, which has but the shadow of good things to come, and not the real things thems...
Read More

Hebrews 10 - New Living Translation (NLT)

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All10 The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing ...
Read More

Hebrews 10 - New Life Version (NLV)

In the Old Way of Worship Many Gifts Were Given10 The Law is like a picture of the good things to come. The Jewish religious leaders gave gifts on the altar in worship to God all the time year after year. Those gifts could not make the people who came to worship perfect. 2 If those gifts given to G...
Read More

Hebrews 10 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Animal Sacrifices Insufficient10 For the law, having a (A)shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, (B)can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered...
Read More