Therefore let us also, having so great a  ¹cloud of  ²witnesses surrounding us, put away every  ³encumbrance and the  ⁴sin which so easily entangles us and run with endurance the  ⁵race which is set before us,

 ¹Looking away unto  ²Jesus, the  ³Author and  ⁴Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has  ⁵sat down on the right hand of the throne of God.

For compare Him who has endured such contradiction by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary,  ¹fainting in your souls.

You have not yet resisted unto blood, struggling against  ¹sin,

And you have completely forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with sons, "My son, do not regard lightly the  ¹discipline of the Lord, nor faint when reproved by Him;

For whom the Lord loves He  ¹disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.”

It is for  ¹discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom the father does not discipline?

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

Furthermore we have had the fathers of our flesh as  ¹discipliners and we respected them; shall we not much more be in subjection to the  ²Father of spirits and live?

For they disciplined for a few days as it seemed good to them; but He, for what is profitable that we might partake of His  ¹holiness.

Now no discipline at the present time seems to be a matter of joy, but of grief; but afterward it yields the  ¹peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been exercised by it.

Therefore  ¹set straight the hands which hang down and the paralyzed knees,

And make straight  ¹paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be  ²put out of joint but rather may be healed.

Pursue peace with all men and  ¹sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord;

Looking carefully lest anyone  ¹fall away from the grace of God; lest any  ²root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and through this many be defiled;

Lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one meal gave up his own  ¹birthright.

For you know that also afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found  ¹no place for repentance, even though he sought it with tears.

For you have not come forward to a  ¹mountain which could be touched and which was set on fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,

And to the sound of a trumpet and to the voice of words, because of which those who heard entreated that no further word be spoken to them;

For they could not bear that which was being commanded: “If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned.”

And so fearful was the sight, Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.”

But you have come forward to  ¹Mount Zion and to the  ²city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; and to myriads of angels, to the  ³universal gathering;

And to the church of the  ¹firstborn, who have been  ²enrolled in the heavens; and to God, the Judge of all; and to the spirits of righteous men who have been made perfect;

And to Jesus, the Mediator of a  ¹new covenant; and to the  ²blood of sprinkling, which  ³speaks something better than that of Abel.

See that you do not refuse Him who speaks, for if those did not escape who refused Him who warned them upon the earth, much more we shall not escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven,

Whose voice at that time shook the earth but now has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven.”

And this word, “Yet once more,” shows clearly the removal of the things being shaken as being of things having been made, that the things which are not shaken may remain.

Therefore receiving an unshakable  ¹kingdom, let us  ²have grace, through which we may serve God well-pleasingly with piety and fear;

For our God is also a  ¹consuming fire.

How the gold has become dim!
How the most pure gold has changed!
The stones of the sanctuary lie poured out
At the head of every street.

The precious sons of Zion,
Comparable to fine gold,
How they are esteemed as earthen pitchers,
The work of the hands of a potter.

Even the jackals present the breast;
They nurse their young ones;
But the daughter of my people has become cruel,
Like the ostriches in the wilderness.

The tongue of the sucking child cleaves
To the roof of his mouth for thirst;
The little ones ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.

Those who fed on delicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Those who were brought up in scarlet
Embrace dung heaps.

And the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater
Than the sin of Sodom,
Which was overthrown as in a moment;
And no hands were laid on her.

Her nobles were purer than snow;
They were whiter than milk;
They were redder in body than corals;
Their figure was like sapphire.

Their visage is darker than black coal;
They are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled up on their bones;
It has dried up; it has become like wood.

Those who were slain by the sword are better
Than those slain by famine;
For these pine away stricken through,
Because of the lack of the produce of the field.

The hands of compassionate women
Have boiled their own children;
They have become their food
In the destruction of the daughter of my people.

Jehovah has accomplished His wrath;
He has poured out His burning anger.
And He has kindled a fire in Zion,
And it has consumed its foundations.

The kings of the earth did not believe,
Neither did any of the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy would enter
Into the gates of Jerusalem.

It is because of the sins of her prophets,
And the iniquities of her priests,
Who have shed the blood of the righteous
In her midst.

They have wandered about blind in the streets;
They are polluted with blood;
So that men cannot touch
Their garments.

They cried out to them, Depart! Unclean!
Depart, depart; do not touch!
When they fled away and wandered about, men said among the nations,
They will no longer sojourn there.

The anger of Jehovah has scattered them;
He will no longer regard them.
They did not honor the priests,
Nor did they favor the elders.

Our eyes do yet fail,
Looking in vain for our help;
In our watching we watched
For a nation that could not save.

They hunted our steps,
So that we cannot walk in our streets;
Our end drew near; our days were fulfilled;
For our end had come.

Our pursuers were swifter
Than the eagles of heaven;
They hotly pursued us on the mountains;
They lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah,
Has been captured in their pits,
Of whom we said, Under his shadow
We will live among the nations.

Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
Who dwells in the land of Uz.
Yet the cup will pass through to you also;
You will become drunk and make yourself naked.

The punishment for your iniquity has been accomplished, O daughter of Zion;
He will no longer take you into exile.
But He will  ¹punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom;
He will uncover your sins.

Remember, O Jehovah, what has come upon us;
Look and see our reproach.

Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
Our houses to foreigners.

We are orphans without father;
Our mothers are like widows.

We have drunk our water for money;
Our wood comes to us at a price.

On our necks are our pursuers;
We are weary; we have no rest.

We have given our hand to Egypt
And to Assyria, so as to be satisfied with bread.

Our fathers sinned and they are not,
And we ourselves bear their iniquities.

Slaves rule over us;
There is no one to deliver us from their hand.

We get our bread at the risk of our lives
Because of the sword from the wilderness.

Our skin is black like an oven
Because of the burning heat of famine.

They have ravished the women in Zion,
The virgins in the cities of Judah.

Princes were hanged by them.
The faces of the elders were not honored.

The young men bore the mill,
And the young boys stumbled under the wood.

The old men have ceased from the gate,
The young men from their music.

The joy of our heart has ceased;
Our dance has been turned into mourning.

The crown has fallen from our head.
Woe to us! For we have sinned.

Because of this our heart is faint;
Because of these things our eyes are dim;

Because of Mount Zion, which is desolate —
Foxes rove in it.

You, O Jehovah,  ¹abide forever;
Your throne is from generation to generation.

 ¹Why do You forget us forever
And forsake us for so long a time?

 ¹Turn us back to You, O Jehovah, and we will be turned;
Renew our days as before.

Or have You  ¹utterly rejected us?
Are You  ¹exceedingly angry with us?