Hebrews 13

¹Let brotherly love continue. ²Do not forget hospitality to strangers, for through it some have entertained angels without knowing it. ³Remember the prisoners as though imprisoned with them, and those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are also in the body. ⁴Let marriage be honored among all, and the marriage bed undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. ⁵Let your way of life be free from the love of money, content with what you have, for he himself has said, “I will never leave you or abandon you.” ⁶So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can a human being do to me?”

⁷Remember your leaders, who spoke God's word to you; consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. ⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. ⁹Do not be carried away by various and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be made firm by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those who occupy themselves with them. ¹⁰We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. ¹¹For the bodies of the animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp. ¹²Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that he might make the people holy through his own blood. ¹³So let us go out to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. ¹⁴For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the one to come. ¹⁵Through him, then, let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. ¹⁶And do not forget doing good and sharing, for God is pleased with sacrifices like these.

¹⁷Obey your leaders and yield to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no benefit to you. ¹⁸Pray for us, for we are convinced that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves well in everything. ¹⁹I urge you all the more to do this so that I may be restored to you sooner.

²⁰Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus, through the blood of an eternal covenant, ²¹equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

²²I urge you, brothers, bear with this word of encouragement, for I have written to you briefly. ²³Know that our brother Timothy has been released; if he comes soon, I will see you with him. ²⁴Greet all your leaders and all the holy ones. Those from Italy greet you. ²⁵Grace be with you all.

Translation notes 6

13:1–6 — Love, strangers, body, and marriage. Brotherly love extends to the community, and hospitality is literally love of strangers. The angelic visitors recall accounts such as Genesis 18–19. “In the body” emphasizes shared vulnerability; “the body of Christ” is not supplied. Verse 4 can be read as a statement that marriage is honorable or, as here, as an exhortation. “Among all” can also mean “in every respect.” The promises in verses 5–6 recall Deuteronomy 31:6, 8 and Psalm 118:6.

13:7–9 — Leaders and teaching. The leaders' outcome may include their death or the result of their lives; the verse does not explicitly call them martyrs. “Jesus Christ” retains the name-and-title expression. The food-related teaching is not specified enough to identify one particular ritual or opponent with certainty.

13:10–16 — Altar and outside the camp. The argument uses the sacrificial pattern of Leviticus 16:27 and Jesus' suffering outside the city gate. The altar is most naturally an image of participation in his sacrifice; an explicit identification with a church furnishing or a particular meal is not supplied. “Outside the camp” calls for solidarity with him in reproach, while the coming city links back to chapters 11–12. Praise, practical good, and sharing are called sacrifices; “fruit of lips” retains the image.

13:17–19 — Obedience and accountability. “Obey” can carry the sense of being persuaded, but together with “yield” it asks for actual responsiveness to the leaders. Their obligation to account for their care remains part of the sentence. “Souls” concerns the people entrusted to them, not only an immaterial component. The author moves from “us” to “I” without identifying himself by name.

13:20–21 — Shepherd and covenant blood. The prayer joins resurrection, shepherding, and covenant. The relationship of “through the blood” to the raising or to Jesus' shepherding work is debated; the Greek does not provide a full explanation. The base has “everything good,” without the added “work,” and “working in us,” where other texts have “in you.” The final “to whom” may refer to Jesus Christ or to God. The base's shorter “forever” is retained rather than expanded to “forever and ever.”

13:22–25 — Encouragement and greetings. “Word of encouragement” can also mean an exhortation and describes the book's appeal. Timothy's being “released” most naturally concerns imprisonment, but being sent away is possible. “Those from Italy” does not establish whether the senders are currently in Italy or abroad. The book's body does not name its author or its recipients, and the traditional title is not translated into an attribution to Paul. Some texts add “Amen” after verse 25; this base ends with the grace greeting.