Hebrews 13

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

Love and faithfulness in daily life

¹ Let brotherly love continue. ² Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by it some have unknowingly entertained angels. ³ Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, and those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are also in the body. ⁴ Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers Elohim will judge. ⁵ Let your way of life be without love of money, being content with what you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." ⁶ So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

Remember your leaders

⁷ Remember those who lead you, who spoke the word of Elohim to you; considering the outcome of their conduct, imitate their faith. ⁸ Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever. ⁹ Do not be carried away by various and strange teachings. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not by foods, which have not profited those who have walked in them.

Outside the camp

¹⁰ We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. ¹¹ For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the Most Holy Place by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. ¹² Therefore Yeshua also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. ¹³ Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. ¹⁴ For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the one to come. ¹⁵ Through Him then let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to Elohim, that is, the fruit of lips that confess His name. ¹⁶ But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices Elohim is well pleased.

¹⁷ Obey those who lead you, and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they may do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you. ¹⁸ Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably. ¹⁹ But I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Blessing and final greetings

²⁰ Now may the Elohim of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, our Lord Yeshua, ²¹ make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Yeshua the Messiah, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

²² And I urge you, brothers, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words. ²³ Know that the brother Timothy has been set free, with whom I will see you if he comes shortly. ²⁴ Greet all those who lead you, and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you. ²⁵ Grace be with you all. Amen.

Notes

• 13:5 The promise was spoken to Israel and to Joshua: "He will not leave you nor forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8), and "I will not leave you nor forsake you" (Joshua 1:5). The Greek has a strong double negative, "I will never, no never, leave you." In verse 6 the writer answers with Psalm 118:6 in the words of the Greek translation, "The Lord is my helper," where the Hebrew reads "Yahweh is for me."
• 13:8 What is said of Elohim in the Hebrew Scriptures, "For I am Yahweh, I do not change" (Malachi 3:6), is said here of Yeshua the Messiah. Coming just before the warning against "various and strange teachings" (verse 9), the verse grounds the readers in what does not change: the Messiah the first leaders proclaimed (verse 7) is the same now.
• 13:9 "Foods" here stands beside "various and strange teachings" and the altar of verse 10, and many understand the writer to mean sacrificial or ritual meals, or food rules taught as a way to strengthen the heart. The letter does not discuss the Torah's distinction between clean and unclean animals (Leviticus 11), and readers differ on how far the verse reaches; its point is that the heart is made firm by Elohim's grace.
• 13:10 In the Torah the priests ate their portion of many offerings, but "no sin offering from which any blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place shall be eaten; it shall be burned with fire" (Leviticus 6:30). On Yom Kippur the bodies of the bull and goat were burned "outside the camp" (Leviticus 16:27). Many read verses 10-13 as built on that rule: Yeshua's death answers to the Yom Kippur sin offering, and He suffered outside the city gate. The writer's call is to go out to Him and share His reproach (verse 13); what is meant by "those who serve the tabernacle" and their not eating is read in different ways.
• 13:20 The blessing gathers words from the Hebrew Scriptures: Elohim "who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock" (Isaiah 63:11), "the blood of your covenant" (Zechariah 9:11), and the "everlasting covenant" promised through the prophets (Jeremiah 32:40; Ezekiel 37:26). The Majority Text reads "in every good work" in verse 21 and "Amen" at the end of verse 25, where some manuscripts differ.
• 13:23 Timothy, Paul's companion (Acts 16:1-3; Philippians 2:19-22), had evidently been imprisoned and released; this is the only mention of it. The letter does not name its author, and since early times readers have suggested Paul, Barnabas, Apollos and others. "Those from Italy" (verse 24) may be believers from Italy living elsewhere who send greetings home, or believers in Italy.

Hebrews 12 · James 1

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