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Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
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And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
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not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
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For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
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but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
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Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
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Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
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For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The Lord will judge His people."
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It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
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But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings:
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partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated;
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for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.
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Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.
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For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
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"For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
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Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."
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But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.