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Wherefore seeing we alsoare compassed about* with so great a cloud of witnesses,letus lay asideeveryweight,and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us runwithpatience the race that is set beforeus,
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LookinguntoJesus the author[a]andfinisher of our faith;whofor the joy that was set beforehimendured the cross,despising the shame,and is set downat the right hand of the throne of God.
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Forconsider him that enduredsuchcontradictionofsinnersagainsthimself,lest ye be wearied and faint in yourminds.
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Ye have not yetresisteduntoblood,strivingagainstsin.
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And ye have forgotten the exhortationwhichspeaketh unto youas unto children,Myson,despisenotthou the chastening of the Lord,norfaint when thou art rebukedofhim:
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Forwhom the Lordloveth he chasteneth, andscourgetheverysonwhom he receiveth.
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If ye endurechastening,Goddealeth with youas with sons;forwhatson is hewhom the fatherchastenethnot?
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Butif ye bewithoutchastisement,whereofallarepartakers,then are yebastards,andnotsons.
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Furthermorewe have hadfathers of ourflesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall wenotmuchrather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits,andlive?
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For they verilyfor a fewdayschastened us after[b] their ownpleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of hisholiness.
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Nowno*chasteningforthepresentseemeth to bejoyous,butgrievous:neverthelessafterward it yieldeth the peaceablefruit of righteousness unto them which are exercisedthereby*.
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Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feebleknees;
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Andmakestraight[c]paths for yourfeet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let itrather be healed.
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Followpeacewithall men, andholiness,withoutwhich no man shall see the Lord:
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Looking diligentlylest any manfail[d]of the grace of God;lestanyroot of bitternessspringinguptrouble you, andthereby*many be defiled;
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Lest there be anyfornicator,or profane person,asEsau,whoforone morsel of meatsoldhisbirthright.
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For ye knowhow that afterward*, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he foundnoplace[e] of repentance,though he soughtitcarefullywithtears.
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For ye arenotcome unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire,nor unto blackness,anddarkness,andtempest,
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And the sound of a trumpet,and the voice of words;which voice they that heardintreated that the wordshouldnot be spoken to them any more:
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(For they couldnotendure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beasttouch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
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Andsoterriblewas the sight, that Mosessaid, I exceedingly fear*and quake:)
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But ye are come unto mountSion,and unto the city of the livingGod, the heavenlyJerusalem,and to an innumerable company of angels,
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To the general assemblyandchurch of the firstborn, which are written[f]inheaven,and to God the Judge of all,and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
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And to Jesus the mediator of the newcovenant,[g]and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better thingsthan that of Abel.
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See that ye refusenot him that speaketh. Foriftheyescapednot who refused him that spakeonearth,muchmore shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh fromheaven:
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Whosevoicethenshook the earth:butnow he hath promised, saying, Yet once moreIshakenot the earthonly,butalsoheaven.
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And this word, Yet once more,signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken,[h]as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
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Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us havegrace,wherebywe may serveGodacceptablywithreverenceand godly fear: