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VI. Final Exhortation, Blessing, Greetings

Chapter 13

[a]Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.(A) Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment, and of the ill-treated as of yourselves, for you also are in the body.(B) Let marriage be honored among all and the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge the immoral and adulterers.(C) Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never forsake you or abandon you.”(D) Thus we may say with confidence:

“The Lord is my helper,
[and] I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?”(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 13:1–16 After recommendations on social and moral matters (Hb 13:1–6), the letter turns to doctrinal issues. The fact that the original leaders are dead should not cause the recipients of this letter to lose their faith (Hb 13:7), for Christ still lives and he remains always the same (Hb 13:8). They must not rely for their personal sanctification on regulations concerning foods (Hb 13:9), nor should they entertain the notion that Judaism and Christianity can be intermingled (Hb 13:10; cf. notes on Gal 2:11–14; 2:15–21). As Jesus died separated from his own people, so must the Christian community remain apart from the religious doctrines of Judaism (Hb 13:11–14). Christ must be the heart and center of the community (Hb 13:15–16).

Concluding Exhortations

13 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.(A) Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers,(B) for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.(C) Continue to remember those in prison(D) as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Marriage should be honored by all,(E) and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.(F) Keep your lives free from the love of money(G) and be content with what you have,(H) because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
    never will I forsake you.”[a](I)

So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?”[b](J)

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 13:5 Deut. 31:6
  2. Hebrews 13:6 Psalm 118:6,7