Hebrews 6:1-20 AMP

[1] Therefore let us get past the elementary stage in the teachings about the Christ, advancing on to maturity and perfection and spiritual completeness, [doing this] without laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, [2] of teaching about washings (ritual purifications), the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. [These are all important matters in which you should have been proficient long ago.] [3] And we will do this [that is, proceed to maturity], if God permits. [4] For [it is impossible to restore to repentance] those who have once been enlightened [spiritually] and who have tasted and consciously experienced the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit, [5] and have tasted and consciously experienced the good word of God and the powers of the age (world) to come, [6] and then have fallen away—it is impossible to bring them back again to repentance, since they again nail the Son of God on the cross [for as far as they are concerned, they are treating the death of Christ as if they were not saved by it], and are holding Him up again to public disgrace. [7] For soil that drinks the rain which often falls on it and produces crops useful to those for whose benefit it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God; [8] but if it persistently produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. [9] But, beloved, even though we speak to you in this way, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and of things that accompany salvation. [10] For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown for His name in ministering to [the needs of] the saints (God’s people), as you do. [11] And we desire for each one of you to show the same diligence [all the way through] so as to realize and enjoy the full assurance of hope until the end, [12] so that you will not be [spiritually] sluggish, but [will instead be] imitators of those who through faith [lean on God with absolute trust and confidence in Him and in His power] and by patient endurance [even when suffering] are [now] inheriting the promises. [13] For when God made the promise to Abraham, He swore [an oath] by Himself, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, [14] saying, “I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU.” [15] And so, having patiently waited, he realized the promise [in the miraculous birth of Isaac, as a pledge of what was to come from God]. [16] Indeed men swear [an oath] by one greater than themselves, and with them [in all disputes] the oath serves as confirmation [of what has been said] and is an end of the dispute. [17] In the same way God, in His desire to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable nature of His purpose, intervened and guaranteed it with an oath, [18] so that by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge would have strong encouragement and indwelling strength to hold tightly to the hope set before us. [19] This hope [this confident assurance] we have as an anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it]—a safe and steadfast hope that enters within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells], [20] where Jesus has entered [in advance] as a forerunner for us, having become a High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.