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HEBREWS 
VI. FINAL EXHORTATION, BLESSING, GREETINGS
131* Let mutual love continue. 2Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.a 3Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment, and of the ill- treated as of yourselves, for you also are in the body.b 4Let marriage be honored among all and the marriage bed be kept unde led, for God will judge the immoral and adulterers.c 5Let 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 6Thus we may say with con dence:
“The Lord is my helper,
[and] I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?”e
7Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.f
9Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching.* It is good to have our hearts strengthened by grace and not by foods, which do not bene t those who live by them.g 10We have an altar* from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11The bodies of the animals whose blood the high priest brings into the sanctuary as a sin o ering are burned outside the camp.h 12Therefore, Jesus also su ered outside the gate, to consecrate the people by his own blood.i 13Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing
13:2
Abraham invited three visitors into his tent; they turned out to be angels of God (Genesis 18:3).
Jerusalem,
in a medieval representation
495
* [13:1–16] After recommendations on social and
moral matters (Heb 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 (Heb 13:7), for Christ still
lives and he remains always the same (Heb 13:8).
They must not rely for their personal sancti cation on regulations concerning foods (Heb 13:9), nor should they entertain the notion that Judaism and Christianity can be intermingled (Heb 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 (Heb 13:11–14). Christ must be the heart and center of the com- munity (Heb 13:15–16).
* [13:9] Strange teaching: this doctrine about foods probably refers to the Jewish food laws; in view of Heb 13:10, however, the author may be thinking of the Mosaic sacri cial banquets.
* [13:10] We have an altar: this does not refer to the Eucharist, which is never clearly mentioned in Hebrews, but to the sacri ce of Christ.
a. [13:2] Gn 18:3; 19:2–3; Jgs 6:11–22; Tb 5:4.
b. [13:3] Mt 25:36.
c. [13:4] 1 Cor 5:13; Eph 5:5.
d. [13:5] Dt 31:6, 8; Jos 1:5.
e. [13:6] Ps 27:1–3; 118:6.
f. [13:8] 1:12; 7:24; Rev 1:17.
g. [13:9] Rom 14:17; 1 Cor 8:8; Eph 4:14; Col 2:16.
h. [13:11] Ex 29:14; Lv 16:27.
i. [13:12] Mt 21:39; Mk 12:8; Lk 20:15; Jn 19:17.