Hebrews 12:1-8
New Catholic Bible
Let Us Run with Eyes Fixed on Jesus[a]
Chapter 12
You Have Not Yet Resisted to the Point of Bloodshed. 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,[b] let us throw off everything that weighs us down and the sins that so easily distract us and with perseverance run the race that lies ahead of us, 2 with our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, ignoring its shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Reflect on how he endured such great hostility from sinners so that you may not grow weary and lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
God Is Treating You as His Children.[c] 5 You have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children:
“My son, do not scorn the discipline of the Lord
or lose heart when you are punished by him.
6 For the Lord disciplines those whom he loves,
and he chastises every son whom he acknowledges.”
7 Endure the trials you receive as a form of discipline. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there who is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you have not received the discipline in which all share, then you are illegitimate and not true sons.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Hebrews 12:1 Christians have only one person on whom to keep their eyes as the object of faith and salvation: Christ (see Heb 11:26f; Acts 7:55f; Phil 3:8). They look to the Crucified Lord to understand how to behave at all times, and especially in difficulties and persecution.
- Hebrews 12:1 Surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses: the author may be thinking of an athletic contest in a large amphitheater wherein the heroes just mentioned are inspiring examples for us, urging us on to stand firm in the faith and even to martyrdom if need be.
- Hebrews 12:5 God treats us as his sons and daughters. And the trials that we must withstand in order to make progress in the faith is another sign of this point for us. Hence, we must take heart.
