Hebrews · 20 verses

Hebrews 6

Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

The chapter

What happens here

Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

The chapter’s hope is an anchor for the soul that slips behind the curtain into the inner sanctuary—a remarkably well-travelled anchor.

Elementary things, and a rather serious fieldvv. 1–8

The chapter proposes leaving the elementary teachings about Christ, though the schoolroom has already covered resurrection and eternal judgment. Then comes the warning about those who have tasted the goodness of God’s word and the powers of the coming age, yet fall away. The image is agricultural: rain falls on land, and the land answers either with a useful crop or with thorns and thistles, which have a distinctly poor career ahead.

The better thingsvv. 9–12

After speaking so starkly, the chapter turns towards better things in the case of its beloved hearers: work, love, ministry to the saints, diligence, hope, faith, and patience. The aim is not sluggishness but the company of those who inherit what has been promised.

The oath and the travelling anchorvv. 13–20

God’s promise to Abraham is secured by an oath, and, having no one greater by whom to swear, God swears by Himself. Abraham waits patiently and obtains the promise. The argument then arrives at hope: an anchor for the soul, firm and secure, which does not remain politely in the harbour but enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. There Jesus has entered as forerunner and become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

The text

Read it

Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

Heb 6:1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith in God,
Heb 6:2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3And this we will do, if God permits.
Heb 6:4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
Heb 6:5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age—
Heb 6:6and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame.
Heb 6:7For land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is tended receives the blessing of God.
Heb 6:8But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned.
Heb 6:9Even though we speak like this, beloved, we are convinced of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation.
Heb 6:10For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.
Heb 6:11We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.
Heb 6:12Then you will not be sluggish, but will imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
Heb 6:13When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,
Heb 6:14saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply your descendants.”
Heb 6:15And so Abraham, after waiting patiently, obtained the promise.
Heb 6:16Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument.
Heb 6:17So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath.
Heb 6:18Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
Heb 6:19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
Heb 6:20where Jesus our forerunner has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

01 — Also here

Who else the chapter reaches

Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

02 — Read alongside

Where this is echoed

Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 472 passages were voted onto 20 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

4 Hebrews 10:26–29If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
4 2 Peter 2:20–22If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first.
1 Hebrews 5:12–14Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!
10 Hebrews 13:16And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
10 Matthew 10:42And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”
18 Numbers 23:19God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
4 Matthew 5:13You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
18 Titus 1:2in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
6 2 Peter 2:21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them.
10 Galatians 6:10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.
4 John 15:6If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.
12 Hebrews 13:7Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
13 Genesis 22:15–18And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time,
10 1 Thessalonians 1:3and continually recalling before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
18 1 Samuel 15:29Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”
10 Colossians 3:17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Onward

Keep reading

Next chapterHebrews 728 verses.Named hereAbrahamEverything the graph connects to this name.BookHebrewsAll 13 chapters.Every bookThe Bible66 books, 1,189 chapters.