¹That is why, leaving the instruction on the starting point of Christ, let us be brought along to perfection, not again laying a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God, ²of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead and of age-abiding judgment. ³And let us do this, if indeed God allows it. ⁴For it is impossible for those who have once been enlightened and who have tasted the upper-heavenly gift, and who have become partakers of holy spirit, ⁵and who have tasted the good word of God and the powers of an age to come, ⁶and who have fallen away, to renew them to repentance, because they crucify the son of God to themselves again and make an example of him. ⁷For land which has drunk the rain which often falls on it and produces plants which are useful to those by whom it is farmed shares in blessing from God, ⁸but land which produces thorn bushes and thistles is rejected and is close to a curse, the fate of which is burning. ⁹But, beloved, we have been persuaded of better things concerning you, and things following on from salvation, even though we speak this way, ¹⁰for God is not unrighteous, forgetting your work and toil in the love which you have shown for the sake of his name, having ministered to the saints, and are still ministering. ¹¹And we long that each of you should show the same eagerness for the full assurance of your hope up to the end, ¹²so that you do not become slothful, but imitators of those who through faith and forbearance inherit the promises. ¹³For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had nothing greater by which to swear, he swore by himself, ¹⁴and he said, “I will truly greatly bless you and greatly multiply you.” ¹⁵And in this way after being very patient, he obtained the promise. ¹⁶For men swear by something greater, and the oath is the end of all controversy for them, as a confirmation. ¹⁷And so God, wishing to show the unchangeableness of his will all the more forcibly to the heirs of the promise, intervened with an oath, ¹⁸in order that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a robust encouragement, we who have fled to lay hold of the hope that lies before us, ¹⁹which we have as a safe and firm anchor for our life, which also enters into the inside area behind the veil, ²⁰where Jesus went in as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek throughout the age.

Reference(s) in Chapter 6: v.14 ↔ Genesis 22:17.