Let us go on to perfection—Sons of perdition crucify Christ afresh—God swears with an oath that the faithful shall be saved.

 THEREFORE ^aleaving^• the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto ^bperfection; not laying again the foundation of ^crepentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

 Of the ^adoctrine^• of ^bbaptisms, and of ^claying^• on of ^dhands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

 ^aAnd^• this will we do, if God permit.

 For it is impossible for those who were once ^aenlightened^•, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

 And have ^atasted^• the good word of God, and the powers of the ^bworld to come,

 If they shall ^afall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they ^bcrucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open ^cshame.

 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs ^ameet^• for them by whom it is ^bdressed^•, receiveth blessing from God:

 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto ^acursing^•; whose end is to be burned.

 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.

 For God is not ^aunrighteous to forget your work and ^blabour^• of ^clove^•, which ye have shewed toward his ^dname, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same ^adiligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:

 That ye be not ^aslothful, but followers of them who through ^bfaith^• and ^cpatience inherit the ^dpromises.

 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could ^aswear^• by no greater, he ^bsware^• by himself,

 Saying, Surely blessing I will ^abless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.

 And so, after he had patiently ^aendured, he obtained the promise.

 For men verily swear by the greater: and an ^aoath for confirmation is to them an end of all ^bstrife.

 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his ^acounsel^•, ^bconfirmed it by an ^coath:

 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to ^alie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for ^brefuge to lay hold upon the ^chope set before us:

 Which hope we have as an ^aanchor^• of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the ^bveil;

 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an ^ahigh priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.