For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands – the representation ¹  of the true sanctuary ²  – but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us.

let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, ¹  because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience ²  and our bodies washed in pure water.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, ¹  we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,

Elijah was a human being ¹  like us, and he prayed earnestly ²  that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months!

Blessed be ¹  the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

For it is time for judgment to begin, starting with the house ¹  of God. And if it starts with us, what will be the fate ²  of those who are disobedient to the gospel of God?

What we have seen and heard we announce ¹  to you too, so that ²  you may have fellowship ³  with us (and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ).

But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses ¹  us from all sin. ² 

By this ¹  the love of God ²  is revealed in us: ³  that God has sent his one and only ⁴  Son into the world so that we may live through him.

And we have come to know and to believe ¹  the love that God has in us. ²  God is love, and the one who resides ³  in love resides in God, and God resides in him.

By this ¹  love is perfected with ²  us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus ³  is, so also are we in this world.

Once ¹  the head of the house ²  gets up ³  and shuts the door, then you will stand outside and start to knock on the door and beg him, ‘Lord, ⁴  let us in!’ ⁵  But he will answer you, ⁶  ‘I don’t know where you come from.’ ⁷ 

He came ¹  to us, took ²  Paul’s belt, ³  tied ⁴  his own hands and feet with it, ⁵  and said, “The Holy Spirit says this: ‘This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man whose belt this is, and will hand him over ⁶  to the Gentiles.’”

Then Festus ¹  said, “King Agrippa, ²  and all you who are present here with us, you see this man about whom the entire Jewish populace ³  petitioned ⁴  me both in Jerusalem ⁵  and here, ⁶  shouting loudly ⁷  that he ought not to live any longer.

For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, ¹  with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants – not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, ²  who is the father of us all

I have applied these things to myself and Apollos because of you, brothers and sisters, ¹  so that through us you may learn “not to go beyond what is written,” so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of the one against the other.

We are not trying to commend ¹  ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, ²  so that you may be able to answer those who take pride ³  in outward appearance ⁴  and not in what is in the heart.

And so ¹  we too constantly thank God that when you received God’s message that you heard from us, ²  you accepted it not as a human message, ³  but as it truly is, God’s message, which is at work among you who believe.

Finally then, brothers and sisters, ¹  we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction from us about how ²  you must live and please God (as you are in fact living) ³  that you do so more and more.

Through these things ¹  he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised ²  you may become partakers of the divine nature, ³  after escaping ⁴  the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire. ⁵