Hebreus 13

ARC · Chapter 13/13

1Permaneça a caridade fraternal.

2Não vos esqueçaes da hospitalidade, porque por ella alguns, não o sabendo, hospedaram anjos.

3Lembrae-vos dos presos, como se juntamente estivesseis presos, e dos maltratados, como o sendo vós mesmos tambem no corpo.

4Venerado seja entre todos o matrimonio e a cama sem macula; porém aos fornicadores e adulteros Deus os julgará.

5Sejam os vossos costumes sem avareza, contentando-vos com o presente; porque elle disse: Não te deixarei, nem te desampararei.

6De maneira que com confiança ousemos dizer: O Senhor é o meu ajudador, e não temerei o que o homem me possa fazer.

7Lembrae-vos dos vossos pastores, que vos fallaram a palavra de Deus, a fé dos quaes imitae, attentando para a maneira da vida d'elles.

8Jesus Christo é o mesmo hontem, e hoje, e eternamente.

9Não vos deixeis levar ao redor por doutrinas varias e estranhas, porque bom é que o coração se fortifique com graça, e não com manjares, os quaes de nada aproveitaram aos que a elles se entregaram.

10Temos um altar, do qual não tem poder de comer os que servem ao tabernaculo.

11Porque os corpos dos animaes, cujo sangue é, pelo peccado, trazido pelo summo sacerdote para o sanctuario, são queimados fóra do arraial.

12Portanto tambem Jesus, para sanctificar o povo pelo seu proprio sangue, padeceu fóra da porta.

13Saiamos pois a elle fóra do arraial, levando o seu vituperio.

14Porque não temos aqui cidade permanente, mas buscamos a futura.

15Portanto offereçamos sempre por elle a Deus sacrificio de louvor, isto é, o fructo dos labios que confessam o seu nome.

16E não vos esqueçaes da beneficencia e communicação, porque com taes sacrificios Deus se agrada.

17Obedecei a vossos pastores, e sujeitae-vos a elles; porque velam por vossas almas, como aquelles que hão de dar conta d'ellas; para que o façam com alegria e não gemendo; porque isso não vos seria util.

18Rogae por nós, porque confiamos que temos boa consciencia, como aquelles que em tudo querem portar-se honestamente.

19E rogo-vos com instancia que assim o façaes, para que eu mais depressa vos seja restituido.

20Ora o Deus de paz, que pelo sangue do concerto eterno tornou a trazer dos mortos a nosso Senhor Jesus Christo, grande pastor das ovelhas,

21Vos aperfeiçoe em toda a boa obra, para fazerdes a sua vontade, obrando em vós o que perante elle é agradavel por Christo Jesus, ao qual seja gloria para todo o sempre. Amen.

22Rogo-vos, porém, irmãos, que supporteis a palavra d'esta exhortação; porque abreviadamente vos escrevi.

23Sabei que já está solto o irmão Timotheo, com o qual (se vier depressa) vos verei.

24Saudae a todos os vossos chefes e a todos os sanctos. Os de Italia vos saudam.

25A graça seja com todos vós. Amen.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The author closes the letter with practical instructions on hospitality, faithfulness in marriage, financial contentment, and respect for spiritual leaders. He asks for prayer for himself and ends with a final blessing.

Explanation

After a dense theological argument running through the letter, the author turns to everyday practical life: welcoming strangers (recalling that some entertained angels without knowing it, a reference to Abraham in Genesis 18), honoring marriage, and living content without excessive attachment to money. The statement that 'Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever' (13:8) sums up the book's central message: the permanence and supremacy of Christ over any change in religious system. The final call to 'go forth therefore unto him without the camp,' bearing his reproach, points to the idea of total identification with Jesus, even if it means social rejection. Today's practical application is that mature faith expresses itself both in deep convictions and in simple, everyday acts of kindness.

Fun facts

  • The phrase 'Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever' (13:8) has become one of the most quoted verses in Christian hymns and liturgies throughout the centuries as a declaration of Christ's unchangeableness.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Hebreus 13:1The letter shifts tone toward the end, with a series of short, practical instructions, beginning with the simple request to keep brotherly love alive.
  2. Hebreus 13:2The mention of entertaining angels without knowing it recalls episodes like Abraham receiving three visitors in Genesis 18, who later turn out to be divine messengers — used here as a practical incentive to treat guests well, even without knowing who they are.
  3. Hebreus 13:3The letter asks its readers to remember prisoners and the mistreated as if they were in their place, feeling others' suffering as their own.
  4. Hebreus 13:4Saying that “marriage” should be honored by all, and the bed kept undefiled, is a direct statement about valuing marriage and faithfulness within it, in a context where the letter also condemns relationships outside that commitment.
  5. Hebreus 13:5The letter asks for a life free of greed, content with what one already has, quoting the promise that God will never abandon or forsake those who trust Him.
  6. Hebreus 13:6Because of this promise, the letter says one can confidently affirm that the Lord is the one who helps, without fear of what anyone might do.
  7. Hebreus 13:7The letter asks its readers to remember the leaders who already taught them God's word, imitating their faith by observing how they lived.
  8. Hebreus 13:8The phrase “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” is used as an argument against getting carried away by various strange teachings, mentioned in the next verse — Christ's stability contrasts with passing doctrines.
  9. Hebreus 13:9A warning against being carried away by strange and varied teachings: the heart is strengthened by grace, not by rules about food that never really helped anyone.
  10. Hebreus 13:10The letter describes a Christian “altar” that those who still serve the old tabernacle system have no right to share in.
  11. Hebreus 13:11The letter recalls that, under the law, the bodies of the animals whose blood the high priest used to atone for sins were burned outside the Israelite camp.
  12. Hebreus 13:12Drawing a connection between the bodies of sacrificed animals, which were burned outside the camp under the rules of the Old Testament, and Jesus, who “suffered without the gate,” is a way of comparing the crucifixion, which happened outside the walls of Jerusalem, with the fate given to sin offerings.
  13. Hebreus 13:13That's why the letter invites its readers to go out as well, outside the camp, bearing the same kind of shame Jesus faced.
  14. Hebreus 13:14The reason for this willingness is simple: they don't have a permanent city here, but are seeking the one still to come.
  15. Hebreus 13:15The “sacrifice of praise” described here isn't a blood sacrifice, but “the fruit of our lips” publicly acknowledging God's name — the letter shifts the idea of ritual offering to an act of spoken gratitude.
  16. Hebreus 13:16The letter asks its readers not to forget to do good and to share what they have, because this kind of sacrifice also pleases God.
  17. Hebreus 13:17The letter calls for obedience to church leaders, who watch over others' souls as people who will give an account for it, so that they may do this work with joy, not with grief.
  18. Hebreus 13:18The letter asks for prayers for its own authors, stating that they act with a good conscience, seeking to behave honestly in everything.
  19. Hebreus 13:19The request for prayer comes with a personal reason: that the author may be restored to the readers as soon as possible.
  20. Hebreus 13:20The letter closes with a blessing that calls God “the God of peace,” recalling that He raised Jesus from the dead, described here as the great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of an everlasting covenant.
  21. Hebreus 13:21The blessing continues, asking that God make the readers ready to do His will in everything, working in them what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ.
  22. Hebreus 13:22The letter asks its readers to receive well this “word of exhortation,” acknowledging that, despite everything it covered, the text was written briefly.
  23. Hebreus 13:23The letter shares a personal update: Timothy, the same companion of Paul from other letters, had just been released, and the author hopes to see him soon along with the readers.
  24. Hebreus 13:24The letter asks that all the leaders and all the Christians be greeted, and also passes along greetings from the Christians of Italy, where the letter appears to have been written from.
  25. Hebreus 13:25The letter ends with the simplest and most common blessing of all: that grace be with all the readers.

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