Hebrews 10

KJV · Chapter 10/13

¹For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

²For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.

³But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.

⁴For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

⁵Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

⁶In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

⁷Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

⁸Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;

⁹Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

¹⁰By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:

¹²But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

¹³From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

¹⁴For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

¹⁵Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,

¹⁶This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

¹⁷And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

¹⁸Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

¹⁹Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

²⁰By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

²¹And having an high priest over the house of God;

²²Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

²³Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

²⁴And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

²⁵Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

²⁶For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

²⁷But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

²⁸He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

²⁹Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

³⁰For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

³¹It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³²But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;

³³Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.

³⁴For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.

³⁵Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

³⁶For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

³⁷For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

³⁸Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

³⁹But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The author argues that the sacrifices of the law were only a shadow and could never perfect those who offered them, but Christ, by offering himself once, made those who are sanctified perfect forever. He encourages readers to draw near to God in faith and not to abandon church gatherings.

Explanation

The author quotes Psalm 40 to show that God always preferred genuine obedience over repeated sacrifices, and that the offering of Christ's body perfectly fulfilled this divine will, ending the need for ongoing sacrifices. The famous exhortation not to 'forsake the assembling of ourselves together' (10:25) responds to a real temptation among readers to withdraw from the Christian community, perhaps out of fear of persecution or discouragement. The chapter ends with a warning about the serious consequences of deliberately rejecting truth already known, while at the same time encouraging readers by reminding them of their record of faithfulness in past trials. Today's practical application is to value church fellowship as a place of mutual encouragement, especially in difficult times.

Fun facts

Verse 25, about not forsaking 'the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is,' is one of the most frequently cited biblical texts in Christian tradition to encourage regular participation in worship services and faith communities.

Verse-by-verse explanation

Hebrews 10:1Calling the Jewish law “a shadow of good things to come,” and not “the very image” of the things themselves, is a metaphor: a shadow gives an idea of something's shape, but isn't the object itself. The letter uses this to explain why the temple's repeated sacrifices never truly perfected anyone — they pointed to something still to come.
Hebrews 10:2The letter argues that if the old sacrifices had really solved the problem of sin, people would have already stopped offering them, because their consciences would have been cleansed once and for all.
Hebrews 10:3But what actually happened was the opposite: each yearly sacrifice only served to remind people of their sins again, not to erase them.
Hebrews 10:4Saying it is “not possible” for the blood of bulls and of goats to take away sins is a strong statement: the temple's sacrifices, in the letter's view, never actually solved the problem of sin, only reminded people of it year after year. This sets up the argument that only Christ's sacrifice accomplishes what the animals could not.
Hebrews 10:5The citation comes from Psalm 40 and is placed in Christ's mouth as He enters the world: instead of sacrifices and offerings, what God wanted was a body prepared to do His will. It's a way of saying that Christ's obedience replaces the temple's sacrificial system.
Hebrews 10:6The citation from Psalm 40 continues: neither burnt offerings nor sin offerings truly pleased God, according to the psalm itself.
Hebrews 10:7The citation goes on with Christ saying, “Lo, I come...to do thy will, O God,” a phrase the letter uses as a summary of His mission.
Hebrews 10:8The letter re-reads the earlier citation, repeating that sacrifices and offerings required by the law, even though the law demanded them, were not what truly pleased God.
Hebrews 10:9The letter explains the meaning of the citation: by saying “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God,” Christ was replacing the old sacrificial system with a new one.
Hebrews 10:10It's precisely because of this fulfilled will that Christians are made holy, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, made once for all.
Hebrews 10:11By contrast, the letter recalls that the ordinary priest had to repeat the same sacrifices every day, sacrifices that could never actually remove sin.
Hebrews 10:12Christ, however, after offering a single sacrifice for sins, sat down forever at God's right hand, a gesture that marks the work as finished.
Hebrews 10:13From then on, He waits for the moment when His enemies will be made His footstool, an image of complete victory.
Hebrews 10:14With this single offering, Christ has perfected forever all those who are being made holy through Him.
Hebrews 10:15The letter quotes the Holy Spirit once more, confirming this same promise through the words of the prophet Jeremiah.
Hebrews 10:16The citation returns to the promise of the new covenant: God will place His laws in the people's hearts and minds.
Hebrews 10:17And it adds: God promises never again to remember the sins and wrongdoings committed by that people.
Hebrews 10:18The letter draws the logical conclusion: where full forgiveness already exists, there's no longer any need for another offering for sin.
Hebrews 10:19The letter shifts tone, beginning to apply all of this to the readers' practical lives: they now have freedom to enter the most sacred place, thanks to the blood of Jesus.
Hebrews 10:20Calling access to God “a new and living way...through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” compares the veil that separated the Holiest of all in the temple to Christ's own body: just as the veil was torn, according to the Gospels, at the moment of Jesus' death, His body opened the way for anyone to approach God directly.
Hebrews 10:21Beyond that, they have a great priest set over the whole house of God, an extra reason for confidence.
Hebrews 10:22That's why the letter invites its readers to draw near to God with complete sincerity, with a clean conscience and, as in baptism, the body washed with pure water.
Hebrews 10:23Another invitation: hold firmly to the hope they profess, trusting that God is faithful to what He promised.
Hebrews 10:24The letter also asks for mutual attention among Christians, each looking after the others, encouraging love and good works.
Hebrews 10:25A practical warning: don't abandon the church's gatherings, as some were already doing, but encourage one another, all the more as the final day draws near.
Hebrews 10:26The warning about sinning willfully after knowing the truth, with no more sacrifice left for sins, is one of the harshest passages in the letter. It speaks of deliberately rejecting what one has already known to be true, not of everyday failures or sins — an important distinction that different interpretations still debate today.
Hebrews 10:27Whoever rejects this known truth, the letter warns, has ahead of them only a terrible expectation of judgment and a fire that consumes those who oppose God.
Hebrews 10:28The letter recalls that, under the law of Moses, breaking certain commandments was already enough for someone to die without mercy, as long as there were two or three witnesses confirming it.
Hebrews 10:29If that was already serious, the letter asks: how much worse will the punishment be for someone who despises the Son of God, treats as common the blood that sanctified him, and insults the Spirit of grace?
Hebrews 10:30The letter recalls two well-known citations: that vengeance belongs to God, and that He Himself will judge His own people.
Hebrews 10:31The conclusion is direct and strong: it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God for judgment.
Hebrews 10:32The letter changes tone again, reminding its readers of the early days after becoming Christians, when they faced a great struggle of sufferings and endured.
Hebrews 10:33In part, they themselves were publicly exposed to insults and persecution; in part, they stood by others going through the same thing.
Hebrews 10:34They had compassion on prisoners and even joyfully accepted the loss of their possessions, knowing they had something better and lasting reserved in heaven.
Hebrews 10:35That's why the letter asks them not to throw away that confidence, which carries a great reward.
Hebrews 10:36What's still needed now, the letter says, is perseverance: doing God's will to the end, in order to then receive what was promised.
Hebrews 10:37The letter quotes the hope that “yet a little while” and the one who is to come, Jesus, will arrive without delay.
Hebrews 10:38The phrase “the just shall live by faith” is a quotation from the prophet Habakkuk, used here to reinforce that persevering in trust in God, even without seeing immediate results, is what sustains those who hold to the faith.
Hebrews 10:39The letter ends the chapter on a note of confidence: the readers are not the kind who shrink back to destruction, but the kind who hold on to faith until the soul is saved.

Chapters

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