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⁵And so, call to mind the place from which you have fallen, and do penance, and do the first works. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

⁶²Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow, and then looks back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

²¹For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of justice than, after acknowledging it, to turn away from that holy commandment which was handed on to them.

¹⁴The foolish will be filled up by his own ways. And the good man shall be above him.

²⁶For if we sin willingly, after receiving knowledge of the truth, there is no sacrifice remaining for sins, ²⁷but instead, a certain terrible expectation of judgment, and the rage of a fire that shall consume its adversaries. ²⁸If someone dies for acting against the law of Moses, and is shown no compassion because of two or three witnesses, ²⁹how much more, do you think, someone would deserve worse punishments, if he has tread upon the Son of God, and has treated the blood of the testament, by which he was sanctified, as unclean, and has acted with disgrace toward the Spirit of grace?

⁴But I have this against you: that you have relinquished your first charity.

¹And, brothers, if a man has been overtaken by any offense, you who are spiritual should instruct someone like this with a spirit of leniency, considering that you yourselves might also be tempted.

⁸Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners! And purify your hearts, you duplicitous souls!

²²“Convert, O rebellious sons! And I will heal your rebelliousness.” “Behold, we are returning to you. For you are the Lord our God!

⁹But now, since you have known God, or rather, since you have been known by God: how can you turn away again, to weak and destitute influences, which you desire to serve anew?

⁷“O Lord, if our iniquities have responded against us, let it be for the sake of your name. For our rebellions are many; we have sinned against you.

²⁰For if, after taking refuge from the defilements of the world in the understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again become entangled and overcome by these things, then the latter state becomes worse than the former. ²¹For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of justice than, after acknowledging it, to turn away from that holy commandment which was handed on to them. ²²For the truth of the proverb has happened to them: The dog has returned to his own vomit, and the washed sow has returned to her wallowing in the mud.

¹⁷Therefore, he who knows that he ought to do a good thing, and does not do it, for him it is a sin.

⁷You have run well. So what has impeded you, that you would not obey the truth?

³⁸For my just man lives by faith. But if he were to draw himself back, he would not please my soul.” ³⁹So then, we are not sons who are drawn away to perdition, but we are sons of faith toward the securing of the soul.

⁴But I have this against you: that you have relinquished your first charity. ⁵And so, call to mind the place from which you have fallen, and do penance, and do the first works. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

⁴Assur will not save us; we will not ride on horses. Neither will we say any more, ‘The works of our hands are our gods,’ for those that are in you will have mercy on the orphan.”

³Therefore, keep in mind the way that you have received and heard, and then observe it and repent. But if you will not be vigilant, I will come to you like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.

⁷For, from the days of your fathers, you have withdrawn from my ordinances and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. And you have said, “In what way, shall we return?”

²Be vigilant, and confirm the things that remain, lest they soon die out. For I do not find your works to be full in the sight of my God.

²⁰For if, after taking refuge from the defilements of the world in the understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again become entangled and overcome by these things, then the latter state becomes worse than the former.