Study Desk

All these died in the possession of faith. They had not received the promised blessings, but had seen them from a distance and had greeted them, and had acknowledged themselves to be foreigners and strangers here on earth;

but, as it is, we see them eager for a better land, that is to say, a heavenly one. For this reason God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has now prepared a city for them.

Through faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing over dry land, but the Egyptians, when they tried to do the same, were swallowed up.

It is true that they disciplined us for a few years according as they thought fit; but He does it for our certain good, in order that we may become sharers in His own holy character.

Now, at the time, discipline seems to be a matter not for joy, but for grief; yet it afterwards yields to those who have passed through its training a result full of peace--namely, righteousness.

but may rather be restored. Persistently strive for peace with all men, and for that growth in holiness apart from which no one will see the Lord.

His voice then shook the earth, but now we have His promise, "Yet again I will, once for all, cause not only the earth to tremble, but Heaven also."

For we have no permanent city here, but we are longing for the city which is soon to be ours.

Bear with me, brethren, when I thus exhort you; for, in fact, it is but a short letter that I have written to you.

Reckon it nothing but joy, my brethren, whenever you find yourselves hedged in by various trials.

But let him ask in faith and have no doubts; for he who has doubts is like the surge of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed into spray.

but a rich man should rejoice in being brought low, for like flowers among the herbage rich men will pass away.

But when a man is tempted, it is his own passions that carry him away and serve as a bait.

You know this, my dearly-loved brethren. But let every one be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to be angry.

But prove yourselves obedient to the Message, and do not be mere hearers of it, imposing a delusion upon yourselves.

For if any one listens but does not obey, he is like a man who carefully looks at his own face in a mirror.

But he who looks closely into the perfect Law--the Law of freedom--and continues looking, he, being not a hearer who forgets, but an obedient doer, will as the result of his obedience be blessed.

If a man thinks that he is scrupulously religious, although he is not curbing his tongue but is deceiving himself, his religious service is worthless.

But *you* have put dishonour upon the poor man. Yet is it not the rich who grind you down? Are not they the very people who drag you into the Law courts? --

But if you are making distinctions between one man and another, you are guilty of sin, and are convicted by the Law as offenders.