Home / All verses / Hebrews 12:1
Hebrews 12:1
Endurance and Community
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore let’s also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with perseverance the race that is set before us,
The trainer needs JavaScript. Read it aloud, cover it with your hand, and say it.
Why it is worth knowing
- The “cloud of witnesses” is all the faithful of Hebrews 11: we race in their company
- Endurance requires laying aside weights and sin, not just sin but anything that slows us
- The race is “set before us”: already prepared and defined by God
- Running implies active, sustained effort: faith is not passive
Where it sits: Hebrews 12:1-3
Therefore let’s also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don’t grow weary, fainting in your souls.
Hear the passage it sits in, sung word for word, on BibleDo's Hebrews page.
Background
Hebrews 12:1 immediately follows the great faith chapter. The “therefore” draws on the entire catalog of Old Testament faithful as motivation to press on. The image is of a Greek athletic stadium: the faithful of the ages fill the stands, and we are the runners on the track. The author’s prescription for not growing weary: keep looking at Jesus, who endured the worst possible shame for the joy set before him.