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looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it;
Hebrews 12:15 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
  • BSB See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.
  • NKJV looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;
  • NASB See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
  • NLT Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Watch carefully that no one falls short of God's grace and that no bitter root grows up to defile the community. Guard one another against falling away and against spreading corruption.

Overview

The author calls the church to mutual vigilance, lest anyone fail to lay hold of God's grace and so fall away. He warns of a "root of bitterness" (echoing Deuteronomy 29:18) whose growth can defile many. Perseverance is a corporate responsibility: believers are to look out for one another so that none drift from grace and no corruption spreads through the body.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 40

  • Heb 3:12Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God;
  • Deut 29:18lest there should be among you man, woman, family, or tribe whose heart turns away today from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that produces bitter poison;
  • Gal 5:4You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace.
  • 2 Cor 6:1Working together, we entreat also that you not receive the grace of God in vain,
  • 2 Jn 1:8Watch yourselves, that we don’t lose the things which we have accomplished, but that we receive a full reward.
  • 1 Cor 15:33Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.”
  • Heb 4:1Let us fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest.
  • Prov 4:23Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.
  • 2 Pet 3:14Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight.
  • Jer 2:21Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a pure and faithful seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?
  • 1 Cor 5:6Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?
  • 2 Cor 13:5Examine your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you are disqualified.
  • Heb 4:11Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience.
  • Jude 1:20–21But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.
  • 2 Tim 2:16–17But shun empty chatter, for it will go further in ungodliness,
  • 1 Cor 10:12Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn’t fall.
  • 1 Kgs 14:16He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has sinned, and with which he has made Israel to sin.”
  • Heb 10:23–35let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for he who promised is faithful.
  • Deut 4:9Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children;
  • Heb 6:11We desire that each one of you may show the same diligence to the fullness of hope even to the end,
  • Deut 32:32For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poison grapes. Their clusters are bitter.
  • 2 Pet 2:18For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error;
  • Col 3:5Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
  • 1 Cor 9:24–27Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win.
  • 2 Pet 2:1–2But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.
  • Eph 5:3But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints;
  • Matt 7:16–18By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?
  • Josh 22:17–20Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of Yahweh,
  • Gal 2:13And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy; so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
  • Josh 7:25–26Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? Yahweh will trouble you today.” All Israel stoned him with stones, and they burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.
  • Exod 32:21Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?”
  • 1 Cor 13:8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.
  • Isa 5:7For the vineyard of Yahweh of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress.
  • Heb 2:1–2Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away.
  • Acts 20:30–31Men will arise from among your own selves, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
  • Isa 5:4What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?
  • 2 Pet 1:10Therefore, brothers, be more diligent to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble.
  • 2 Pet 3:11Therefore since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness,
  • Josh 6:18But as for you, only keep yourselves from what is devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so you would make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it.
  • Luke 22:32but I prayed for you, that your faith wouldn’t fail. You, when once you have turned again, establish your brothers.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (8)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Hebrews videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Hebrews 12:15YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on HebrewsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.

How Hebrews 12:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

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