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If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Hebrews 12:7 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline?
  • BSB Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
  • NKJV If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
  • NASB It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
  • NLT As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?

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

Endure hardship as discipline, for God is treating you as his children—what child is not disciplined by a father? Suffering rightly understood is proof of sonship.

Overview

The author applies the principle: the readers should endure their trials precisely because they are God's fatherly discipline. Just as every genuine son is disciplined by his father, so God's correction marks believers as his true children. This reframes endurance not as bare survival but as the experience of being parented by God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Prov 19:18Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.
  • Deut 8:5Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
  • Prov 13:24He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
  • Prov 29:15The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
  • Prov 29:17Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.
  • Prov 23:13–14Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
  • 2 Sam 7:14I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
  • Job 34:31–32Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:
  • 1 Sam 3:13For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.
  • 1 Kgs 2:24–25Now therefore, as the LORD liveth, which hath established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me an house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day.
  • 1 Sam 2:34And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them.
  • 1 Sam 2:29Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?
  • 1 Kgs 1:6And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom.
  • Prov 22:15Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
  • Acts 14:22Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

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 12:7YouTube · 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 12:7 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.