1. Let us go forward, then, to mature teaching and leave behind us the first lessons of the Christian message. We should not lay again the foundation of turning away from useless works and believing in God;
2. of the teaching about baptisms and the laying on of hands; of the resurrection of the dead and the eternal judgement.
3. Let us go forward! And this is what we will do, if God allows.
4. For how can those who abandon their faith be brought back to repent again? They were once in God's light; they tasted heaven's gift and received their share of the Holy Spirit;
5. they knew from experience that God's word is good, and they had felt the powers of the coming age.
6. And then they abandoned their faith! It is impossible to bring them back to repent again, because they are again crucifying the Son of God and exposing him to public shame.
7. God blesses the soil which drinks in the rain that often falls on it and which grows plants that are useful to those for whom it is cultivated.
8. But if it grows thorns and weeds, it is worth nothing; it is in danger of being cursed by God and will be destroyed by fire.