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;

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.

to tell the people of Israel that anyone who sinned and broke any of the LORD's commands without intending to, would have to observe the following rules.

If it is the whole community of Israel that sins and becomes guilty of breaking one of the LORD's commands without intending to,

At the altar the priest shall perform the ritual of purification to purify you from your sin, and you will be forgiven.

But any who sin deliberately, whether they are natives or foreigners, are guilty of treating the LORD with contempt, and they shall be put to death,

Anyone who dares to disobey either the judge or the priest on duty is to be put to death; in this way you will remove this evil from Israel.

None of us can see our own errors; deliver me, LORD, from hidden faults!

Keep me safe, also, from willful sins; don't let them rule over me. Then I shall be perfect and free from the evil of sin.

"But you, his son, have not humbled yourself, even though you knew all this.

You acted against the Lord of heaven and brought in the cups and bowls taken from his Temple. You, your noblemen, your wives, and your concubines drank wine out of them and praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone---gods that cannot see or hear and that do not know anything. But you did not honor the God who determines whether you live or die and who controls everything you do.

For this reason I tell you: people can be forgiven any sin and any evil thing they say; but whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

Anyone who says something against the Son of Man can be forgiven; but whoever says something against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven---now or ever.

"When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can't find one,

Then it goes out and brings along seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in worse shape than at the beginning. This is what will happen to the evil people of this day."

Jesus answered, "If you were blind, then you would not be guilty; but since you claim that you can see, this means that you are still guilty."

even though in the past I spoke evil of him and persecuted and insulted him. But God was merciful to me because I did not yet have faith and so did not know what I was doing.

If people have escaped from the corrupting forces of the world through their knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then are again caught and conquered by them, such people are in worse condition at the end than they were at the beginning.

What happened to them shows that the proverbs are true: "A dog goes back to what it has vomited" and "A pig that has been washed goes back to roll in the mud."

If you see a believer commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray to God, who will give that person life. This applies to those whose sins do not lead to death. But there is sin which leads to death, and I do not say that you should pray to God about that.

"The servant who knows what his master wants him to do, but does not get himself ready and do it, will be punished with a heavy whipping.

Now that you know this truth, how happy you will be if you put it into practice!

They would not have been guilty of sin if I had not come and spoken to them; as it is, they no longer have any excuse for their sin.

They would not have been guilty of sin if I had not done among them the things that no one else ever did; as it is, they have seen what I did, and they hate both me and my Father.

and use every kind of wicked deceit on those who will perish. They will perish because they did not welcome and love the truth so as to be saved.

So then, if we do not do the good we know we should do, we are guilty of sin.