Hebrews Chapter 13 verse 17 Holy Bible

ASV Hebrews 13:17

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit `to them': for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with grief: for this `were' unprofitable for you.
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BBE Hebrews 13:17

Give ear to those who are rulers over you, and do as they say: for they keep watch over your souls, ready to give an account of them; let them be able to do this with joy and not with grief, because that would be of no profit to you.
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DARBY Hebrews 13:17

Obey your leaders, and be submissive; for *they* watch over your souls as those that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not groaning, for this [would be] unprofitable for you.
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KJV Hebrews 13:17

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
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WBT Hebrews 13:17


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WEB Hebrews 13:17

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you.
read chapter 13 in WEB

YLT Hebrews 13:17

Be obedient to those leading you, and be subject, for these do watch for your souls, as about to give account, that with joy they may do this, and not sighing, for this `is' unprofitable to you.
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 17. - Obey them that have the rule over you (τοῖς ἡγουμένοις ὑμῶν, as in ver. 7), and submit yourselves (to them): for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it With joy, and not With grief (literally, groaning); for that is (rather, were) unprofitable for you (i.e. their ministry is for your profit; if its result be their giving in their account with groans, its whole purpose will be frustrated). In this allusion to the ἡγουμένοι as in vers. 7 and 24, there is evidence of the existence of a regular order of ministry in the Hebrew Churches, such as many allusions in St. Paul's Epistles show to have formed part of the constitution of the Churches to whom those Epistles were addressed (cf. also Acts 14:23 and Acts 20:17, 28, etc.). The word itself (ἡγουμένοι) which is here used might, indeed, denote any persons who took the lead in the congregations; but the urging of the duty of submission to them, in virtue of their office of watching for souls for which they would have to give account, shows plainly that a special order is here, as elsewhere, referred to. Observe also below, ver. 24, where "all the saints," i.e. what we should call the laity, are mentioned in distinction from the ἡγουμένοι. (For similar injunctions, cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:12 and 1 Timothy 5:17, τοὺς προεσταμένους ὑμῶν and οἱ προεστῶτες πρεσβύτεροι being the words there used.) The special injunction here to obey and submit may have been called for by some deficiency in this respect among the Hebrew Christians. Possibly it was among the people rather than the pastors that there were any signs of wavering between the Church and the synagogue, and that one purpose of the admonition is to strengthen the hands of the former, in whom confidence is placed.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(17) The present section of the chapter begins (Hebrews 13:7) and ends (Hebrews 13:17) with a reference to the rulers of the Church: Remember your former leaders, and imitate their faith; obey them that lead you now.Submit yourselves.--Better, yield (to them). Besides fulfilling their injunctions, be ready to comply with their wishes and requests.For they watch.--The Greek is emphatic: "For it is they that watch on behalf of your souls as having to give account."That they may do it.--Be obedient and yielding to them, that they may do this (may watch for your souls) with joy and not sighing (or, groaning), for this would be unprofitable for you; if ye so live that they must watch over you with grief, this will both weaken their hands and bring on you the divine displeasure. No words could more powerfully present to members of the Church the motives for obedience to their spiritual guides; and to these guides themselves the ideal of their work and life, as men who are keeping watch for souls, either with rejoicing or with mourning (Acts 20:31), ever mindful of the account they must give to God for the flock which He entrusted to their care (Ezekiel 3:18; Ezekiel 33:7; Ezekiel 34:10; 1Peter 5:4). . . .