Hebrews 12:15 (DRB)

Passage

Looking diligently, lest any man be wanting to the grace of God: lest any root of bitterness springing up do hinder and by it many be defiled:

Nearby Context

Hebrews 12:13 And make straight steps with your feet: that no one, halting, may go out of the way; but rather be healed.

Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men and holiness: without which no man shall see God.

Hebrews 12:15 Looking diligently, lest any man be wanting to the grace of God: lest any root of bitterness springing up do hinder and by it many be defiled:

Hebrews 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as Esau who for one mess sold his first birthright.

Hebrews 12:17 For know ye that afterwards, when he desired to inherit the benediction, he was rejected. For he found no place of repentance, although with tears he had sought it.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "grace", "looking", "diligently", "lest", "wanting", "root", and "bitterness". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "grace" and "looking", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "Follow peace with all men and holiness..." into verse 16's "Lest there be any fornicator or profane...", so "grace" and "looking" belong inside that flow. In Hebrews context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "grace" and "looking" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.