Hebrews 12:16 (KJV)

Passage

Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

Nearby Context

Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Hebrews 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

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

Hebrews 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

Hebrews 12:18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lest", "fornicator", "profane", "person", "esau", "morsel", "meat", and "sold". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lest" and "fornicator", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "Looking diligently lest any man fail of..." into verse 17's "For ye know how that afterward when...", so "lest" and "fornicator" 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 "lest" and "fornicator" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.