This verse is closely linked in meaning with verse 18, though it is a separate sentence grammatically. I beg you even more earnestly is a strong expression and may be rendered idiomatically as “with all my heart I ask you” or “with all the strength I have I plead with you.”

Revised Standard Version‘s literal “do this” is made explicit as to pray in Good News Translation and other translations. A comparison with Revised Standard Version also shows that the reference to God is implied. Some common language translations and most other translations have “the sooner” (so Revised Standard Version), implying “sooner than if you did not pray.” It may, however, simply mean “very soon” (New American Bible), “soon” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), or “as soon as possible” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .