Let us be thankful may be rendered as “We should be thankful” or “We should thank God.” Manuscripts vary between “we are” and “let us be grateful,” and “we worship” and “let us worship”. Good News Translation and most other translations follow the UBS Greek text. The Greek phrase is common both in the New Testament (see 1 Tim 1.12; 2 Tim 1.3; Rom 7.25) and in non-Christian Greek literature of the same period.
The meaning of receive a kingdom is uncertain. On the meaning of kingdom, see comments on 1.8. Most commonly in the New Testament it refers to God’s rule over believers, and some older commentators have understood receive a kingdom to mean (a) “accept God’s rule over us in faith.” However, this seems both rather weak in itself and also difficult to fit in with the context (especially that cannot be shaken). It is therefore probably better to understand receive a kingdom as (b) “receive from God the right to rule with him,” as in Daniel 7.14, 18, and Gospel texts such as Matthew 19.28; 25.34; Luke 12.32; 22.30. (c) Elsewhere in Hebrews the writer speaks of Christians as being like Israel on the way to the promised land (3.7–4.12), and of believers looking for a permanent place to live (11.13-16). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch accordingly translates “We want to be grateful, because we receive a homeland which cannot be taken away from us.” In support of this use of “homeland” it may be noted that Deuteronomy 4.24, quoted in the next verse, occurs in a passage about the promised land.
The passages from Daniel and the gospels mentioned in the last paragraph suggest that receive a kingdom in this verse may include also the meaning “receive from God a heavenly ‘place’ in which to rule with him.” If so, an alternative translation would be “because we have been given the privilege of ruling, and this will never change.”
“Thus” (Revised Standard Version), omitted by Good News Translation, is literally “through which,” referring back either to “thanks” or to “kingdom.” If it is taken with “thanks,” Revised Standard Version‘s “thus” and New English Bible‘s “and so” are adequate.
Let us be grateful and worship God may be rendered as “We should be grateful to God and worship him.”
In a way that will please him may be expressed as “in a manner with which he will be pleased” or “… which will cause him to be glad.”
Reverence and awe overlap considerably in meaning. In 5.7 Good News Bible translates the same Greek word for reverence as humble and devoted. Awe is literally “fear.” One or two translations use “godly fear” (Moffatt) or “holy fear,” to avoid suggesting an unworthy, nonbiblical idea of being afraid of God. A single term may be used for reverence and awe if this is natural in the receptor language. Since in a number of languages the usual equivalents of reverence and “fear” are almost contradictory in meaning, it may be best to combine the meanings as “with great reverence” or “by showing great honor.”
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 .