Verses 20-21 are combined in Good News Translation, since the God of peace belongs to verse 20 in the Greek, but has been moved to the beginning of verse 21, the second sentence in Good News Bible. Verse 20 recalls Isaiah 63.11.

It was common for Christians to end their letters with prayer, praise, and blessing; see, for example, 1 Thessalonians 5.23 and 1 Peter 5.11. But these closing words are not merely a formality; the writer weaves into this long sentence some of the most important key words of the letter, including “blood” (sacrificial death) and covenant.

The main difficulty in this long sentence is to decide on the relation between raised, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, and his death, by which the eternal covenant is sealed. The third phrase is literally “by the blood of the eternal covenant” (Revised Standard Version). The two possibilities are (a) God raised Jesus by means of “the blood of the eternal covenant”; (b) Jesus became the Great Shepherd of the sheep by means of his sacrificial death, by which the eternal covenant is sealed. Choice (a) is the basis for Moffatt‘s translation “May the God of peace who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, with the blood of the eternal covenant….” New English Bible has “who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus … by the blood of the eternal covenant,” but the idea of Christ’s “blood” (sacrificial death) being the means of his “resurrection” is difficult, especially since “God” is the subject of the sentence. Most modern translations choose (b).

Raised means literally “brought up”; this is not a common way of speaking of the resurrection, but the meaning is nonetheless clear.

God has raised from death our Lord Jesus may be expressed as “God has caused our Lord Jesus to live again.”

In this sentence the writer uses the language of Isaiah 63.11 (Shepherd of the sheep; for Great, compare 4.14); Zechariah 9.11 (“with the blood of the covenant,” Revised Standard Version); and Isaiah 55.3 (eternal covenant). Who is the Great Shepherd of the sheep may require marking as a figurative expression; for example, “who is like a Wonderful Shepherd for the sheep.” Otherwise some readers might think that Jesus has now become a chief shepherd over a flock of sheep.

As the result of his sacrificial death may be expressed as “because he died as a sacrifice.”

By which the eternal covenant is sealed may be expressed as “by his death he established the covenant which will last forever.”

The last part of this passage is a prayer directed to God. Therefore it may be necessary to introduce the prayer by a statement such as “I pray that.” The translators of Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch first edition felt that prayers in the subjunctive, corresponding to the English May … God, are no longer part of common language. They therefore restructured the text to say:

I pray to God, who gives us peace…. I ask him to help you to do all the good he wants to be done. He himself will do in us what pleases him. He does it through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise for all times. Amen.

The text of verse 21, the second sentence in Good News Translation, is doubtful at several points:
(a) After every good thing (thing is implied) most manuscripts add “work,” but this is not included in some of the best manuscripts. Among modern translations it is included only in Jerusalem Bible as “good action” (not in Bible de Jérusalem).
(b) After Revised Standard Version‘s “working,” some good manuscripts add a word meaning “to him” (unintelligible in this context), which is omitted in translation.
(c) In place of Revised Standard Version‘s “working in you,” the UBS Greek text has “working in us.”
(d) The UBS Greek text has “forever [and ever],” indicating doubt as to whether the last two words are part of the original text. The difference is one of emphasis rather than meaning.

Revised Standard Version‘s “in his sight” is literally “before him”; Good News Translation‘s what pleases him gives the meaning.

The term peace in the expression the God of peace may be understood as a causative; for example, “the God who causes peace.” In this context, in which the reference is to the covenant, peace may be understood in terms of reconciliation; for example, “the God who causes reconciliation.”

Provide or “equip” you with every good thing you need in order to do his will recalls Philippians 2.13; see also Hebrews 11.5-6; 13.16. The writer speaks of “doing God’s will” in terms of an active task, not just passive acceptance of one’s fate. Earlier he has shown that for Jesus (10.7, 9), as for Christians (10.36), “suffering” formed part of “doing God’s will,” but now he is emphasizing the positive achievement and victory of Christ.

Provide you with every good thing you need in order to do his will may also be rendered as “give to you all that is good which you need in order to do what he wants you to do” or “… all that is good and necessary in order to do what he desires you to do.”

The first part of the prayer to the God of peace relates to what the believer himself should be doing in order to accomplish God’s will, while the second part relates to what the believer himself should become. This second part may then be rendered as “may he make of us what he would have us to be.” With this type of statement the phrase through Jesus Christ may be made a separate clause; for example, “this he will do through Jesus Christ” or “he will do this by causing Jesus Christ to accomplish it.”

The closest equivalent to the statement to Christ be the glory forever and ever may be an admonition for praise or honor; for example, “Christ is the one to be praised forever and ever” or “let us honor Christ forever and ever.”

In this context Amen fits well because this is the end of a prayer to God.

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 .