1 Since, then, we have so great a cloud of witnesses placed before us, laying aside every encumbrance, and the sin which easily entangles us, let us run, with perseverance, the race set before us;2 looking to Jesus, the leader and perfecter of the faith; who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.