You need strongly suggests that the readers do not at present have the necessary endurance to carry them through to the end, so the meaning is “you lack,” “you still need.” See 5.12. The meaning of need, in the sense of lack as well as obligation, may be expressed by a modal form equivalent to “must”; for example, “You must be patient,” implying both the necessity of being patient in the future, as well as the implied lack of it in the present.

To be patient translates a noun related to the verb for “endure” used in verse 32 (see Revised Standard Version). Verse 34 uses a different Greek word for endured. “Waiting” is suggested in the verses which follow. This is not a passive attitude of mind, but an active refusal to let go of one’s faith.

Good News Translation does not make any explicit link between be patient, do the will of God, and receive what he promises. The most likely connection is that “patience” or “endurance” is a necessary condition for “doing the will of God,” and “doing the will of God” must come before “receiving what he promises.” Barclay brings this out well with “What you need is the power to see things through. If you have that, you will obey the will of God, and so receive what he has promised.” What he promises is literally “the promise,” but God has just been mentioned and is thus clearly implied. Similarly, the will of God implies an event and may be translated “what God wants (you to do).” On the will of God, see comments on 10.10. The purpose clause in this verse may be rendered in some languages as “in order to do what God wants you to do and in this way obtain what he promises to give you.” This indicates the relation between the various elements in the purpose clause.

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 .