1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 has in these last times spoken to us in the Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, on account of whom also He structured the ages.
3 Who being the brightness of His glory and the exact image of His person, upholds all things by the word of his power. When he had accomplished the purification of sins, he then sat down on the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven.
4 He thus became so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they.
5 For to which of the angels said He at any time: You are my Son, this day have I begotten you? And again: I will be to him a Father and he shall be to me a Son?
6 And again, when He brings the firstborn into the world He says: And let all the angels of God worship him.
7 And of the angels He says: Who makes His angels winds, and His servants a flame a fire.
8 But of the Son He said: Your throne, O Mighty One, is for ever and ever, and the sceptre of your kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
10 And: You, Lord, in the beginning did lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands.
11 They shall perish, but You continue; and they all shall wear out as does a garment,
12 and like a cloak You shall roll them up as a garment, and they shall be changed; but You are the same and Your years are without end.
13 But of which of the angels has He said at any time: Sit on my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of those that shall inherit salvation?
1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest attention to the things that we heard, lest we drift away from them.
2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,
3 how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? Which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those that heard;
4 God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various powers and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will.
5 For not to angels did He subject the world to come, of which we speak.
6 But one has somewhere testified: What is man, that You are mindful of him? Or the Son of Man, that You visit him?
7 You made him a little lower than the angels, You crowned him with glory and honour and did set him over the works of Your hands;
8 You did put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that He subjected all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not see all things subjected to him.
9 But we behold him who has been made a little lower than the angels- Jesus- crowned with glory and honour because of his suffering of death, whereby, by the grace of God, he tasted death for every person.
10 For it became Him for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
11 For both he that sanctifies and they that are sanctified are all of the same nature. For this cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers,
12 saying: I will declare Your name to my brothers, in the midst of the congregation will I sing Your praise.
13 And again: I will put my trust in Him. And again: Behold, I and the children whom God has given me.
14 Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same nature; so that through his death he might bring to nothing him that had the power of death, that is, the Devil;
15 and might deliver all those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16 For truly not to angels does he take hold in association; but he took hold of the seed of Abraham.
17 Therefore in all things he had to be made like his brothers, so that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For because he himself suffered when tempted, he is able to succour those who are being tempted.
1 Therefore holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus,
2 who was faithful to Him that appointed him, as also was Moses in all his house.
3 For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, in that he that built the house has more honour than the house.
4 Every house is built by someone; but He that built all things is God.
5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken.
6 But Christ, as a Son over his own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope, remaining firm to the end. Learn the Lesson from Israel
7 Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit said: Today, if you shall hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, like the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.
10 Therefore I was displeased with this generation, and said: They do always err in their heart. They did not know My ways.
11 As I swore in My anger: They shall not enter into My rest.
12 Brothers, take care, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, causing you to depart from the living God.
13 But encourage one another day by day, so long as it is called today, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast to our original confidence, remaining firm to the end.
15 It is said: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.
16 For who, having heard, still rebelled? Was it not all those who followed Moses out of Egypt?
17 And with whom was He displeased for forty years? Was it not with those that sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom swore He that they should not enter into His rest, but to those that were disobedient?
19 So we see that they were not able to enter in because of their unbelief.
1 Therefore, while the promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any one of you should seem to have failed to attain it.
2 For indeed we have had good tidings preached to us, even as also they did; but the word they heard did not benefit them, because it was not united by faith with them that heard it.
3 For we who have believed do enter into that rest, even as He has said: As I swore in my anger: They shall not enter into My rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.
5 And in this place again: They shall not enter into My rest.
6 Seeing therefore it remains that some should enter therein, and they to whom the good tidings were earlier preached failed to enter in because of disobedience;
7 He again defines a certain day, a today, saying through David a long time afterwards (in the words already quoted): Today, if you shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts.
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken afterward of another day.
9 There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
10 For he that is entered into His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.
11 Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, that no one fall by the same kind of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, and pierces even to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and is quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.
13 And there is no creature that is not revealed to his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to give account. The Comfort of Christ's Humanity
14 Having then a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things, yet did not sin.
16 Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help us in our time of need.
1 For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
2 He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness;
3 and because of it, he is required to offer sacrifices both for his sins and also for the sins of the people.
4 And no one takes this honour to himself, but only when he is called by God, even as was Aaron.
5 So Christ also did not glorify himself to become a high priest, but He that spoke to him: You are my Son. This day have I begotten you.
6 As also He said elsewhere: You are a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek.
7 Who in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him that was able to save him from death, and was heard for his Godly fear;
8 though he was a Son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered.
9 And having been made perfect, he became to all those that obey him the author of eternal salvation,
10 pronounced by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
11 Of him we have much to say and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
12 For when by reason of the time, you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God; and have become as those in need of milk and not solid food.
13 For everyone that partakes of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
14 But solid food is for the mature, those who by experience of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.
1 Therefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press on to completion. Not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, faith toward God,
2 the teaching of baptisms and of laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment.
3 And if God permits, this will we do.
4 For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5 who tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6 but then fell away- it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God.
8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and in danger of being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
9 But beloved, though we speak in this manner, we are confident of better things for you; things that accompany salvation.
10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work, and the love which you have shown toward His Name, in that you serve the saints and still do.
11 And we desire that each one of you may show the same zeal to have the full assurance of hope until the end.
12 Do not be lazy, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. The Certainty of God's Promise
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He could swear by none greater, He swore by Himself,
14 saying: Surely blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you.
15 And thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
16 For men swear by something greater, and in every dispute of theirs, the oath is final for confirmation.
17 Therefore God, determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of His purpose, confirmed with an oath;
18 so that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us.
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast and passing into the presence beyond the veil;
20 into which as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
1 For this Melchizedek, king of Jerusalem, priest of God Most High, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him;
2 to whom also Abraham divided a tenth part of all. He was first, by interpretation, King of righteousness, and then also, King of Jerusalem, which is, King of peace.
3 He was without recorded father or mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life but presented as being like the Son of God, abiding a priest continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the spoils.
5 And they indeed of the sons of Levi that receive the priest's office have the commandment according to the law to take tithes from the people, that is, of their brothers; even though they are also descendants of Abraham.
6 Melchizedek was not descended from Levi by genealogy, but he took tithes of Abraham and blessed him that had received the promises.
7 But without any dispute the less is blessed of the better.
8 And here mortal men receive tithes; but there one received them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.
9 And, so to say, when Abraham paid the tithe, Levi, whose descendants receive the tithe, also paid a tithe.
10 For Levi was yet in the loins of his ancestor Abraham when Melchizedek met Abraham.
11 Now if there was perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be reckoned after the order of Aaron?
12 For the priesthood being changed requires also a change of the law.
13 For he of whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord originated from the tribe of Judah. Regarding this tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
15 And what we say is even more abundantly evident, if after the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another priest,
16 who has been appointed, not on the basis of a law about physical descent, but according to the power of an endless life.
17 For it is witnessed: You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
18 On the other hand, there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness
19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a bringing in thereupon of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
20 And the Melchizedek priesthood was not without the taking of an oath.
21 The Levitical priests were made priests without an oath, but he with an oath: The Lord swore and will not change His mind; you are a priest for ever.
22 By this also has Jesus become the surety of a better covenant.
23 And they indeed have been made priests many in number, because that by death they are hindered from continuing.
24 But he, because he abides for ever, has his priesthood unchangeable.
25 Therefore he is able to save for ever those that draw near to God through him, seeing he lives forever to make intercession for them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us- holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has been exalted higher than the heavens.
27 Who needs not to offer up sacrifices daily, like those high priests, first for his own sins and then for those of the people. For this he did once for all, when he offered up himself.
28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
1 Now in the things of which we are talking, the chief point is this. We have such a high priest who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
2 a servant of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.
3 For every high priest being appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, it is therefore necessary that this high priest also have these to offer.
4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are those who offer the gifts according to the law,
5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses is warned when he is about to make the tabernacle. For He said: See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
6 But now has he obtained a more excellent service, as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted upon better promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
8 For finding fault with them, He said: Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-
9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in My covenant, so I paid no attention to them.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws into their mind and in their heart also will I write them, and I will be to them a God and they shall be to Me a people.
11 None of them shall teach his neighbour, and none his brother, saying: Know the Lord. For all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will not remember against them.
13 In that He said: A new covenant, He has made the first redundant. Now what is becoming redundant and growing old is ready to vanish away.
1 The Mosaic Rituals Pointed Forward to Christ Now even the first covenant had regulations for Divine service and an earthly sanctuary.
2 For there was a tabernacle prepared, the first section, wherein was the candlestick, the table and the bread of the Presence, which is called the Holy Place.
3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies.
4 This had the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was a golden pot holding the manna and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant.
5 And above it were cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, of which things we cannot now speak in detail.
6 Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests went in continually into the first tabernacle, performing the services.
7 But into the second only the high priest went, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins of the people;
8 the Holy Spirit indicating that the way into the Holy Place was not yet made manifest whilst the first tabernacle remained
9 (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this system, both gifts and sacrifices were offered which could not make the worshiper perfect as relates to the conscience,
10 being merely foods, drinks and various washings, earthly ordinances imposed until a time of reformation.
11 But Christ having become a high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,
12 nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, he entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption.
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, could sanctify to the cleansing of the flesh-
14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15 And because of this, he is the mediator of a new covenant; that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
16 For where a will is of power, there must of necessity be the death of him that made it.
17 For a will is of force where there has been death; it does not have power while he that made it lives.
18 Therefore even the first covenant has not been dedicated without blood.
19 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
20 saying: This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded for you.
21 Moreover the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry he sprinkled in like manner with the blood.
22 And according to the law, I may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood; and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.
23 It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these things, but the heavenly things themselves had better sacrifices than these.
24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are only copies of the true ones; but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the actual presence of God for us.
25 Nor must he offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the Holy Place year by year with blood not his own.
26 Or else he must often have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now once at the end of the ages has he been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And inasmuch as it is appointed to men once to die and after this comes judgment,
28 so Christ also, having once been offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.
1 For the law having only a shadow of the good things to come, not the reality of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those that draw near.
2 Else would they not have ceased to be offered? Because the worshipers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins.
3 But in that sacrificial system there is a remembrance made of sins year by year.
4 For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.
5 Therefore when he came into the world, he said: Sacrifice and offering You did not want, but a body did You prepare for me.
6 In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.
7 Then said I: Behold, I come (in the roll of the book it is written about me) to do Your will, O God.
8 First he said: Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor did You have pleasure in them (all of which are offered according to the law).
9 Then he said: Behold, I come to do Your will. He takes away the first, that he may establish the second.
10 By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest indeed stands day by day serving, and offering often the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
12 But he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 from that time forward expectantly waiting until his enemies be made the footstool for his feet.
14 For by one offering he has perfected for ever those that are sanctified.
15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us. For after saying:
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and on their minds I will write them;
17 then is added: And their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more.
18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin required. The Practical Result of Christ's Sacrifice
19 Therefore brothers, having boldness to enter into the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
20 by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
21 and having a great priest over the house of God,
22 let us draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water;
23 let us hold fast the confession of our hope so that it does not waver. For He who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works,
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the habit of some is; but rather encouraging one another, and so much the more, as you see the day drawing near.
26 For if we sin wilfully after what we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries.
28 A man that set at nothing Moses' law died without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses.
29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, shall be considered those who have trodden underfoot the Son of God and have counted the blood of the covenant (with which they were sanctified) an unholy thing, and have insulted the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know Him that said: Vengeance belongs to Me, I will reward. And again: The Lord shall judge His people.
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 But call to remembrance the former days, when you were first enlightened. You endured a hard struggle, with sufferings;
33 partly in that you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly in that you became companions of those who were so treated.
34 For you had both compassion on them that were in bonds, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your own property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an enduring one.
35 Therefore do not throw away your boldness, which has great reward.
36 For you have need of patience, that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise.
37 For yet a very little while, and he that comes shall come and shall not delay further.
38 But My righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, My soul will have no pleasure in him.
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction about invisible things.
2 For on account of their faith, the elders had witness borne to them.
3 By faith we understand that the ages have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which appear. Abel, Enoch and Noah
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect to his gifts; and through it he, though being dead, still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was snatched away so that he should not be killed; and he was not found, because God had taken him away. He had witness borne to him, that before his being snatched away he had been well pleasing to God.
6 And without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to Him. For he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards those that seek after Him.
7 By faith Noah, being warned concerning things not seen as yet, moved with Godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed, and left for a place which he was to receive for an inheritance afterwards. And he left not knowing where he was going to.
9 By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as yet not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was past age, since she counted Him faithful who had made the promise.
12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude- innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them, and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things make it obvious that they are seeking after a country of their own.
15 And if indeed they had been mindful of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them- to be called their God. For He has prepared for them a city.
17 By faith Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he that had gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten son.
18 Even he to whom it was said: In Isaac shall your seed be called.
19 Abraham accounted that God is able to raise up, even from the dead. From where he did, figuratively, receive him back. Isaac, Jacob and Joseph
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones.
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a goodly child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.
24 By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
25 choosing instead to share ill treatment with the people of God, rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time;
26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. For he looked to the greater reward.
27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the anger of the king. For he endured, because he saw Him who is invisible.
28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborns should not touch them.
29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as if on dry land, which the Egyptians in trying to do were swallowed up. Joshua, Rahab and Many Others
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been compassed about for seven days.
31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those that were disobedient, having received the spies with peace.
32 And what more shall I say? For time will run out if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.
33 Those who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens.
35 Women received their dead by a resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
36 And others were tested by mockings and whippings, yes, also by bonds and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tested, they were killed with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
38 (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and the holes of the earth.
39 And these all, having had witness borne to them through their faith, did not receive the fulfilment of the promise;
40 God having provided some better thing involving us, that without us they should not be made perfect.
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking to Jesus the author and completer of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has been sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Think on him that endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you do not grow weary and lose heart.
4 In your striving against sin you have yet to resist to the point of shedding your blood. The Reason for Suffering
5 You have forgotten the word of encouragement which reasons with you as with sons: My son, do not regard lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor become faint when you are reproved by Him.
6 For the Lord disciplines those whom He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives.
7 Endure your sufferings as a father's chastening; it shows how God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father does not chastise?
8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have been made partakers, then aren't you illegitimate children and not real sons?
9 Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them respect; shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?
10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed good to them; but He for our profit, so that we may be partakers of His holiness.
11 All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields peaceable fruit to those that have been exercised thereby- the fruit of righteousness.
12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble knees,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be disabled further, but rather be healed.
14 Follow after peace with all men, and the holiness without which no one shall see the Lord.
15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many are defiled.
16 Ensure that no one is an immoral or Godless person like Esau, who for one meal sold his own birthright.
17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no conditions for a change of mind, though he sought it diligently with tears.
18 For you have not come to a mountain that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest,
19 and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words which they that heard them begged that no more words should be spoken to them.
20 For they could not endure that which was commanded- If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned.
21 And so fearful was the appearance that Moses said: I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.
22 But you have come to association with mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels,
23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborns, who are enrolled in heaven; and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
25 See you do not reject him that speaks. For if they did not escape when they rejected Him that warned them on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that warns from heaven.
26 Whose voice then shook the earth, but now He has promised, saying: Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And further: Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe.
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
1 Let love of the believers continue.
2 Do not forget to show love to strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
3 Remember those that are in bonds, as if you were bound with them; those that are ill treated, as being yourselves also in the body.
4 Let marriage be held in respect among all, and let the marital bed be undefiled. For fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
5 Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have. For God Himself has said: I will in no way fail you, neither will I in any way forsake you.
6 So that with good courage we can say: The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What shall man do to me?
7 Remember those that had the rule over you, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.
9 Do not be carried away by various and strange teachings. For it is good that the heart be established by grace- not with food laws, which have not profited those who have been so occupied with them.
10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.
11 For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the Holy Place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp.
12 Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate.
13 Let us therefore go to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach.
14 For we do not have here a permanent city, but we seek after one which is yet to come.
15 Through him, therefore, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God; that is, the fruit of lips which make confession to His Name.
16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive; for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
18 Pray for us. For we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honourably in all things.
19 And I exhort you the more exceedingly to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.
20 Now the God of peace, who brought from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus, through the blood of an eternal covenant,
21 perfect you in every good thing to do His will; working in you that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ. To whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
22 But I urge you, brothers, bear with this word of encouragement; for I have written to you in few words.
23 Be informed that our brother Timothy has been set at liberty; along with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you.
24 Greet all those that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy greet you.
25 Grace be with you all. Amen.