1

¹ The supremacy of the Son God, having spoken to the fathers through the prophets in many parts and in various ways, in the past,

² has at the end of these days spoken to us by Son, I take it that ‘Son’ is being used like a proper name. whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the ages; That’s what the Text says, although most versions render ‘worlds’, which seems to make better sense, at least at first glance. But let’s stop and think a minute—since God is eternal, the concept of ‘time’ may be part and parcel of this Creation, limited to it and perhaps be a defining characteristic, along with space. But ‘ages’ is plural, and how does one distinguish one age from another? Presumably by the events of history—in other words, the Son controls the history of this planet.

³ who being the projection of His glory and the very image of His essence, and sustaining all things by the expression of His [S] Here the pronoun refers to the Son; the previous occurrences refer to the Father. Below, whenever the referent changes I will indicate this by [F] or [S], which will be good until the next change. own power, when He had by Himself provided purification for our sins He sat down on the highest Majesty’s right,

⁴ having become so much superior to the angels as He has inherited a more excellent name than they have.

⁵ He is superior to the angels For to which of the angels did He [F] ever say, “You are my Son, today I begot you”, and again, “I will be ‘Father’ to Him, and He will be ‘Son’ to me”?

⁶ Again, when He introduces the Firstborn In Hebrew culture the firstborn son usually inherited the lion’s share of the father’s estate (so as not to splinter the estate) and was thus the boss, so the expression ‘firstborn’ took on the extended meaning of ‘preeminent’, which I take to be the intended meaning here. But as the God-man Christ was both only-begotten and firstborn. into the inhabited earth I assume that this must have happened at the incarnation of the Son. He says, “Let all God’s angels worship Him [S] ”.

⁷ Further, about the angels He [F] says, “Who makes His angels winds, The Greek word here also means ‘spirits’, but ‘winds’ fits the Hebrew parallelism better. His servants flames of fire”;

⁸ while to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; ‘Scepter of Uprightness’ I take ‘Scepter of Uprightness’ to be a proper name (like the sword ‘Excalibur’). is the scepter of Your kingdom.

⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness, therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of exultation beyond Your companions.”

¹⁰ Also: “You, LORD , The quote is from Psalm 102:25-27, and in that context it is Jehovah who is being addressed, Jehovah the Son. This is one of several passages in the New Testament that contradict the heresy of the ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ and Mormons that denies that Jesus Christ is Jehovah. in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are works of Your hands;

¹¹ they will perish but You continue on—they will all grow old like a garment;

¹² You will roll them up like a cloak and they will be changed, while You stay the same and Your years will never end.”

¹³ On the other hand, to which of the angels did He ever say, “Sit on my right until I place your enemies as a stool under your feet”?

¹⁴ Are they not all ministering spirits being sent This participle being in the present tense, I take it that this is an ongoing activity. to serve those who are going to inherit salvation?

2

¹ Do not neglect the great salvation So then, we really must pay the utmost attention to the things we have heard, so that we not drift away.

² For if the word spoken through angels became binding, and every violation and disobedience received a deserved penalty, When was that? Zacharias was punished for not believing Gabriel, but the clearest example that comes to mind is the angels’ warning to Sodom through Lot.

³ how shall we escape if we are careless about that tremendous salvation?—it received its beginning through the Lord’s declaration and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him [S] , By expressing himself in this way the author let’s us know that he was not one of the Twelve.

⁴ God adding His [F] attestation by signs, wonders, various miracles, and distributions of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.

⁵ Temporarily lower than the angels Because it is not to angels that He has subjected the coming inhabited earth, The new earth that follows this one will not be administered by angels, so who will do the administering? I agree with those who hold that this life is a classroom wherein the redeemed are being prepared for their functions in the new earth, and some of those functions will be administrative. about which we are speaking;

⁶ rather, there is a place where someone testified I find this turn of phrase to be curious; the author knew his Old Testament well, and presumably knew he was citing a Psalm (8:4-6)—why such a roundabout reference? saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, or son of man that you care for him?

⁷ You made him lower than the angels, for a little while; The human being is superior to the angelic being in essence; we bear God’s image and they don’t, and once glorified that superiority will be obvious, but only for the redeemed. Those who serve Satan subordinate themselves to him, and thus can never rise above him. If Lucifer’s rebellion was provoked, as I suppose, by the creation of a being superior to himself, he is doing very well at getting his ‘revenge’, by depriving the vast majority of humanity of that superiority (and so the next verse does not apply to them). You crowned him with glory and honor, Some 25% of the Greek manuscripts add, “and set him over the works of your hands”, as in TR, AV, NKJV.

⁸ You subjected all things under his feet.” It follows that in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not so subjected. However, we do not yet see everything subjected to him, at present.

⁹ But we do see Jesus, who ‘was made lower than the angels, for a little while’ (in order to suffer death), ‘crowned with glory and honor’—this, by the grace of God, so that He [S] might taste death on behalf of everyone. ‘Everyone’ is not a synonym for ‘the elect’. The death of Christ is adequate, sufficient to provide salvation for all human beings, and is there for them; of course not all actually avail themselves of it (many never even heard about it)—in fact, the Lord Jesus referred to them as ‘few’ in His day (Mt. 7:14).

¹⁰ “Bringing many sons into glory” Because it was appropriate to Him [F] , for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons into glory, This contrasts with the many more who will never see the glory. to perfect the Author of their salvation through sufferings.

¹¹ For both He [S] who is sanctifying and those who are being sanctified are all from One, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them ‘brothers’,

¹² saying, “I will declare Your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing praise to You.”

¹³ And again, “I will put my trust in Him [F] ”; and again, “Here am I and the children whom God has given me.” See Psalms 22:22, 2 Samuel 22:3, Isaiah 8:17-18—the author knew his Old Testament.

¹⁴ Since, then, the children have flesh and blood as their share, He [S] Himself likewise partook of the same, in order that through His death He might abolish the one who had Had, not ‘has’ (as in NIV, etc.)—in Rev. 1:18 the glorified Christ affirms that He now holds the ‘keys’. the power of death—that is, the devil—

¹⁵ and set free these [the children] who during their whole lifetime were subject to slavery through fear of death. The fear of death is a bad master; it drives people to do incredibly stupid things.

¹⁶ (Now surely He does not assist angels, but He does assist Abraham’s seed.)

¹⁷ That is why He was obliged to become like those ‘brothers’ in all respects, so that He could be a merciful and faithful high priest, in what concerns God, with a view to making propitiation ‘Propitiation’ is a theological term; God’s righteous character has been outraged by human sin, and something must be done to ‘satisfy’/’pacify’ that outraged character. Christ’s sacrifice propitiated God, satisfied/pacified His outraged character. for the sins of the people.

¹⁸ For in that in which He Himself endured suffering, having been tested, The Greek word here covers both ‘to test’ and ‘to tempt’ (to tempt is to test one’s moral fiber), the choice in English being guided by the context. Jesus was not tested only in the area of morals; He was tested physically as well. We too are tested in a variety of ways. He is able to assist those who are being tested.

3

¹ The Apostle and High Priest of our confession So then, holy brothers, you who share in the celestial calling, do contemplate the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus Christ!

² who was faithful to the One who appointed Him, as also was Moses in all His [F] house.

³ For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than was Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself

⁴ —every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God—

⁵ also, Moses was indeed faithful as a servant in all His house, providing evidence of those things that would later be spoken, A curious statement—he provided evidence before it was called for, as it were. Of course Moses is referred to many times in the Scriptures written after his day.

⁶ but Christ is faithful as a Son over His house, whose house are we, if, that is, we hold fast the confidence, even the boast, of the Hope I take it that the Hope has to do with eternal life. To still be part of the ‘house’ at the end, one must never give up the confidence. firm to the end.

⁷ The Holy Spirit’s warning Therefore—just as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you would hear His voice,

⁸ do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, during the time of the testing In the context the people were testing God, not vice-versa. in the desert,

⁹ where your fathers tested me, proved me and saw my works for forty years.

¹⁰ In consequence I became very angry with that generation and said, ‘Their heart always leads them astray; they have not known my ways.’

¹¹ So I took an oath in my wrath, ‘As if they will ever enter my rest!’”—

¹² take care, brothers, that there not be a malignant heart of unbelief in any of you, so as to go away from Notice the direction. The term ‘malignant’ implies Satanic influence. the living God;

¹³ rather, exhort yourselves The pronoun here is reflexive, not reciprocal, but being plural probably includes both ideas—each one should exhort himself, but we should also exhort each other. every day, while it is called ‘today’, so that none of you be hardened through sin’s deceitfulness.

¹⁴ For we have become associates of the Christ, if, that is, we hold fast the beginning of the Endeavor I take it that the Christian life or walk with God is called ‘the Endeavor’ (much like ‘the Way’); people usually start with confidence and enthusiasm, but frequently slow down as the going gets rough. firm to the end,

¹⁵ while it is still being said, “Today, There comes a time when the window of opportunity is closed, and there are no more ‘todays’. if you would hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

¹⁶ So who were they who, upon hearing, rebelled? Really now, wasn’t it all those who came out of Egypt by Moses? Strictly speaking, since the Original Text did not use question marks, this verse could be translated as a statement: “For some, having heard, did rebel, but not all who came out of Egypt by Moses.” However, since those who did not rebel were very few, a minuscule fraction of the people, most versions treat the verse as a question, as I have done.

¹⁷ And with whom was He [F] angry for forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the desert?

¹⁸ Or to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, if not to those who disobeyed?

¹⁹ So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. The implication is clear; if we disobey it’s because we don’t really believe—see 4:6 below.

4

¹ Therefore we should fear, since a promise of entering His rest still stands, lest any one of you should expect to have come short of it. This verse is a continuation of the whole preceding paragraph that emphasizes the need to persevere in faith, so as to enter the rest. If someone decides he has already fallen short, he will likely give up, stop trying.

² There is still a promised rest Really, because we are continually hearing good news Strictly speaking it should be “we are continually being good-newsed / evangelized”, but to try to make a verb out of ‘good news’ is awkward; on the other hand ‘evangelize’ has the connotation of preaching the Gospel to an unbeliever, which is not the point here. I take the ‘good news’ here to be God’s Truth, on any and all topics. just like they did, but the word that they heard did not profit them, since they were not intimately united with the faith of those who obeyed.

³ Now we who have believed do enter that rest, just as He has said, “So I took an oath in my wrath, ‘As if they will ever enter my rest!’”—His works were certainly finished from the foundation of the world,

⁴ because somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day like this, “And on the seventh day God rested from all His works,”

⁵ while again, in this place, “As if they will ever enter my rest!” Dear me, this is the third citation of the oath! When He took it, God was ‘very angry’ (3:10); is the author implying that 1,500 years later God is similarly angry with those who insist on disobeying? Then it will still be true in our day (another 2,000 years later).

⁶ Therefore since it remains for some to enter into it, and those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not enter because of disobedience,

⁷ He again designates a certain day, after such a long time, About 500 years. saying through David: “Today” (as was stated above), “Today, if you would hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”

⁸ Because if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken afterward of another day.

⁹ So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

¹⁰ Further, the one having entered into His rest has himself also rested from his own works, We enter God’s rest through faith in Christ’s Work, not through our own works. just as God did from His.

¹¹ We must give an account Therefore, let us take pains to enter into that rest so that no one may fall through the same pattern of disobedience.

¹² Because the Word of God is living and efficient, and sharper than any two-edged sword, actually penetrating to the point of separating soul and spirit, If soul and spirit can be separated, they obviously cannot be the same thing, just as joints and marrow are not the same thing. joints and marrow; in fact, it is able to evaluate a heart’s reflections and intentions. Meditating on God’s Word can be uncomfortable; it is a ‘mirror’ that tells us the truth about ourselves.

¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from His sight; rather all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. We must give an account to a Judge who knows ALL the facts. This knowledge really ought to turn us into serious people, diligent seekers of God, but . . . .

¹⁴ We have a Great high Priest Therefore, since we have a Great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast the Confession.

¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but He was tested in all points, in similar ways, without sin.

¹⁶ So let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, that we may receive mercy and find grace, for timely help.

5

¹ Qualifications for high priesthood Now every high priest taken from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins,

² being able to deal gently A gentle priest is a comfort. with those who sin in ignorance and go astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness.

³ Because of this he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well, just as he does for the people’s.

⁴ Also, no one receives this honor on his own, but upon being called by God, just like Aaron.

⁵ Christ meets the qualifications So also Christ did not exalt Himself to become High Priest, but it was He [F] who said to Him [S] , “You are my Son; today I have begotten You.”

⁶ Just as He [F] also says in another place, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

⁷ He [S] , in the days of His flesh, having offered up both prayers and supplications, with a loud cry and tears, to the One who was able to save Him from death, and having been answered because of His godly fear, I believe the reference is to Gethsemane. Note that there was a single loud (desperate?) cry (that should have roused the drowsy disciples). His anguish was so severe that Jesus literally passed blood through the pores in His skin—normally fatal. I suspect that the fear mentioned here was the fear that He would die prematurely, there in the garden. He came to die, certainly, but it had to be on the cross. So the Father sent angels to strengthen Him, to keep Him from dying prematurely.

⁸ although being SON, He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

⁹ And having been completed His qualifications to become High Priest were completed. As God, what could He know about suffering and obedience, except in theory? While in human form Jesus literally learned obedience—He had to feel it like we feel it. He became the Source of eternal salvation for all those obeying Him, That’s what the Text says; we must obey Him.

¹⁰ having been designated by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek”;

¹¹ concerning whom we have much to say, but it is hard to explain, since you have become sluggish in hearing.

¹² “Let’s move on toward perfection” Really, because although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary principles of God’s oracles all over again; you have come to the point of needing milk, not solid food!

¹³ Surely; whoever lives on milk is an infant, and therefore unskilled in the word of righteousness.

¹⁴ On the other hand, solid food is for the mature, those who by habitual use have trained their senses to distinguish good from bad.

6

¹ Therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about Christ, let us move on toward perfection, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and trust in God,

² of teaching about baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

³ We will do this, that is, if indeed God should permit it.

⁴ No one kills Jesus twice Because, it is impossible to bring back into repentance those who were once for all enlightened, who have partaken The verb here—whether ‘to taste’, ‘to partake’, ‘to obtain’ or ‘to come to know’—has to do with experience. of the heavenly gift and were made sharers in the Holy Spirit, It seems clear enough that the reference is to people who have the Holy Spirit.

⁵ who have experienced God’s good event I take it that ‘God’s good event’ refers to regeneration. and capabilities of the coming age,

⁶ and yet have fallen away—they would be crucifying the Son of God all over again, just for themselves, holding Him up to contempt. No amount of theological shifting and squirming can nullify the plain meaning of this verse. The only way to crucify Jesus again is if you have already done so once before. No one is going to kill Jesus twice; if the first time wasn’t good enough for you, you’ve had it!

⁷ Now the ground that drinks in the rain that frequently falls on it and produces a crop useful to those for whom it is really cultivated receives blessing from God;

⁸ but should it bear thorns and thistles, it is disqualified, almost a curse, whose destiny is a burning. This ground was cultivated, not an unplowed weed patch, and planted with good seed; if it still produces thorns and thistles there’s something wrong with it. Thistle seeds need to be burned, not plowed under.

⁹ A word of encouragement For all that, dear ones, we are confident of the better things concerning you—things that accompany salvation—even though we speak like this.

¹⁰ Because God is not unjust so as to ignore your work, even the labor of love you have invested in His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.

¹¹ You see, we really do want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so as to fulfill the hope;

¹² so that you not become lazy, but rather imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. We inherit the promises through faith and perseverance—the author keeps insisting: we have to persevere, hang on, stay with it, whatever, until the end of our earthly life.

¹³ Our secure anchor Now when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself

¹⁴ saying, “Indeed, blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” I didn’t want to lose the Hebrew idiom; a freer rendering would be, “Indeed, I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply you greatly”—the ‘multiply’ referring to descendants.

¹⁵ And so, after he had been patient, Well, his ‘patience’ was an up and down thing (Ishmael, and all that), but he never gave up altogether. he obtained the promise.

¹⁶ Because since men swear by the greater, and for them the confirming oath puts an end to every dispute,

¹⁷ similarly God, being determined to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchanging nature of His purpose, guaranteed it by an oath,

¹⁸ so that by two unalterable things in which it is impossible for God to lie we should have a strong encouragement, we who have taken refuge by grasping the hope set before us;

¹⁹ which hope we have as an anchor for the soul, both certain and secure, Oh, praise God! With an ‘anchor’ like that we have every reason to persevere. actually entering the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,

²⁰ where Forerunner Jesus has entered on our behalf, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

7

¹ Melchizedek, priest and king Now this Melchizedek—king of Salem, priest of God Most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

² to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all (first, his name means ‘king of righteousness’, and then again ‘king of Salem’, which means ‘king of peace’),

³ without father, without mother, without genealogy; having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but having been made like the Son of God One wonders if Melchizedek wasn’t some sort of theophany. —remains a priest continually.

⁴ Melchizedek greater than Abraham Now consider how great this personage was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils:

⁵ You see, those of the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood have a command, according to the Law, to collect a tithe from the people—that is, from their brothers—even though they too came out of Abraham’s body;

⁶ but he whose descent is not counted among them collected a tithe from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.

⁷ Now without dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater.

⁸ Also, here men who die receive tithes, but there he of whom it is testified that he lives

⁹ —in a word, even Levi, who receives tithes, paid the tithe through Abraham,

¹⁰ because he was still in the reproductive system of his fore-father when Melchizedek met him. This is instructive. The inspired author affirms that Levi was in Abraham and also paid the tithe to Melchizedek, but when Abraham met Melchizedek not even Isaac had been born yet, much less Jacob and Levi. So the human spirit, the ‘image’ of the Creator, is transmitted by the male sperm. This agrees with Romans 5:12-21, where we are informed that Adam’s sin contaminated all his descendants. When Eve sinned, she sinned alone. When Adam sinned, we did too.

¹¹ Melchizedek greater than Aaron Now then, if there could be perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people had received the Law), what further need would there be for a different kind of priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, rather than being called according to the order of Aaron?

¹² (Because when the priesthood is changed there is also a change of law, of necessity.)

¹³ For He of whom these things are said belongs to a different tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar.

¹⁴ For it is evident that our Lord arose out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.

¹⁵ And it all becomes clearer still if a different kind of priest, in the likeness of Melchizedek, appears,

¹⁶ who has come, not on the basis of a law about a physical rule but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. ‘An indestructible life’—that’s how come He can be ‘a priest forever’.

¹⁷ Because He testifies: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

¹⁸ You see, there is an annulling of the former rule because of its weakness and uselessness

¹⁹ (for the Law made nothing perfect), and a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

²⁰ Our eternal High Priest represents us eternally Further, inasmuch as it was not without the taking of an oath

²¹ —they indeed had become priests without an oath-taking, but He [S] with an oath by Him [F] who said to Him [S] : “The LORD has sworn and will not change His [F] mind; you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek”—

²² by so much Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

²³ Also, there have been many priests because death prevented them from continuing in office ;

²⁴ while He [S] , because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.

²⁵ Therefore He is able to save absolutely Wonderful! those who come to God through Him, since He always lives and can intercede on their behalf.

²⁶ Now such a High Priest was fitting for us—holy, innocent, undefiled, having been set apart from sinners, and having become higher than the heavens—

²⁷ who, unlike those high priests, does not need to offer up daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; because He did this once for all when He offered up Himself.

²⁸ The Law appoints as high priest men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, that came after the Law, appointed Son, forever perfect. The Text has, literally, ‘having been perfected’ (or ‘completed’, or ‘consecrated’); the result of ‘having been perfected’ is to be perfect, and it is the result that is eternal, not the process.

8

¹ Priest and Mediator of a better covenant Now the main point of the things we are saying is this: We do have such a High Priest, who sat down He took His seat; it was His prerogative. at the right of the Majesty’s throne in the heavens,

² Minister of the Holy Places, that is, of the true Tabernacle which the Lord set up, not man.

³ Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices (it follows that it is necessary for this One also to have something He might offer)

⁴ —if He were on earth He would not be a priest, there already being priests who offer the gifts according to the Law;

⁵ who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things The Tabernacle assembled by Moses was but a ‘shadow’ of the real thing; which probably means that the spiritual realm is more ‘real’ than the physical one—which is difficult for us to believe, so very few live on that basis. (that is why Moses was warned by God when he was ready to assemble the Tabernacle: “See to it,” He says, “that you make everything according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain”)—

⁶ but now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, just as He is Mediator of a better covenant, which was enacted as law on the basis of better promises. [Wow! How’s that for convoluted syntax—verses 3-6 form a single sentence. It almost feels ‘Pauline’!]

⁷ A new covenant Now if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for a second one;

⁸ but finding fault with them That’s right, the people, since they didn’t live up to the covenant. The following quote is from Jeremiah 31:31-34. He says: “Listen! Days are coming,” says the LORD , “when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah The author equates the second covenant, inaugurated by Christ, with Jeremiah’s new covenant, so the reference to ‘the house of Israel’ and ‘the house of Judah’ means that there are no ‘lost’ tribes—God knows who they are and where they are (see Rev. 7:4-8). —

⁹ not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not abide by my covenant and so I disregarded them,” says the LORD .

¹⁰ “Now 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 write them on their hearts; and I will be their God and they will be my people.

¹¹ Further, not one of them will teach his neighbor and not one his brother saying, ‘Get to know the LORD !’ because they all will know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

¹² For I will be merciful to their wrongdoings; I will not at all remember their sins and lawless deeds.”

¹³ By saying ‘new’ He has made the first one ‘old’; and what is obsolete and aging is near the end.

9

¹ The earthly sanctuary Now that first covenant did indeed have regulations for divine service and the earthly sanctuary.

² Yes, a tabernacle was set up: the first part, which is called the Holy Place, in which were the lamp stand, the table and the showbread;

³ and behind the second curtain an area called the Holy of Holies,

⁴ having a golden censer The normal meaning of the Greek word here is precisely ‘censer’, but unfortunately modern versions like NIV, TEV, LB, NASB render ‘altar of incense’, thus setting up a contradiction with the Old Testament. According to Exodus 30:6 the altar of incense was placed in front of the curtain leading into the Holy of Holies, and so it was in the Holy Place, not the Holy of Holies. The only reference to this particular censer appears to be in Leviticus 16:12, where it was to be used behind the second curtain to hide the Ark with smoke. Since that censer would only be used once a year (on the day of atonement), it may well have been stored just behind a corner of the second curtain (where the high priest could retrieve it without looking in) and thus the author of Hebrews would be correct in saying that the censer was behind the second curtain, whereas the altar was in front of it. In any event, evidently that censer was only used within the Holy of Holies, and so it would be appropriate to say that the area ‘had’ a golden censer. and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold—in it were a golden jar holding the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant;

⁵ while above it were cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat (this is not the place to go into detail about them). Oh, but I wish he had!

⁶ The service of the sanctuary Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests continually went into the first part, performing the divine services,

⁷ but into the second one only the high priest could go, once a year and only with blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins of ignorance;

⁸ the Holy Spirit was making clear that the way into the Most Holy Place was not yet open to the public while the first tabernacle was still in existence.

⁹ It was a figure during the time then present, a time when both gifts and sacrifices were being offered that were incapable of clearing the conscience of the worshipper—

¹⁰ they were only about foods and drinks and various ceremonial washings and physical regulations, things imposed until the time of restructuring. Or, ‘the time of getting it right’.

¹¹ Christ serves in the heavenly sanctuary But Christ entered once for all into the real Holy Places, having obtained eternal redemption—He had come as High Priest of the good things that are about to be, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,

¹² and with His own blood, not that of goats and calves.

¹³ For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who had been ceremonially defiled, restored ceremonial purity to the body,

¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the Holy Spirit We are accustomed to ‘the Eternal Spirit’, an attractive reading; I have followed the best line of transmission, albeit supported by only some 30% of the Greek manuscripts, plus the Latin tradition. offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

¹⁵ For this reason He is mediator of a new covenant, so that those who have been called ‘Who have been called’—the author alludes to God’s sovereignty. may receive the promised eternal inheritance—since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant.

¹⁶ The earthly sanctuary inaugurated with blood Now where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be established;

¹⁷ because a will is in force after men are dead, since it never takes effect while the one who made it lives.

¹⁸ Therefore, not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood;

¹⁹ because when every commandment of the Law had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people,

²⁰ saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has decreed to you.”

²¹ Then he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the divine service with the blood in the same way.

²² In fact, according to the Law nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

²³ The heavenly sanctuary inaugurated with Christ’s blood So then, it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with such, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than those.

²⁴ For Christ did not enter into Holy Places made by hands, mere copies of the true ones, The ‘real’ world is the spirit world, not the physical. but into Heaven itself, now to appear in God’s presence on our behalf;

²⁵ but not in order to offer Himself repeatedly, like the high priest who entered the Most Holy Place year by year with another’s blood

²⁶ —otherwise He would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world; but now, once for all at the end of the ages, He has been revealed to nullify sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

²⁷ Also, inasmuch as men are destined to die but once, after which the judgment, This verse contradicts any notion of ‘reincarnation’. We only die once.

²⁸ so the Christ also, having been offered once for all to bear the sins of many—He will appear a second time to those who are eagerly waiting for Him, apart from sin, into salvation. I suppose this is a reference to the Rapture, but however we receive our glorified bodies, at that point we receive our definitive transferal ‘into salvation’.

10

¹ Animal blood is insufficient You see, the Law is but a shadow of the good things to come, not their actual matter, so it can never perfect those who approach with the same sacrifices that they offer endlessly, year after year.

² Otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshippers would have had no more consciousness of sins, having been cleansed once for all?

³ However, those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins,

⁴ because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵ “I have come to do Your will, O God” Therefore, upon coming into the world He says: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You prepared a body for me; When Jehovah the Son accepted the ‘prepared body’ He accepted the whole Plan—the humiliation of being limited to a human body, being born as a helpless baby, living on this sin-cursed planet for 33 years, being rejected, the death on the cross—the works. Would not the humiliation of being confined to a human body be worse than the humiliation on the cross? When I participate in the ‘Lord’s Supper’, since the bread represents His body, I thank Him for accepting that body. As a personal application, I am challenged to accept the ‘body’ prepared for me—God’s plan for my life in its daily outworking, complete with the unpleasant circumstances.

⁶ with burnt offerings and sin offerings You were not pleased.

⁷ Then I said, ‘Yes indeed, I have come to do Your will, O God—thus it is written about me in the scroll of the book.’”

⁸ First He says, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor were You pleased with them” (which are offered according to the Law),

⁹ then He says, “Yes indeed, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He removes the first in order to establish the second.

¹⁰ By that will God’s sovereignty, again. we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹ Christ perfects forever Now every priest has stood ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices that can never take away sins;

¹² but He Himself, having offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, sat down at God’s right.

¹³ Since that time He is waiting until His enemies are placed as a footstool for His feet,

¹⁴ because by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

¹⁵ Now the Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this , after having foreseen it:

¹⁶ “‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,’ says the LORD , ‘I will put my laws on their hearts and I will write them on their minds,

¹⁷ and I will not at all remember their sins and lawless deeds.’”

¹⁸ Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

¹⁹ Hold fast the confession of the Hope Therefore, brothers, having courage to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,

²⁰ by a new and living way that He inaugurated for us, through the curtain, that is to say, His flesh,

²¹ and having a Great Priest over the house of God,

²² let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, our hearts having been sprinkled Sprinkling indicates cleansing. from an evil conscience and our body having been washed with clean water. I suppose most people take a bath before going to church, but how about in our daily devotions?

²³ Let us hold fast the confession of the Hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

²⁴ And let us contemplate one another, for the stirring up of love and good works,

²⁵ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves (like some are doing), but exhorting one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

²⁶ A severe warning Because, if we deliberately keep on sinning after having received the real knowledge of the Truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

²⁷ just a certain fearful anticipation of judgment and fierce fire that is ready to consume the hostiles.

²⁸ Anyone who rejected Moses’ law died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

²⁹ Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be deemed worthy who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has regarded as unholy the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, “By which he was sanctified”, that’s what the Text says. “His people” presumably refers to people who belong to Him. Verse 31 is not talking about the ordinary consequences of ordinary sin—the clear implication is that God is especially unhappy! and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

³⁰ For we know Him who said, “‘Vengeance is up to me’, says the Lord, ‘I will repay’.” And again, “The LORD will judge His people.”

³¹ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God!

³² A word of encouragement However, remember those earlier days in which, having been enlightened, you endured a great struggle of sufferings:

³³ partly being publicly exposed to both insults and oppression, and partly siding with those who were so treated.

³⁴ Indeed, you also shared in the suffering of my chains; you even accepted the plundering of your possessions with joy, knowing that you have for yourselves a better and enduring possession in the heavens.

³⁵ So do not throw away your confidence, which has a great recompense.

³⁶ You need perseverance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise.

³⁷ For in a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay.

³⁸ Now the righteous one will live by faith, yet if he backs away, my soul has no pleasure in him.”

³⁹ But we are not of those who back away into ruin, The emphasis here is on human responsibility. but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

11

¹ About faith Now faith is a realization of things being hoped for, an evidence of things not seen.

² By it the ancients were approved.

³ By faith we understand that the ages That’s what the Text says, ‘ages’; see the note at 1:2. were created by a word from God, so that the things that are seen were made out of things invisible.

⁴ Abel, Enoch, Noah By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than did Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, Although Genesis doesn’t mention it, I assume that God had given instruction to Adam about the necessity of blood sacrifice. God testifying concerning his gifts; and by means of it he still speaks, even though being dead.

⁵ By faith Enoch was transferred so as not to see death, and could not be found because God had translated him; before his translation he had obtained witness that he was pleasing to God. His contemporaries probably looked down on Enoch as being a little ‘odd’, altogether too ‘religious’ or ‘spiritual’.

⁶ Now without faith it is impossible to please Him, because the one approaching God must believe that He exists and that He becomes a rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him. When we get serious with God, He answers.

⁷ By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, It had never rained during the 1600 years since the creation of the world. Don’t you know that Noah was the laughingstock of the surrounding society for the 120 years it took him to build the ark. (But he got the last laugh.) moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that is according to faith.

⁸ Abraham and Sarah By faith Abraham, upon being called to go forth to the place that he would receive as an inheritance, obeyed and went, though not being acquainted with where he was going.

⁹ By faith he migrated into the land of promise as into a foreign country, dwelling in tents, along with Isaac and Jacob, the fellow heirs of the same promise;

¹⁰ for he was waiting expectantly for the city with the real foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

¹¹ By faith Sarah herself also received power to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the normal age, since she judged Him faithful who had promised.

¹² And so, from one man, actually an impotent, This statement helps us understand why Sarah urged Abraham to sleep with Hagar; she knew his virility was declining and was desperate for him to produce an heir. For Isaac to be born, God had to work a miracle in Abraham’s body, as well as in Sarah’s. were begotten descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

¹³ Seeking a heavenly homeland These all died believing—not having received the promises, but having seen and welcomed them from a distance, thus confessing that they were aliens and sojourners on the earth.

¹⁴ Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

¹⁵ If they were actually remembering that land from which they had departed, they would have had opportunity to return.

¹⁶ Instead they are aspiring to a better home—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; in fact He has prepared a city for them.

¹⁷ Patriarchs By faith Abraham, upon being tested, offered up Isaac; yes, he who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his only begotten, That’s what the Text says, ‘only begotten’. In terms of the promise, that included Sarah, Isaac was his only begotten, although he also had children with Hagar and Keturah.

¹⁸ of whom it had been said, “Through Isaac will your seed be reckoned,”

¹⁹ calculating that God was indeed able to raise him from the dead; from whence in fact he did receive him, figuratively speaking.

²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshipped, leaning on the top of his staff. Genesis 47:31 has Jacob leaning on the head of the bed (following the Massoretic Text), rather than the top of his staff. The Hebrew words for ‘bed’ and ‘staff’ are spelled with the same three consonants, the difference being in the vowels, that were not written. Thus the Original Hebrew Text was ambiguous here. When the Massoretes added vowel pointing to the Hebrew Text, many centuries after Christ, they chose ‘bed’. Long before, the Septuagint had chosen ‘staff’. The inspired author of Hebrews indicates that ‘staff’ is the correct choice (it also makes better sense).

²² By faith Joseph, near the end, thought of the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave orders concerning his bones. He was doubtless well aware of the content of Jehovah’s conversations with Abraham.

²³ Moses By faith Moses was hidden for three months by his parents, after he was born, because they saw he was a fine child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,

²⁵ choosing rather to be maltreated along with God’s people than to have the temporary pleasure of sin,

²⁶ considering the reproach of Christ This statement intrigues me. What did Moses know about the Christ (when he left Egypt), and from whom did he learn it? And how did he know about the reward? to be greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; because he was looking ahead to the reward.

²⁷ By faith he left Egypt behind, not fearing the king’s rage, because he persevered as though seeing Him who is invisible.

²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch them.

²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red Sea as on dry ground, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were swallowed up.

³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, having been encircled for seven days. Those walls were so thick that they contained houses. To get several million Jews to march in silence was also quite a trick.

³¹ By faith the prostitute Rahab, having received the spies in peace, did not perish with the disobedient.

³² Exploits achieved through faith And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell about Gideon, about Barak and Samson and Jephtha, about David and Samuel and the prophets,

³³ who through faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, closed lions’ mouths,

³⁴ quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became mighty in battle, put to flight foreign armies.

³⁵ Women received their dead back by resurrection; while others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, so that they might obtain a better resurrection. I assume that by ‘better resurrection’ is meant more rewards and honor once resurrected.

³⁶ Still others were tried by mockings and scourgings, and even by chains and imprisonment.

³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were tempted, they were murdered by sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, mistreated

³⁸ —of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. We have had it pretty easy, wouldn’t you say?

³⁹ Now all these did not receive the promise, though having been approved through faith,

⁴⁰ God having planned something better for us, so that they should not be perfected without us.

12

¹ “Let us run with endurance” So then, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we too must run with endurance the race that is set before us, laying aside every impediment and the sin I suppose that each of us has his own ‘besetting sin’—what gives me trouble will not necessarily be the same thing that gives you trouble. that so easily ensnares,

² looking unto Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of the Faith, who for the joy I imagine that that ‘joy’ has something to do with His Bride. that was set before Him endured a cross , scorning its ignominy, and took His seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

³ All legitimate children receive discipline Do consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so as not to grow weary, losing courage in your souls.

⁴ In your struggle against sin In the context this presumably refers to sin in the world, not within. you have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed. The Text doesn’t say whose blood.

⁵ And you have forgotten the exhortation that instructs you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the LORD ’s discipline, nor lose heart when you are reproved by Him;

⁶ because whom the LORD loves He chastens, yes scourges every son whom He accepts.” When I was a boy my father had a horse, a gentle creature, and a proper horsewhip to go with it. I found myself on the business end of that whip more than once (more often than did the horse), and I can assure the reader that it was not a pleasant experience. So God’s scourgings tend not to be very pleasant; but if we end up partaking of His holiness (verse 10), it will be worth it.

⁷ If you are enduring discipline, God is dealing with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not discipline?

⁸ But if you are without discipline (something everyone undergoes), then you are illegitimate and not sons.

⁹ Furthermore, we have had our human fathers as correctors and respected them. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits “The Father of spirits”—an interesting concept. and live?

¹⁰ Now they indeed disciplined us during a short period as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, so that we may partake of His holiness.

¹¹ Now no discipline seems to be pleasant at the time, but painful; yet afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been exercised by it. That’s the secret—we must be ‘exercised’ by it; that is, we must learn whatever lesson the Lord is trying to teach us.

¹² Watch your step! Therefore strengthen the listless hands and weakened knees,

¹³ and make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame not be turned aside but rather be healed. I take the point to be that we should not turn our Christian walk into a bunch of complicated rules—keep it simple.

¹⁴ Pursue peace with all, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord; If we need to ‘pursue’ this holiness, then it is experiential, not positional. God rewards those who “earnestly seek Him” (11:6).

¹⁵ taking care that no one come short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springing up cause trouble and thereby many be defiled,

¹⁶ that no one be a fornicator, or worldly like Esau, who in exchange for one meal gave up his birthright.

¹⁷ Because you do indeed know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing he was rejected; he found no place for a change of mind, Neither Isaac nor God changed his mind; Jacob was in and Esau was out. though he sought it diligently with tears.

¹⁸ Sinai X Zion Now you have not come to a touchable mountain burning with fire, to blackness and darkness, to tempest;

¹⁹ to a trumpet blast and spoken words such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them

²⁰ (because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain it must be stoned!”

²¹ and the sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling!”);

²² but you have come to Mount Zion, even to the City of the Living God, Heavenly Jerusalem; to myriads of angels in festal gathering,

²³ to an assembly of firstborn ones I wonder who these ‘firstborn ones’ are. who have been enrolled in heaven; to God, Judge of all; to the spirits of the perfected righteous;

²⁴ to Jesus, Mediator of a new covenant, and to a blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. Let me try to list the ‘reception committee’: 1) the City; 2) angels; 3) firstborn ones (different from angels?); 4) God the Father; 5) the perfected righteous; 6) Jesus; 7) the Blood. An impressive list.

²⁵ Warning: “Our God is a consuming fire” See to it that you not refuse Him who speaks. Because if they did not escape who refused Him who gave divine warning on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from Him who warns from Heaven!

²⁶ Then His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth but also the heaven.”

²⁷ Now the ‘yet once more’ clearly indicates the removal of the things being shaken (created things), so that the unshakables may remain.

²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us hold on to the grace by which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear;

²⁹ because our God is indeed a consuming fire. One gets the impression that taking God for granted is definitely not a good idea.

13

¹ Practical instructions Let brotherly love continue.

² Do not forget hospitality to strangers, for in doing so some have entertained angels without knowing it.

³ Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, those who are being mistreated as if you yourselves were physically there.

⁴ Marriage is honorable among all and the marriage bed undefiled, The rendering of the King James Version—“marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled”—has been seriously misused, here and there. While in Seminary, a ‘Christian’ psychologist used this text to tell our class that it was ok for a man to have anal sex with his wife: “marriage is honorable in all”! It should be obvious that it is not ok to murder in bed, to tell lies in bed, to steal in bed, to commit adultery in bed, to fornicate in bed. Since the Creator decrees the death penalty to those who engage in anal sex, doing it in the marriage bed can’t make it right! but God will judge fornicators and adulterers. This is one of several texts that show that ‘fornication’ and ‘adultery’ are distinct concepts. ‘Fornication’ includes pre-marital sex, prostitution, anal sex and animal sex, but not adultery.

⁵ Your way of life should be free from the love of money, being content with what you have, because He Himself has said: “I absolutely will not desert you; I most certainly will not abandon you.” What a marvelous assurance!

⁶ So we can say with confidence: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

⁷ Remember your leaders, those who spoke the Word of God to you, whose faith imitate, considering the outcome of their conduct.

⁸ Jesus Christ is Himself, The basic meaning of the emphatic pronoun here is ‘self’, but it can also mean ‘same’, especially in a comparison. If Jesus is always Himself, then He is always the same. yesterday and today and into the ages.

⁹ Do not be carried away by various and strange teachings, because it is good that the heart be established by grace, not foods, by which those who were so occupied were not benefited.

¹⁰ Join Jesus outside the camp We have an altar from which those who serve in the Tabernacle have no right to eat. [I don’t understand this. The Tabernacle set up by Moses had been gone for over 1000 years when Paul wrote.]

¹¹ Because the bodies of the animals—whose blood, concerning sin, is brought into the Holies by the high priest—are burned up outside the camp,

¹² therefore Jesus also, so that He might sanctify the people by His own blood, suffered outside the city gate.

¹³ So then, let us go out to Him, outside the camp, bearing His disgrace; Persecuted Christians in China and elsewhere know all about this, but we in North America have had such an easy time of it that we have ‘forgotten’ this aspect of the Gospel. But our turn is coming—in Canada, if you speak out against homosexualism you go to jail, for instance.

¹⁴ because here we do not have a permanent city, but we seek the coming one.

¹⁵ Through Him therefore, at all times, let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God To praise God when everything is fine is no ‘sacrifice’, so I suppose that the reference is to doing so when we are hurting, perplexed, not understanding. —the fruit of lips that identify with His name.

¹⁶ (But don’t forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.)

¹⁷ Concluding remarks Obey your leaders and submit, for they keep watch over your souls, as those who must give account, so that they may do it with joy and not sighing (which would be unprofitable for you).

¹⁸ Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, desiring to live commendably in all things;

¹⁹ I especially urge you to do this so that I may be restored to you more quickly. This suggests that the author is in jail, in Italy (verse 24), so Paul is a possible candidate.

²⁰ Benediction Now may the God of peace—who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep—

²¹ equip you for every good work to do His will, In John 5:19 the Lord Jesus said that He only did what He saw the Father doing. All the power, enabling, equipping that the Text says is available to us is there for us to do the Father’s will, not our own. working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

²² Sign off Now I appeal to you, brothers, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words. As the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul’s letters to them are liberally sprinkled with commands—he could be quite ‘heavy’ at times. There he was on his own ‘turf’. But the Jews were Peter’s turf (Galatians 2:7-8), so in writing to them Paul (as I assume) does not come on as an apostle, and here ‘appeals’ rather than commands. The reference to Timothy in the next verse also suggests Paul as the author.

²³ Know that brother Timothy has been released, with whom I will see you, if he comes quickly.

²⁴ Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.

²⁵ The Grace be with you all. Amen.