It was bit by bit and in many different ways that God in olden times spoke to our forefathers through the prophets,

has in these last days spoken [with finality] to us in [the person of One who is by His character and nature] His Son [namely Jesus], whom He appointed heir and lawful owner of all things, through whom also He created the universe [that is, the universe as a space-time-matter continuum].

But speaking of the time when He once more brings His Firstborn into the world, He says, "And let all God's angels worship Him."

But God said [this] about the angels [Psa. 104:4 LXX], "He [i.e., God] makes His angels to be [like] winds and His servants [like] flames of fire." [Note: The idea is probably that angels obediently serve God's purpose similar to the way wind and lightening do].

But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

You have been a lover of righteousness and a hater of evil; and so God, your God, has put the oil of joy on your head more than on the heads of those who are with you.

You, Lord, at the first did put the earth on its base, and the heavens are the works of your hands:

They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;

And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

for if the law deliver'd by angels was put in execution, and every transgression and disobedience was justly punish'd as it deserv'd;

For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.

But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?

You made him a little bit lower than the angels [i.e., a little less exalted]. [Note: Although these Psalms passages referred to mankind, they are here applied to Jesus. See verse 9]. You crowned him with splendor and honor {{some ancient manuscripts add "and placed him as ruler over what you made"}}.

Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

And because the children are flesh and blood, he took a body himself and became like them; so that by his death he might put an end to him who had the power of death, that is to say, the Evil One;

For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

For having been put to the test himself, he is able to give help to others when they are tested.

but as the architect is of much greater dignity than the house he has made; so the glory which Christ received was greater than that of Moses.

For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.

Now Moses was faithful in [the administration of] all God’s house, [but only] as a ministering servant, [his ministry serving] as a testimony of the things which were to be spoken afterward [the revelation to come in Christ];

But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "If you but hear His voice today,

When your fathers put me to the test, and saw my works for forty years.

Wherefore I was displeased with this generation, And said, They do always err in their heart: But they did not know my ways;

But as I made oath in my anger, They shall never be admitted to my Rest!"

But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

and yet the warning continues to be spoken: "If you but hear His voice, you must not harden your hearts as they did in provoking me."

(for who was it, who, having heard, provoked? but was it not all who came out of Egypt by Moses?

But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?

And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?

For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

But we which have believed, do enter into his rest, as contrariwise he said to the other, "As I have sworn in my wrath, 'They shall not enter into my rest.'" And that spake he verily long after that the works were made, and the foundation of the world laid.

but to repeat the text cited earlier: "They will never enter my rest!"

So, since it still remains for some people to enter into that rest, but those to whom the good news was previously proclaimed [See verse 2] failed to enter it because of disobedience [See 3:18]

He again fixes a definite day, saying long afterward through David, as has been quoted: "If you but hear His voice, you must not harden your hearts."

God's Message is a living and active power, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing its way till it penetrates soul and spirit--not the joints only but the very marrow--and detecting the inmost thoughts and purposes of the mind.

Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

He is able to gently put up with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to [the same spiritual] weaknesses.

And for this reason he is required to offer sin-offerings not only for the people but also for himself.

And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.

So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.

In the days of His earthly life, Jesus offered up both [specific] petitions and [urgent] supplications [for that which He needed] with fervent crying and tears to the One who was [always] able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission toward God [His sinlessness and His unfailing determination to do the Father’s will].

but though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered: and being thus perfected,

We have much to say about this, but it is difficult to explain because you have become too lazy to understand.

For certainly enough time has elapsed so that [by now] you ought to be teachers, [but instead] you are in need of having someone teach you again the basic principles of God's message. You have become people who need "milk" and not "solid food." [Note: The fundamental truths of Christianity are here figuratively spoken of as "milk," while the more advanced teaching, such as Christ's priesthood being like Melchizedek's, is called "solid food"].

For every man that is fed with milk is inexpert in the word of righteousness: For he is but a babe.

But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

But the land which drinks in the rain that often falls on it, and produces plants beneficial to those by whom it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God;

But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.

For God is true, and will not put away from him the memory of your work and of your love for his name, in the help which you gave and still give to the saints.

But we desire earnestly that each one of you shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end;

That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

And so, when he had been waiting calmly for a long time, God's word to him was put into effect.

but God, in this wishing more abundantly to show forth to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:

So that we, who have gone in flight from danger to the hope which has been put before us, may have a strong comfort in two unchanging things, in which it is not possible for God to be false;

For this man Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was coming back from the defeat of the kings, and put his blessing on him,

To whom even a tenth of all Abraham apportioned, first, indeed, when translated, King of Righteousness, but, after that, King of Salem also, which is King of Peace, -

Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

But see how great this man [was], to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth from the spoils!

But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.

But without any dispute the less is blessed of the better.

And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.

And, so to say, through Abraham even Levi, who receiveth tithes, hath paid tithes;

For the One of whom these things are said belonged [not to the priestly line of Levi but] to another tribe, from which no one has officiated or served at the altar.

Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

So the law which went before is put on one side, because it was feeble and without profit.

For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

And as he was not [constituted] without swearing,??21 for they were made priests without swearing, but he with swearing by him who says to him, The Lord swore, and he will not change, You are a priest forever;??22 by so much is Jesus the pledge of a better covenant.

(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.

For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

But in addition to the things which having been spoken this is the principal thing: We have such a high priest, who sat on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,

a Minister (Officiating Priest) in the holy places and in the true tabernacle, which is erected not by man, but by the Lord.

But every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices, and so this high priest also must have some sacrifice to offer.

They serve as a pattern and foreshadowing of [what has its true existence and reality in] the heavenly things (sanctuary). For when Moses was about to erect the tabernacle, he was warned by God, saying, “See that you make it all [exactly] according to the pattern which was shown to you on the mountain.”

But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, no place would have been sought for the second. [But it was not].

But finding fault with His people, He says:

Look, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah—

not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and so I paid no heed to them, says the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

In that he saith, A new covenant he hath made the first old. But that which is becoming old and waxeth aged is nigh unto vanishing away.

Now even the first covenant had regulations for divine worship and for the earthly sanctuary.

but after the second veil a tabernacle which is called Holy of holies,

Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;

And above the ark were the Cherubim denoting God's glorious presence and overshadowing the Mercy-seat. But I cannot now speak about all these in detail.

These things being thus disposed, the priests went at all times into the first part of the tabernacle, to officiate the divine service. but into the other part,

But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

Because they are only rules of the flesh, of meats and drinks and washings, which have their place till the time comes when things will be put right.

But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

For if the blood of goats and oxen, and the dust from the burning of a young cow, being put on the unclean, make the flesh clean:

For a testament is valid after men are dead, but is of no force while the testator is living.

So even the first covenant was not put in force without [the shedding of] blood.

For when Moses had given all the rules of the law to the people, he took the blood of goats and young oxen, with water and red wool and hyssop, and put it on the book itself and on all the people,