Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship,

but into the second [inner tabernacle, the Holy of Holies], only the high priest enters [and then only] once a year, and never without [bringing a sacrifice of] blood, which he offers [as a substitutionary atonement] for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

which is a figure for the present time, in accordance with which are offered both gifts and sacrifices, which have no power as to the conscience to perfect the worshipper,

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 when Christ appeared as a High Priest of the good things to come [that is, true spiritual worship], He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not a part of this [material] creation.

For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh:

And for this cause 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.

For Christ has not entered a holy place which human hands have made (a mere type of the reality!); he has entered heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

And he did not have to make an offering of himself again and again, as the high priest goes into the holy place every year with blood which is not his;

For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

So Christ, once offered to have borne the sins of many, of the second time, without sin, shall be seen to them expecting him for salvation.

For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.

They really only serve to remind the people annually of the sins they have committed,

Therefore, when Christ enters into the world, He says,

“Sacrifice and offering You have not desired,
But [instead] You have prepared a body for Me [to offer];

In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no delight.

Then I said, 'Behold, I have come-- in the roll of the book it is written about me-- to do your will, O God.'

After saying [in the citation] above, “You have neither desired, nor have You taken delight in sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin” (which are offered according to the Law)

then he has said, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He takes away the first in order to establish the second,

By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

We have also the testimony of the Holy Spirit. For, after saying--

then we have-- 'And their sins and their iniquities I will no longer remember.'

But where these have been forgiven no further offering for sin is required.

Therefore, believers, since we have confidence and full freedom to enter the Holy Place [the place where God dwells] by [means of] the blood of Jesus,

and since we have a great and wonderful Priest [Who rules] over the house of God,

let us continue to come near with sincere hearts in the full assurance that faith provides, because our hearts have been sprinkled clean from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

Let us stedfastly maintain the hope which we have avow'd, since he is faithful that has promised:

and let us not forsake the fellowship that we have among ourselves, as the manner of some is: but let us exhort one another, and that so much the more, because ye see that the day draweth nigh.

For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

How much worse then, think you, will be the punishment deserved by those who have trampled underfoot the Son of God, who have treated the blood that rendered the Covenant valid--the very blood by which they were purified--as of no account, and who have outraged the Spirit of Love?

for we have known Him who is saying, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will recompense, saith the Lord;' and again, 'The Lord shall judge His people;' --

For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.

Do not, therefore, abandon the confidence that you have gained, for it has a great reward awaiting it.

For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

'For there is indeed but a very little while ere He who is coming will have come, without delay;

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

But we are not of them that shrink back unto perdition; but of them that have faith unto the saving of the soul.

Now faith is the foundation of our hopes of happiness, and the persuasion we have about things not evident to our senses.

For in the power of this the elders have obtained testimony.

By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear.

By faith [that pleased God] Enoch was caught up and taken to heaven so that he would not have a glimpse of death; and he was not found because God had taken him; for even before he was taken [to heaven], he received the testimony [still on record] that he had walked with God and pleased Him.

And without faith it is not possible to be well-pleasing to him, for it is necessary for anyone who comes to God to have the belief that God is, and that he is a rewarder of all those who make a serious search for him.

Faith enabled Abraham to obey when God summoned him to leave his home for a region which he was to have for his own, and to leave home without knowing where he was going.

By [having] faith, Sarah herself received the ability to have children, even though she was [sterile, being] past the age of child-bearing, since she considered God faithful to His promise. [Note: Some translations consider "Abraham" to be the subject of this highly controversial verse. See Lightfoot, pages 222-225].

Wherefore also there have been born of one, and that of one become dead, even as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the countless sand which is by the sea shore.

These people [all] continued to have faith until they died, [even though] they had not obtained [all] the things God had promised, but had [only] seen them and welcomed them from a distance. And they had confessed to being strangers and aliens on earth.

And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

By faith, Abraham, when tested, offered up Isaac, and, the only-begotten, would he have offered up, who the promises had accepted, -

concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the grave; from whence, in a figurative sense, be may be said to have been recover'd.

choosing rather to suffer affliction along with the people of God than to have the temporary pleasure of sin;

Women had their dead given back to them living; others let themselves be cruelly attacked, having no desire to go free, so that they might have a better life to come;

God had something better in store for us; he would not have them perfected apart from us.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us,

Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

It is for your training that you undergo these things; God is acting to you as a father does to his sons; for what son does not have punishment from his father?

But if ye are without chastening, whereof all have been made partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

For they disciplined [us] for a few days according to what seemed [appropriate] to them, but he [does so] for our benefit, in order that [we] can have a share in his holiness.

All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, even the fruit of righteousness.

and see that ye have straight steps unto your feet, lest any halting turn out of the way: yea, let it rather be healed.

For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

For ye have not come to the mount that might be touched and was all on fire, and to obscurity, and darkness, and tempest,

to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words [from God] that the hearers begged not to have to listen to [anymore]. [See Ex. 20:19].

For they were not able to abide that which was spoken. If a beast had touched the mountain, it must have been stoned, or thrust through with a dart:

and so fearful was the sight, that Moses said, I fear and tremble,??22 but you have come to Zion, the mountain and city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels in general assembly,

but ye have come to mount Zion; and to the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem; and to myriads of angels,

and to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are registered [as citizens] in heaven, and to God, who is Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous (the redeemed in heaven) who have been made perfect [bringing them to their final glory],

See that you give ear to his voice which comes to you. For if those whose ears were shut to the voice which came to them on earth did not go free from punishment, what chance have we of going free if we give no attention to him whose voice comes from heaven?

His voice then shook the earth, but now we have His promise, "Yet again I will, once for all, cause not only the earth to tremble, but Heaven also."

And this word , Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

So that we say with a good heart, The Lord is my helper; I will have no fear: what is man able to do to me?

Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.

We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

Let us then go out unto Him without the camp, bearing his reproach: for we have here no continuing city,

For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

And do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.

And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation: for I have written a letter unto you in few words.

Know the brother Timothy, whom we have sent from us, with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you.

Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you.

Because you have the knowledge that the testing of your faith gives you the power of going on in hope;

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

But let him ask in faith and have no doubts; for he who has doubts is like the surge of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed into spray.

There is a blessing on the man who undergoes testing; because, if he has God's approval, he will be given the crown of life, which the Lord has said he will give to those who have love for him.

No one must say, when he is tempted to do evil, "I have a temptation from God to do evil," for God cannot be tempted to do evil, and He never tempts anyone to do so.

You have knowledge of this, dear brothers. But let every man be quick in hearing, slow in words, slow to get angry;

Therefore, have done with all filthiness and whatever wickedness still remains, and in a humble spirit receive that Message which has been planted in your hearts and is able to save your souls.

But he who goes on looking into the true law which makes him free, being not a hearer without memory but a doer putting it into effect, this man will have a blessing on his acts.

If a man seems to have religion and has no control over his tongue but lets himself be tricked by what is false, this man's religion is of no value.

The religion which is holy and free from evil in the eyes of our God and Father is this: to take care of children who have no fathers and of widows who are in trouble, and to keep oneself untouched by the world.

My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:

have ye not made a difference among yourselves, and become judges having evil thoughts?

Give ear, my dear brothers; are not those who are poor in the things of this world marked out by God to have faith as their wealth, and for their heritage the kingdom which he has said he will give to those who have love for him?

But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?