Therefore, let us too, with such a crowd of witnesses about us, throw off every impediment and the entanglement of sin, and run with determination the race for which we are entered,

Faith means the assurance of what we hope for; it is our conviction about things that we cannot see.

For the message of God is a living and active force, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing through soul and spirit, and joints and marrow, and keen in judging the thoughts and purposes of the mind.

but without faith it is impossible to please him; for whoever would approach God must have faith in his existence and in his willingness to reward those who try to find him.

It was little by little and in different ways that God spoke in old times to our forefathers through the prophets,

You must not be avaricious; you must be content with what you have, for God himself has said, "I will never let go of you or desert you!"

And just as men are destined to die once and after that to be judged,

Let us not neglect meeting together as some do, but let us encourage one another, all the more as you can see that the great Day is coming nearer.

For our high priest is not one who is incapable of sympathy with our weaknesses, but he has been tempted in every way just as we have, without committing any sin.

He is the reflection of God's glory, and the representation of his being, and bears up the universe by his mighty word. He has effected man's purification from sin, and has taken his seat on high at the right hand of God's Majesty,

Jesus Christ is the same today that he was yesterday, and he will be so forever.

By observing one another, let us arouse ourselves to rival one another's love and good deeds.

fixing our eyes upon Jesus, our leader and example in faith, who in place of the happiness that belonged to him, submitted to a cross, caring nothing for its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Since then we have in Jesus, the Son of God, a great high priest who has gone up into heaven, let us keep firm hold of our religion.

Try to be at peace with everyone, and strive for that consecration without which no one can see the Lord.

And so from one man, for any prospect of descendants as good as dead, there sprang a people in number like the stars in the heavens or the countless sands on the seashore.

Therefore, he is able to save forever all who come to God through him, because he lives and intercedes for them forever.

Therefore since these children referred to have the same mortal nature, Jesus also shared it, like them, in order that by his death he might dethrone the lord of death, the devil,

Marriage should be respected by everyone, and the marriage relation kept sacred, for vicious and immoral people God will punish.

while here he says again, "They shall never be admitted to my Rest!"

Since then, brothers, we have free access to the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus,

So let us come with courage to God's throne of grace to receive his forgiveness and find him responsive when we need his help.

Obey your leaders and give way to them, for they are keeping watch in defense of your souls, as men accountable for the trust. Make their work a joy and not a grief, for that would be the worse for you.

In fact, under the Law, almost everything is purified with blood, and unless blood is poured out nothing is forgiven.

Your love for the brotherhood must continue.

Let us therefore leave elementary Christian teaching alone and advance toward maturity. We must not be always relaying foundations, of repentance for wrong-doing, and of faith in God,

but in these latter days he has spoken to us in a Son, whom he had destined to possess everything, and through whom he had made the world.

but we do see Jesus, who was "made for a little while inferior to angels, crowned with glory and honor" because he suffered death, so that by the favor of God he might taste the bitterness of death on behalf of every human being.

For it is impossible to arouse people to a fresh repentance when they have once for all come into the light and had a taste of the gift from heaven, and shared in the holy Spirit

It is faith that enables us to see that the universe was created at the command of God, so that the world we see did not simply arise out of matter.

For if we choose to go on sinning after we have so fully learned the truth, there is no sacrifice left to be offered for our sins,

how much more surely will the blood of the Christ, who with the eternal Spirit made himself an unblemished offering to God, purify our consciences from the old wrongdoing for the worship of the everliving God?

But of the Son he says, "God is your throne forever and ever! And a righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom!

This is why we must give the very closest attention to the message we have heard, to keep from ever losing our hold upon it.

Let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we profess, for he who has given us his promise may be trusted.

They will perish, but you continue! And they will all wear out like a coat,

Since then it is still true that somebody will be admitted to it, and those who had a gospel preached to them before were not admitted because of their disobedience,

And keep your feet in straight paths, so that limbs that are lame may not be dislocated but instead be cured.

For he says in another passage, "You are a priest forever of the priesthood of Melchizedek."

In his name let us continually offer praise as our sacrifice to God??he utterance of lips that glorify God's name.

For while the Law foreshadowed the blessings that were to come, it did not fully express them, and so the priests by offering the same sacrifices endlessly year after year cannot wholly free those who come to worship from their sins.

Ground that drinks in frequent showers and produces vegetation that is of use to those for whom it is cultivated receives God's blessing.

and you have forgotten the challenge addressed to you as God's sons, "My son, do not think lightly of the Lord's discipline, Or give up when he corrects you.

But when Christ came, as the high priest of the better system under which we live, he went once for all, through that greater, more perfect tent of worship not made by human hands nor a part of our material creation, into the sanctuary,

how can we escape if we pay no attention to such a salvation as this? It was first proclaimed by the Lord himself, and it was guaranteed to us by those who heard him,

All these people lived all their lives in faith, and died without receiving what had been promised; they only saw it far ahead and welcomed the sight of it, recognizing that they themselves were only foreigners and strangers here on earth.

Therefore, my fellow-Christians, who have likewise heard the heavenly invitation, observe how faithful Jesus, the commissioner and high priest of our religion,

For although from the length of your Christian experience you ought to be teaching others, you actually need someone to teach you over again the very elements of Christian truth, and you have come to need milk instead of solid food.

Do not forget to be hospitable to strangers, for by being so some, without knowing it, have had angels as their guests.

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.

May God, the giver of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus who through the blood by which he ratified the everlasting agreement has become the great shepherd of the sheep,

But you have come up to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless angels,

so the Christ too, after being offered in sacrifice once for all to carry away the sins of many, will appear again but without any burden of sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him to come and save them.

For it is no tangible blazing fire that you have come up to, no blackness and darkness and storm,

In the one case, mortal men collect tithes; but in the other, one who, it is intimated, lives on.

Do not forget your former leaders, the men who brought you God's message. Remember how they ended their lives and imitate their faith.

And it is through his doing of God's will that we have been once for all purified from sin through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ in sacrifice.

For men who recognize that show that they are in search of a country of their own.

Are not the angels all spirits in service, whom he sends on his errands for the good of those who are destined to possess salvation?

For it was not a sanctuary made by human hands and only copied after the true one that Christ entered, but he went into heaven itself, in order to appear now on our behalf in the very presence of God.

For it was appropriate that he who is the great First Cause of the universe should, in guiding his many children to his glorious salvation, make their leader in it fully qualified through what he suffered.

but encourage one another every day, as long as we can still speak of Today, so that no one of you may have his heart hardened by the pleasantness of sin.

But of the time when he is to bring his firstborn Son back to the world he says, "And let all God's angels bow before him."

For Jesus in his life on earth offered prayers and entreaties, crying aloud with tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and because of his piety his prayer was heard.

'For this is the agreement that I will make with the house of Israel, In those later days,' says the Lord; 'I will put my laws into their minds, And write them on their hearts, And they will have me for their God, And I will have them for my people.

And so he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might prove a compassionate high priest as well as one faithful in his service to God, in order to forgive the people's sins.

Not like the one that I made with their forefathers, On the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out from the land of Egypt, For they would not abide by their agreement with me, So I paid no attention to them,' says the Lord.

And you will fold them up like a mantle, And change them as one changes his coat. But you are always the same, and your years will have no end!"

Let us, therefore, be thankful that the kingdom given to us cannot be shaken, and so please God by worshiping him with reverence and awe;

And although he was a son, he learned to obey, through what he suffered,

See to it, my brothers, that no one of you has a wicked, unbelieving heart, that turns away from the ever-living God,

And this is why he is the negotiator of a new agreement, in order that as someone has died to deliver them from the offenses committed under the old agreement, those who have been offered it may receive the unending inheritance they have been promised.

let us draw near to God in sincerity of heart and with perfect faith, with our hearts cleansed from the sense of sin, and our bodies washed with clean water.

For it is those whom the Lord loves that he disciplines, And he chastises every son that he acknowledges."

This hope is like an anchor for our souls. It reaches up secure and strong into the sanctuary behind the heavenly curtain,

But, as it is, the priestly service to which Christ has been appointed is as much better than the old as the agreement established by him and the promises on which it is based are superior to the former ones.

taking with him no blood of goats and calves, but his own, and secured our permanent deliverance.

We ought therefore to fear that when the promise of admission to his Rest is still open, some one of you may be found to have failed to reach it.

Therefore, as the holy Spirit says, "If you hear his voice today,

So there must still be a promised Sabbath of Rest for God's people.

Now the main point in what I am saying is this: We have such a high priest as this, and he has taken his seat in heaven at the right hand of God's Majesty,

But if it yields thorns and thistles, it is thought worthless and almost cursed, and it will finally be burned.

And if it had been the country from which they had come to which their thoughts turned back, they would have found an opportunity to return to it.

Such a high priest we needed??odly, blameless, unstained, removed from sinful men and raised above the very heavens;

Faith enabled Abraham, when he was put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had accepted God's promises was ready to sacrifice his only son,

Now the faithfulness of Moses in all the house of God was that of a servant, in faithfully repeating what he was told to say;

Faith led Noah, when he was warned by God of things no one then saw, in obedience to the warning to build an ark in which to save his family, and by such faith he condemned the world, and came to possess that uprightness which faith produces.

to the solemn gathering of all God's elder sons, enrolled as citizens in heaven, to a judge who is the God of all, to the spirits of upright men now at last enjoying the fulfilment of their hopes,

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

But full-grown men have a right to solid food, for their faculties are trained by practice to distinguish right and wrong.

You must not lose your courage, for it will be richly rewarded,

That is why the Christ, when he was coming into the world, said, "You have not wished sacrifice or offering, but you have provided a body for me.

he again fixes a new Today, saying long afterward through David, as already quoted, "If you hear his voice today, Do not harden your hearts!"

But Christ has offered for all time one sacrifice for sin, and has taken his seat at God's right hand,

No being created can escape God's sight, but everything is bare and helpless before the eyes of him with whom we have to reckon.

so that by these two unalterable things, which make it impossible for God to break his promise, we who have taken refuge with him may be greatly encouraged to seize upon the hope that is offered to us.

and when he was fully qualified, he became a source of unending salvation for all who obey him,

Be careful that no one fails to gain God's favor, or some poisonous root may come up to trouble and contaminate you all??16 some immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his very birthright for one single meal.

Faith made Abel's sacrifice greater in the sight of God than Cain's; through faith he gained God's approval as an upright man, for God himself approved his offering, and through faith even when he was dead he still spoke.

In one way of putting it, Levi himself, the collector of the tithes, through Abraham paid him tithes,

Remember those who are in prison as though you were in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated as being yourselves liable to the same trials.

Faith caused Enoch to be taken up from the earth without experiencing death; he could not be found, because God had taken him up. For before he was taken up there is evidence that he pleased God,

for then he would have had to suffer death over and over, ever since the creation of the world. But, as it is, once for all at the close of the age he has appeared, to put an end to sin by his sacrifice.

And why should I go on? For my time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,

Discipline is never pleasant at the time; it is painful; but to those who are trained by it, it afterward yields the peace of character.

I have much to say to you about this, but it is difficult to make it clear to you, because you have become so slow of apprehension.

For if Joshua had really brought them rest God would not afterward have spoken of another day.

And he whom I accept as righteous will find life through his faith. But if a man draws back, my heart can take no pleasure in him."

For he was looking forward to that city with the sure foundations, designed and built by God.

But about you, dear friends, even though we say this, we are sure of better things that promise salvation.

Pray for me, for I am sure I have a clear conscience, and I mean in every way to live an upright life.

for none of Abraham's posterity was yet begotten at the time of his meeting with Melchizedek.

from that time waiting for his enemies to be made his footstool.

since God pronounced him a high priest of the priesthood of Melchizedek.

For he believed that God was able to raise men even from the dead, and from the dead he did indeed, to speak figuratively, receive him back.

Faith made Jacob when he was dying give a blessing to each of Joseph's sons, and bow in worship even while leaning on his staff.

of whom he had been told, "Your posterity is to arise through Isaac!"

fit you by every blessing to do his will, and through Jesus Christ carry out in us what will please him. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

For when there is a change in the priesthood, a change necessarily takes place in the Law as well.

And they will not have to teach their townsmen and their brothers to know the Lord, For they will all know me, From the lowest to the highest.

Faith enabled Isaac to bequeath to Jacob and Esau blessings that were still to be.

For he of whom all this was said was related to a tribe no member of which ever officiated at the altar.

Where your forefathers put my doings to the proof for forty years, Though they saw them all the time.

For you know how, when he afterward wished to claim the blessing, he was refused it, although he begged for it with tears, for he had no opportunity to repent of what he had done.

You have put everything under his feet!" In thus making everything subject to man, God left nothing that was not subjected to him. But we do not as yet see everything made subject to him,

For all who are admitted to God's Rest rest after their work, just as God did after his.

But when these are forgiven, there is no more need of offerings for sin.

" 'And their sins and their misdeeds I will no longer remember.' "

For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established,

And we have the testimony of the holy Spirit to this, for after saying,

Faith inspired Joseph when he was dying to tell of the future migration of the Israelites, and to give instructions about his own body.

But we want each of you to exhibit this same earnestness to the very end with regard to your confidence in your hope,

and thought such contempt as the Christ endured was truer wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking forward to the coming reward.

by the new, living way which he has opened for us, through the curtain, that is, his physical nature,

Do not harden your hearts as your forefathers provoked me by doing, As in that time of trial in the desert,

Faith made him leave Egypt, unafraid of the king's anger, for he persevered as though he saw him who is unseen.

You made him for a little while inferior to angels; Yet you have crowned him with glory and honor, And you have put him in charge of the works of your hands!

for a will is valid only in the case of a person who is dead; it has no force as long as the testator is alive.

Faith made him institute the Passover and splash the blood upon the door-posts, to keep the angel that destroyed the firstborn from touching them.

I ask this of you more especially that I may be brought back to you the sooner.

That was why I was angry with that generation, And I said, 'Their minds are always wandering, And they have never found my paths.'

saying, "This blood ratifies the agreement which God has commanded me to make with you."

no trumpet blast and voice whose words made those who heard them beg to be told no more,

I beg you brothers, to listen patiently to this appeal, for I have written you but briefly.

For it is perfectly clear that our Lord sprang from the tribe of Judah, with reference to which Moses said nothing at all about priests.

For when Moses had told all the regulations of the Law to all the people, he took calves' and goats' blood, along with water, crimson wool, and a bunch of hyssop, and sprinkled the roll of the Law and all the people,

for he preferred sharing the hardships of God's people to a short-lived enjoyment of sin,

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

For of course it was not angels but the descendants of Abraham that he came to help.

So even the old agreement could not be ratified without the use of blood.

And so after waiting patiently, he received what God had promised him.

and free from their slavery men who had always lived in fear of death.

and said, "I will certainly bless you richly, and greatly increase your numbers."

The tent too and all the appliances used in the priestly service he sprinkled with blood in the same way.

for God took no oath in appointing the old priests, but he made oath to his appointment, when he said to him, "The Lord has sworn it and he will not change; You are a priest forever!"

and so awful was the sight that Moses said, "I am aghast and appalled!"

For if the message delivered by angels proved to be authentic, and every violation or neglect of it led to a corresponding penalty,

You must know that our brother Timothy has been released from prison. If he comes here soon, we will see you together.

God bless you all!

and again "I will put my trust in God"; and again, "Here I am with the children that God has given me."

Faith made the walls of Jericho fall, after they had marched around them each day for seven days.

The point is still more clear in view of the fact that the appointment of the new priest resembles that of Melchizedek,

Nor does he go in to offer himself over and over again, like the high priest who enters the sanctuary year after year, taking with him blood that is not his own,

and since in him we have a great priest set over the house of God,

So an earlier regulation is abrogated because it was poor and ineffective

For they disciplined us for a short time and as they thought proper, but he does it for our good, to make us share his holiness.

for he says somewhere of the seventh day, "On the seventh day God rested after all his work,"

where Jesus has gone ahead of us, and become forever a high priest of the priesthood of Melchizedek.

Therefore, God in his desire to make it perfectly clear to those to whom he made his promise, that his purpose was unalterable, bound himself with an oath,

Then his voice shook the earth, but now his promise is, "But once more I will make not only the earth but the very heaven to tremble!"

For men make oath by something greater than themselves, and they accept an oath as settling finally any disagreement they may have.

For who was it that heard him speak and yet provoked him? Was it not all those who had escaped from Egypt under Moses' leadership?

So while we can still speak of Today, if you hear him speak, do not harden your hearts, as they provoked him by doing.

And who was it to whom God made oath that they should not be admitted to his Rest, if it was not to those who had disobeyed him?

Remember us to all your leaders and to all your fellow-Christians. The brothers from Italy wish to be remembered to you.

For the psalm bears witness, "You are a priest forever, of the priesthood of Melchizedek!"

for they could not bear the order, "Even a wild animal, if it touches the mountain, must be stoned to death,"

By such means, therefore, these things that were only copied from the originals in heaven had to be purified, but the heavenly originals themselves required far better sacrifices than these.

For it was by it that the men of old gained God's approval.

Faith led him to make a temporary home as a stranger in the land he had been promised, and to live there in his tents, with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him.

(for there was nothing final about the Law), and a better hope begins to dawn, through which we may approach God.

for he is appointed not for possessing any legal physical qualifications, but by virtue of a life that cannot end.

And who was it with whom God was angry forty whole years? Was it not with those who had sinned, who dropped dead in the desert?

So we see that it was their unbelief that kept them from being admitted to it.

and yet have fallen back, for they crucify the Son of God on their own account, and hold him up to contempt.

with the teaching of baptism and the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and final judgment.

the agreement which he guarantees is better than the old one,

has been to the God who appointed him, just as Moses was, in all the house of God.

He can sympathize with the ignorant and misguided because he is himself subject to weakness,

to whom Abraham apportioned one tenth of all the spoil, who is first, as his name shows, king of righteousness and then king of Salem, which means king of peace??3 with no father or mother or ancestry, and with no beginning to his days nor end to his life, but like no one but the Son of God, continues as priest forever.

For Jesus is entitled to as much more honor than Moses as the builder of a house is than the house he builds.

For a tent was erected, with the lamp and the table and the presentation bread in the outer part, which was called the sanctuary.

And no one takes the office upon himself, but men assume it only when called to it by God, as Aaron was.

but only the high priest could enter the inner part, and he but once a year, and never without taking some victim's blood, to offer on his own behalf and for the sins committed through ignorance by the people.

And all this looked toward the present time and was symbolic of the fact that the mere offering of material gifts and sacrifices cannot inwardly qualify the worshiper to approach God,

Anyone who breaks the Law of Moses is put to death without any show of pity, on the evidence of only two or three witnesses.

stood the gold incense-altar and the chest that contained the agreement, entirely covered with gold, with the gold jar in it that held the manna, and Aaron's staff that budded, and the tablets containing the agreement;

And in proportion as Jesus was not appointed priest without God's making oath to it,

Now see how great this man must have been to have the patriarch Abraham give him a tenth of the spoil.

and above the chest were the winged creatures of the Divine Presence overshadowing the lid on which the blood was sprinkled??f which I cannot now speak in detail.

to officiate as priest in the sanctuary and in that true tent of worship which not man but the Lord himself set up.

With these arrangements for worship, the priests used constantly to go into the outer part of the tent, in the performance of their rites,

but only the dreadful prospect of judgment and that blazing indignation which is to devour God's enemies.

and felt the goodness of the word of God and the strong influences of the coming age,

Now the words "But once more" indicate the final removal of all that is shaken, as only created, leaving only what is unshaken to be permanent.

Those of the descendants of Levi who are appointed to the priesthood are directed by the Law to collect tithes from the people, that is, from their own brothers, although they are descended from Abraham like themselves.

And we will advance if God permits it.

And beyond the second curtain, in the part called the inner sanctuary,

Further, if he were still on earth, he would not be a priest at all, for there are priests enough provided to offer the gifts the Law prescribes??5 though the service they engage in is only a shadow and imitation of that in heaven. For when Moses was going to make the tent of worship he was warned, "Be sure to make it all just like the pattern you were shown on the mountain."

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

But, beyond any doubt, it is the inferior that is blessed by the superior.

and on this account he is obliged to offer sacrifices for sin, not only for the people but for himself as well.

For to what angel did God ever say, "You are my Son! I have today become your Father"? Or again, "I will become his Father, and he shall become my Son"?

Even the first agreement provided regulations for worship, and a sanctuary that was fully equipped.

For by that one sacrifice he has forever qualified those who are purified from sin to approach God.

For the Law appoints to the high priesthood men full of imperfection; but this utterance about the making of the oath, which came long after the Law, appoints a son, fully qualified to be high priest forever.

And "You, Lord, in the beginning founded the earth, And the sky is the work of your hands!

For God is not so unjust as to forget the work you have done and the love you have showed for his cause, in giving help to your fellow-Christians as you still do.

For it was not for angels that he destined the control of that world to be, that we are speaking of.

And so Jesus too, in order to purify the people by his blood, suffered death outside the city gate.

For every high priest who is chosen from among men is appointed to represent his fellow-men in their relations with God, and to offer gifts and sin-offerings.

Faith made Moses, when he was grown up, refuse to be known as a son of Pharaoh's daughter,

But this man, whose ancestry is not connected with theirs, collected tithes from Abraham himself, and gave his blessing to the man who had received the promises from God.

but you will need endurance if you are to carry out God's will and receive the blessing he has promised.

For because he has himself been tempted in what he has suffered he is able to help others who are in trial.

Faith enabled them to cross the Red Sea as though it were dry land, although the Egyptians when they tried to follow them across it were drowned.

Now when he speaks of a new agreement, he is treating the first one as obsolete; but whatever is obsolete and antiquated is almost ready to disappear.

For both he who purifies them and they who are purified spring from one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

For if sprinkling ceremonially defiled persons with the blood of bulls and goats and with the ashes of a heifer purifies them physically,

Otherwise, would they not have ceased to offer these sacrifices, because those who offered them, having once been purified, would have had no further consciousness of sin?

for our God is a consuming fire.

So I said, 'See, I have come! as the Book of the Law says of me, O God, to do your will!' "

So that we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can men do to me?"

Yet though they all gained God's approval by their faith, they none of them received what he had promised,

But in his dissatisfaction with them he says, " 'See! the time is coming,' says the Lord, 'When I will conclude a new agreement with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

You must submit to it as discipline. God is dealing with you as his sons. For where is there a son whom his father does not discipline?

You must not be carried away with strange varieties of teaching. The true way to steadfastness of heart is through God's mercy, not through scruples about food, which have never done their adherents any good.

For when God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to make oath by, he did so by himself,

How much worse a punishment do you think will anyone deserve who tramples the Son of God underfoot, and treats as worthless the blood of the agreement by which he has been purified, and outrages God's spirit of mercy?

Think of the opposition that he encountered from those sinners against themselves, if you would not grow weary and faint-hearted.

Our altar is one at which those who serve the tent of worship have no right to eat.

For someone has somewhere solemnly declared, "What is man? for you think of him; Or any man? for you care for him.

but Christ's faithfulness was that of a son set over the house of God. And we are that house, if we keep up our courage and our triumphant hope to the very end.

showing himself to be as much greater than the angels as his title is superior to theirs.

Every other priest stands officiating day after day, offering over and over again the same sacrifices, though they were powerless ever to remove people's sins.

They were stoned to death, they were tortured to death, they were sawed in two, they were killed with the sword. Clothed in the skins of sheep or goats, they were driven from place to place, destitute, persecuted, misused??38 men of whom the world was not worthy wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and holes in the ground.

But do not forget to be helpful and generous, for that is the kind of sacrifice that pleases God.

for bulls' and goats' blood is powerless to remove sin.

You have not yet resisted unto death in your struggle with sin,

Let us, therefore, go out to him, outside the camp, sharing the contempt that he endured,

so that you may never grow careless, but may learn to follow the example of those who through their faith and endurance are the possessors of God's promises.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

But if you have none of that discipline which all sons undergo, you are illegitimate children, and not true sons.

" 'This is the agreement that I will make with them In those later days,' says the Lord, 'I will put my laws into their minds, And write them upon their hearts,' " he goes on,

Faith made even Sarah herself able to have a child, although she was past the time of life for it, because she thought, that he who had made the promise would keep it.

At first he says, "You never wished or cared for sacrifices or offerings, or burnt-offerings or sacrifices for sin"??ll of which the Law prescribes??9 and then he adds, "See, I have come to do your will!" He is taking away the old to put the new in its place.

For I will be merciful to their misdeeds, And I will no longer remember their sins.' "

Faith led Moses' parents to hide him for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a beautiful child and they would not respect the edict of the king.

In all this the holy Spirit was seeking to show that there was no free access to the sanctuary while the outer tent was still standing.

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

When our earthly fathers disciplined us we treated them with respect; should we not far more submit to the Father of our spirits, and so have life?

Still others had to endure taunts and blows, and even fetters and prison.

who by their faith conquered kingdoms, attained uprightness, received new promises, shut the mouths of lions,

Faith saved Rahab the prostitute from being destroyed with those who disobeyed God, because she had given a friendly welcome to the scouts.

while God himself corroborated their testimony with signs, portents, and various wonders, and by impartations of the holy Spirit when he saw fit.

But you must remember those early days when after you had received the light you had to go through a great struggle with persecution,

In speaking of the angels he says, "He who changes his angels into winds, And his attendants into blazing fire!"

For we have had good news preached to us, just as they did, but the message they heard did them no good because they did not agree through faith with what they heard.

But to what angel did he ever say, 'Sit at my right hand, Until I make your enemies a footstool for you"?

So tighten your loosening hold! Stiffen your wavering stand!

But, as it is, their aspirations are for a better, a heavenly country! That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city to receive them.

Women had their dead restored to them by resurrection. Others endured torture, and refused to accept release, that they might rise again to the better life.

For we are true partners with Christ if we really keep the conviction that we had at first unshaken to the very end.

You never cared for burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin!

For we know who it is that has said, "Vengeance belongs to me! I will pay back!" and in another place, "The Lord will be the judge of his people!"

So even Christ did not claim for himself the dignity of the high priesthood, but he was appointed to it by him who said to him, "You are my Son! I have today become your Father!"

since they have to do only with food and drink and various washings??aterial regulations in force only until the time for the new order.

You have loved right and hated wrong! That is why God, your God, has anointed you with exhilarating oil beyond all your comrades."

For if that first agreement had been perfect, there would have been no occasion for a second one.

who does not need, as the old high priests did, to offer sacrifices every day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people??or this last he has done once for all, in offering up himself.

Take care not to refuse to listen to him who is speaking. For if they could not escape because they would not listen to him who warned them here on earth, how much less can we, who reject him who is from heaven!

For "In a very little while He who is to come will come and not delay,

For we who have believed are admitted to that Rest, of which he said, "As I made oath in my anger, They shall never be admitted to my Rest!" And yet God's work was finished at the creation of the world,

and say, "I will tell your name to my brothers, In the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise";

Let us, therefore, make every effort to be admitted to that Rest, so that none of us may fail through such disobedience as theirs.

Now if anything final had been really accomplished through the Levitical priesthood, for even the giving of the Law was based upon it, what further need would there have been of appointing a different priest of the priesthood of Melchizedek, instead of choosing one of the priesthood of Aaron?

For every house has a builder, and the builder of the universe is God.

For anyone who is limited to milk is unacquainted with Christian teaching, for he is only an infant.

For you showed sympathy with those who were in prison, and you put up with it cheerfully when your property was taken from you, for you knew that you had in yourselves a greater possession that was lasting.

But he continues forever, and so his priesthood is untransferable.

for we have no permanent city here on earth, but we are in search of the city that is to come.

The old priests too had to be numerous, because death prevented their continuing in office.

to Jesus the negotiator of a new agreement, and to sprinkled blood that speaks more powerfully than even Abel's.

But we will not draw back and perish, but we will have faith and save our souls.

For the bodies of the animals whose blood is taken into the sanctuary by the high priest are burned outside the camp.

put out furious fires, escaped death by the sword, found strength in their time of weakness, proved mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

for God had resolved upon something still better for us, that they might not reach the fulfilment of their hopes except with us.

sometimes being actually exposed as a public spectacle to insults and violence, and sometimes showing yourselves ready to share the lot of those in that condition.