God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners,

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

and, as though they were a mantle Thou wilt roll them up; yes, like a garment, and they will undergo change. But Thou art the same, and Thy years will never come to an end."

For God did not place the coming inhabited world [Note: "The coming inhabited world" here probably refers to the present Christian age. It was viewed as "coming" from the perspective of Old Testament times], under the control of angels [and] that is the world we are talking about.

but we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by God's grace he would experience death on behalf of everyone.

For it was becoming in him - For the sake of whom are the all things, and by means of whom are the all things, - when, many sons, unto glory, he would lead, The Princely Leader of their salvation, through sufferings, to make perfect.

for He says [Psa. 22:22], [Note: In the following three Old Testament quotations the writer represents Christ as the speaker] "I will declare your [i.e., God's] name to my brothers, [and] in the presence of the assembly I will sing [a hymn of] praise to you."

And Moses [was] faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony to the things that would be spoken,

Wherefore, - according as saith the Holy Spirit - To-day, if, unto his voice ye would hearken, do not

Therefore I grew exasperated with that generation, I said, 'They are always astray in their heart': They would not learn my ways;

So in my anger I swore a solemn oath that they would never enter my rest."

while it is said,

“Today [while there is still opportunity] if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your heart, as when they provoked Me [in the rebellion in the desert at Meribah].”

And to whom did he swear [they would] not enter into his rest, except those who were disobedient?

For indeed we have had the good news [of salvation] preached to us, just as the Israelites also [when the good news of the promised land came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not united with faith [in God] by those who heard.

For we who believe [that is, we who personally trust and confidently rely on God] enter that rest [so we have His inner peace now because we are confident in our salvation, and assured of His power], just as He has said,

“As I swore [an oath] in My wrath,
They shall not enter My rest,”

[this He said] although His works were completed from the foundation of the world [waiting for all who would believe].

He again sets a definite day, [a new] “Today,” [providing another opportunity to enter that rest by] saying through David after so long a time, just as has been said before [in the words already quoted],

“Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”

For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

And He says in another place [Psa. 110:4], "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." [Note: This is the first mention of this mysterious Old Testament priest who, throughout this book, is represented as a type of Christ].

For Jesus during his earthly life offered up prayers and entreaties, crying aloud and weeping as He pleaded with Him who was able to bring Him in safety out of death, and He was delivered from the terror from which He shrank.

Concerning Him we have much to say, and much that it would be difficult to make clear to you, since you have become so dull of apprehension.

And though by this time it would be right for you to be teachers, you still have need of someone to give you teaching about the first simple rules of God's revelation; you have become like babies who have need of milk, and not of solid food.

if those, I say, fell away, it would be impossible to bring them again to repentance; they would be crucifying the Son of God over again for themselves, and exposing him to open contempt.

But if it continues to yield thorns and thistles, it is considered worthless and in danger of being cursed, and its final fate is burning.

It is my heart's desire that each of you would prove equally keen upon realizing your full hope to the very end,

that ye would not be sluggish, but imitators of them who through faith and patience are inheriting the promises.

Since God wanted to show conclusively to those who would inherit the promise [i.e., Abraham and all of his spiritual descendants], how unchangeable His purpose was, He confirmed it with an oath.

so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

Now if perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood for on this basis the people received the Law what further need would there be to speak of appointing another kind of priest according to the order of Melchizedek, not one according to the order of Aaron?

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!"

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

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

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.

Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are those who offer the gifts according to the law;

But as it is, Christ has acquired a [priestly] ministry which is more excellent [than the old Levitical priestly ministry], for He is the Mediator (Arbiter) of a better covenant [uniting God and man], which has been enacted and rests on better promises.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second.

a Covenant unlike the one which 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 remain faithful to that.' 'So I turned from them,' says the Lord.

In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

The Holy Spirit is making clear that the way into the holy place had not yet appeared as long as the old tabernacle was standing.

since they deal only with food, drink, and various washings, which are required for the body until the time when things would be set right.

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?

For this reason He is the Mediator and Negotiator of a new covenant [that is, an entirely new agreement uniting God and man], so that those who have been called [by God] may receive [the fulfillment of] the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has taken place [as the payment] which redeems them from the sins committed under the obsolete first covenant.

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

nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own.

Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer over and over since the foundation of the world; but now once for all at the consummation of the ages He has appeared and been publicly manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

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

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.

Then he said, See, I have come to do your pleasure. He took away the old order, so that he might put the new order in its place.

For you had pity on those who were in prison, and had joy in the loss of your property, in the knowledge that you still had a better property and one which you would keep for ever.

For by this [kind of] faith the men of old gained [divine] approval.

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.

But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

And by faith Sarah herself had power to give birth, when she was very old, because she had faith in him who gave his word;

And if indeed they had been mindful of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

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

By faith Joseph, when his end was near, said that the children of Israel would go out of Egypt; and gave orders about his bones.

Faith caused the parents of Moses to hide the child for three months after his birth, for they saw that he was a beautiful child; and they would not respect the King's order.

By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, in order that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.

By faith, Rahab the harlot perished not with them who refused to yield, she having welcomed the spies with peace.

And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

And the women received their dead raised to life again. Others were racked, and would not be delivered, that they might receive a better resurrection.

[because] God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.

Therefore, if you would escape becoming weary and faint-hearted, compare your own sufferings with those of Him who endured such hostility directed against Him by sinners.

Further, when our earthly fathers disciplined us, we respected them. Shall we not, then, much rather yield submission to the Father of souls, and live?

and all chastening for the present, indeed, doth not seem to be of joy, but of sorrow, yet afterward the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those exercised through it -- it doth yield.

Looking carefully lest any man fall short, away from the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness sprouting up would cause trouble, and by this many may be defiled,

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 they could not bear the command, “If even a wild animal touches the mountain, it will be stoned [to death].”

Be careful not to refuse to listen to Him who is speaking to you. For if they of old did not escape unpunished when they refused to listen to him who spoke on earth, much less shall we escape who turn a deaf ear to Him who now speaks from Heaven.

But he would yet once show the removal of the things shaken, as having been created, in order that the things unshaken may remain.

So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His contempt [the disgrace and shame that He had to suffer].

Obey your leaders, and be submissive; for they watch over your souls as those that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not groaning, for this would be unprofitable for you.