The Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Thus he became so far better than the angels as he has inherited a name superior to theirs.

For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my son! Today I have fathered you"? And in another place he says, "I will be his father and he will be my son."

And he says of the angels, "He makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire,"

But to which of the angels has he ever said, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"?

For if the message spoken through angels proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty,

For he did not put the world to come, about which we are speaking, under the control of angels.

Instead someone testified somewhere: "What is man that you think of him or the son of man that you care for him?

You made him lower than the angels for a little while. You crowned him with glory and honor.

You put all things under his control." For when he put all things under his control, he left nothing outside of his control. At present we do not yet see all things under his control,

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 fitting for him, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

For indeed he who makes holy and those being made holy all have the same origin, and so he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,

and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.

For surely his concern is not for angels, but he is concerned for Abraham's descendants.

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.

For since he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself!

For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.

"There your fathers tested me and tried me, and they saw my works for forty years.

For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence firm until the end.

For which ones heard and rebelled? Was it not all who came out of Egypt under Moses' leadership?

And against whom was God provoked for forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness?

For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in with those who heard it in faith.

For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, "As I swore in my anger, 'They will never enter my rest!'" And yet God's works were accomplished from the foundation of the world.

For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,"

Therefore it remains for some to enter it, yet those to whom it was previously proclaimed did not enter because of disobedience.

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken afterward about another day.

Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God.

For the one who enters God's rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works.

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart.

For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin.

For every high priest is taken from among the people and appointed to represent them before God, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

and for this reason he is obligated to make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people.

For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God's utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food.

For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant.

But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.

For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit,

and then have committed apostasy, to renew them again to repentance, since they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again and holding him up to contempt.

For the ground that has soaked up the rain that frequently falls on it and yields useful vegetation for those who tend it receives a blessing from God.

For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints.

But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end,

For people swear by something greater than themselves, and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute.

so that we who have found refuge in him may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain,

Without father, without mother, without genealogy, he has neither beginning of days nor end of life but is like the son of God, and he remains a priest for all time.

For he was still in his ancestor Abraham's loins when Melchizedek met him.

So if perfection had in fact been possible through the Levitical priesthood -- for on that basis the people received the law -- what further need would there have been for another priest to arise, said to be in the order of Melchizedek and not in Aaron's order?

For when the priesthood changes, a change in the law must come as well.

For it is clear that our Lord is descended from Judah, yet Moses said nothing about priests in connection with that tribe.

For here is the testimony about him: "You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek."

for the law made nothing perfect. On the other hand a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

And since this was not done without a sworn affirmation -- for the others have become priests without a sworn affirmation,

So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

He has no need to do every day what those priests do, to offer sacrifices first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people, since he did this in offering himself once for all.

For the law appoints as high priests men subject to weakness, but the word of solemn affirmation that came after the law appoints a son made perfect forever.

For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. So this one too had to have something to offer.

The place where they serve is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Moses was warned by God as he was about to complete the tabernacle. For he says, "See that you make everything according to the design shown to you on the mountain."

For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one.

"It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.

"For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people.

"And there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, 'Know the Lord,' since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest.

"For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer."

Now the first covenant, in fact, had regulations for worship and its earthly sanctuary.

For a tent was prepared, the outer one, which contained the lampstand, the table, and the presentation of the loaves; this is called the holy place.

But only the high priest enters once a year into the inner tent, and not without blood that he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

This was a symbol for the time then present, when gifts and sacrifices were offered that could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper.

They served only for matters of food and drink and various washings; they are external regulations imposed until the new order came.

and he entered once for all into the most holy place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption.

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled consecrated them and provided ritual purity,

And so he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised, since he died to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant.

For where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be proven.

For a will takes effect only at death, since it carries no force while the one who made it is alive.

For when Moses had spoken every command to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,

So it was necessary for the sketches of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves required better sacrifices than these.

For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands -- the representation of the true sanctuary -- but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God's presence for us.

for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice.

For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship.

For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have no further consciousness of sin?

For the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins.

So when he came into the world, he said, "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.

By his will we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

But when this priest had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right hand of God,

where he is now waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet.

For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy.

And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after saying,

Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,

And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy.

For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us,

but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume God's enemies.

How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for the Son of God, and profanes the blood of the covenant that made him holy, and insults the Spirit of grace?

For we know the one who said, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."

For in fact you shared the sufferings of those in prison, and you accepted the confiscation of your belongings with joy, because you knew that you certainly had a better and lasting possession.

For you need endurance in order to do God's will and so receive what is promised.

For just a little longer and he who is coming will arrive and not delay.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.

For by it the people of old received God's commendation.

By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith he still speaks, though he is dead.