For to which of the angels did he ever say, "You are my son, today I have begotten you," and again, "I will be {his father}, and he will be {my son}"?

You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; because of this God, your God, has anointed you with the olive oil of joy more than your companions.

Because of this, [it is] all the more necessary [that] we pay attention to the [things] we have heard, lest we drift away.

For we have become partners of Christ, if indeed we hold fast the beginning of [our] commitment steadfast until the end,

{For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us}, just as those also [did], but the message {they heard} did not benefit them, [because they] were not united with those who heard [it] in faith.

For we who have believed enter into rest, just as he has said, "As I swore in my anger, '{They will never enter} into my rest.'" And yet these works have been accomplished from the foundation of the world.

For if Joshua had caused them to rest, he would not have spoken about another day after these [things].

Therefore, [because we] have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.

For we do not have a high priest who is not able to sympathize with our weaknesses, but who has been tempted in all [things] in the same way, without sin.

Thus also Christ did not glorify himself to become high priest, but the one who said to him, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you,"

Concerning this {we have much to say and it is difficult to explain}, since you have become sluggish in hearing.

For indeed, [although you] ought to be teachers {by this time}, you have need of someone to teach you again the beginning elements of the oracles of God, and {you have need of} milk, not solid food.

But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have trained their faculties for the distinguishing of both good and evil.

For [it is] impossible [concerning] those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and become sharers of the Holy Spirit,

and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the coming age,

and having fallen away, to renew [them] again to repentance, [because they] have crucified again for themselves the Son of God and held him up to contempt.

in order that through two unchangeable things, in which [it is] impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge may have powerful encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before [us],

which we have like an anchor of the soul, both firm and steadfast, and entering into the inside of the curtain,

And indeed those of the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood have a commandment to collect a tenth from the people according to the law, that is, from their brothers, although {they are descended from Abraham}.

And by as much as [this was] not without an oath (for these on the one hand {have become priests} without an oath,

And indeed many {have become} priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing [in office],

For the law appoints men [as] high priests who have weakness, but the statement of the oath, after the law, [appoints] a Son, who is made perfect {forever}.

Now [this is] the main point in what has been said: we have a high priest such as this, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,

For every high priest is appointed in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices; therefore [it was] necessary [for] this one also to have something that he offers.

For if that first [covenant] had been faultless, occasion would not have been sought for a second.

since it would have been necessary for him to suffer many times from the foundation of the world, but now he has appeared once at the end of the ages for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself.

For otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the ones who worship, having been purified once and for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?

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

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

Therefore, brothers, [since we] have confidence for the entrance into the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus,

and [since we have] a great priest over the house of God,

For you have need of endurance, in order that [after you] have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

But we are not among those who shrink back to destruction, but among those who have faith to the preservation of [our] souls.

And if they remember that [land] from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

Therefore, [since] we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, putting aside every weight and {the sin that so easily ensnares us}, let us run with patient endurance the race that has been set before us,

You have not yet resisted to the point of [shedding your] blood [as you] struggle against sin.

And have you completely forgotten the exhortation which instructs you as sons? "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, or give up [when you] are corrected by him.

But if you are without discipline, in which all [legitimate sons] have become participants, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

Furthermore, we have had {our earthly fathers} who disciplined [us], and we respected [them]. Will we not much rather subject ourselves to 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.

For you have not come to something that can be touched, and to a burning fire, and to darkness, and to gloom, and to a whirlwind,

But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to tens of thousands of angels, to the festal gathering

Now the [phrase] "yet once [more]" indicates the removal of what is shaken, namely, things that have been created, in order that the things that are not shaken may remain.

Do not neglect hospitality, because through this some have received angels as guests without knowing [it].

Your lifestyle [must be] free from the love of money, being content with what you have. For he himself has said, "I will never desert you, and I will never abandon you."

Do not be carried away by various and strange teachings, for [it is] good [for] the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods by which those who participate have not benefited.

We have an altar from which those who serve in the tabernacle do not have the right to eat.

For here we do not have a permanent city, but we seek the [city] that is to come.

Pray for us, for we are convinced that we have a good conscience, [and] want to conduct ourselves commendably in every [way].

Now I urge you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for indeed I have written to you {briefly}.