For to which of the angels did God ever say-- 'Thou art my Son; this day I have become thy Father'? or again-- 'I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son'?

Thou hast made him, for a while, lower than angels; With glory and honour thou hast crowned him; Thou hast set him over all that thy hands have made;

Therefore, Christian Brothers, you who, all alike, have received the Call from Heaven, fix your attention on Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our Religion.

Therefore I was sorely vexed with that generation, And I said-- "Their hearts are always straying; They have never learned my ways";

We must, therefore, be very careful, though there is a promise still standing that we shall enter upon God's Rest, that none of you even appear to have missed it.

For we have had the Good News told us just as they had. But the Message which they heard did them no good, since they did not share the faith of those who were attentive to it.

Upon that Rest we who have believed are now entering. As God has said-- 'In my wrath I swore--"They shall never enter upon my Rest;"' Although God's work was finished at the creation of the world;

Now if Joshua had given 'Rest' to the people, God would not have spoken of another and later day.

Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter upon that Rest, so that none of us fall through such disbelief as that of which we have had an example.

There is no created thing that can hide itself from the sight of God. Everything is exposed and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we have to give account.

We have, then, in Jesus, the Son of God, a great High Priest who has passed into the highest Heaven; let us, therefore, hold fast to the Faith which we have professed.

Our High Priest is not one unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has in every way been tempted, exactly as we have been, but without sinning.

In the same way, even the Christ did not take the honour of the High Priesthood upon himself, but he was appointed by him who said to him-- 'Thou art my Son; this day I have become thy Father';

Now on this subject I have much to say, but it is difficult to explain it to you, because you have shown yourselves so slow to learn.

But 'solid food' is for Christians of mature faith--those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish right from wrong.

On the one hand, we have the abolition of a previous regulation as being both inefficient and useless

(for the Law never brought anything to perfection); and, on the other hand, we have the introduction of a better hope, which enables us to draw near to God.

one who has no need to offer sacrifices daily as those High Priests have, first for their own sins, and then for those of the People. For this he did once and for all, when he offered himself as the sacrifice.

To sum up what I have been saying:--Such is the High Priest that we have, one who 'has taken his seat at the right hand' of the throne of God's Majesty in Heaven,

Every High Priest is appointed for the purpose of offering gifts and sacrifices to God; it follows, therefore, that this High Priest must have some offering to make.

If that first Covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second.

For, if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, purify those who have been defiled (as far as ceremonial purification goes),

And that is why he is the intermediary of a new Covenant; in order that, as a death has taken place to effect a deliverance from the offenses committed under the first Covenant, those who have received the Call may obtain the eternal inheritance promised to them.

for then Christ would have had to undergo death many times since the creation of the world. But now, once and for all, at the close of the age, he has appeared, in order to abolish sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Otherwise, would not the offering of these sacrifices have been abandoned, as the worshipers, having been once purified, would have had their consciences clear from sins?

So I said, "See, I have come' (as is written of me in the pages of the Book), "To do thy will, O God."'

and then there is added-- 'See, I have come to do thy will.' The former sacrifices are set aside to be replaced by the latter.

And it is in the fulfillment of the will of God that we have been purified by the sacrifice, once and for all, of the body of Jesus Christ.

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.'

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

Remember, if we sin willfully after we have gained a full knowledge of the Truth, there can be no further sacrifice for sin;

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?

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

You still have need of patient endurance, in order that, when you have done God's will, you may obtain the fulfillment of his promise.

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

But we do not belong to those who draw back, to their Ruin, but to those who have faith, to the saving of their souls.

If they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they could have found opportunities to return.

You have not yet, in your struggle with sin, resisted to the death;

and you have forgotten the encouraging words which are addressed to you as God's Children-- 'My child, think not lightly of the Lord's discipline, do not despond when he rebukes you;

It is for your discipline that you have to endure all this. God is dealing with you as his Children. For where is there a child whom his father does not discipline?

No discipline is pleasant at the time; on the contrary, it is painful. But afterwards its fruit is seen in the peacefulness of a righteous life which is the lot of those who have been trained under it.

It is not to tangible 'flaming fire' that you have drawn near, nor to 'gloom, and darkness, and storm,

No, but it is to Mount Zion that you have drawn near, the City of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless hosts of angels,

to the festal gathering and assemblage of God's Eldest Sons whose names are enrolled in Heaven, to God the Judge of all men, to the spirits of the righteous who have attained perfection,

Therefore, let us, who have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken, be thankful, and so offer acceptable worship to God, with awe and reverence.

Do not neglect to show hospitality; for, through being hospitable, men have all unawares entertained angels.

Do not let your conduct be ruled by the love of money. Be content with what you have, for God himself has said-- 'I will never forsake you, nor will I ever abandon you.'

Do not let yourselves be carried away by the various novel forms of teaching. It is better to rely for spiritual strength upon the divine help, than upon regulations regarding food; for those whose lives are guided by such regulations have not found them of service.

We are not without an altar; but it is one at which those who still worship in the Tabernacle have no right to eat.

for here we have no permanent city, but are looking for the City that is to be.

Never forget to do kindly acts and to share what you have with others, for such sacrifices are acceptable to God.

Obey your Leaders, and submit to their control, for they are watching over your souls, as men who will have to render an account, so that they may do it with joy, and not in sorrow. That would not be to your advantage.

I beg you, Brothers, to bear with these words of advice. For I have written only very briefly to you.