but in these days at the end he has spoken to us by a Son ??a Son whom he appointed heir of the universe, as it was by him that he created the world.

who is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, sustaining all [things] by the word of power. [When he] had made purification for sins through him, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

For to which of the heavenly agents did he ever say, Thou are my Son, today I have begotten thee? And again, I will be to him for a Father, and he will be to me for a Son?

Or again, "I will become His Father, and He shall become my Son"? But when He brings again His first-born Son into the world, He says, "And let all the angels worship Him."

But about the Son [the Father says to Him],

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
And the scepter of [absolute] righteousness is the scepter of His kingdom.

Are not all angels spirits that serve Him--whom He sends out to render service for the benefit of those who, before long, will inherit salvation?

how can we escape, if we pay no attention at all to a salvation that is so great? This is so because it was first proclaimed by the Lord Himself, and then it was proved to us to be valid by the very men who heard Him themselves,

while God corroborated their testimony with signs and wonders and a variety of miraculous powers, distributing the holy Spirit as it pleased him.

For someone somewhere has solemnly said: "What is man that you should think of him, or the Son of Man that you should care for Him?

You made Him inferior to angels for a little while, yet you have crowned Him with glory and honor, you have set Him over the works of your hands,

You have put all things under His feet!" Now when He gave Him authority over everything, He did not leave a single thing that was not put under His authority. But as yet we do not see everything actually under His authority,

But we see him who was made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus, crowned with glory and honour, because he let himself be put to death so that by the grace of God he might undergo death for all men.

For it was appropriate for Him, who is the Final Goal and the First Cause of the universe, in bringing many children to glory, to make the Leader in their salvation perfect through the process of sufferings.

For he who makes holy and those who are made holy are all of one family; and for this reason it is no shame for him to give them the name of brothers,

saying, 'I will declare Thy name to my brethren, in the midst of an assembly I will sing praise to Thee;' and again, 'I will be trusting on Him;'

And again, I will be a man who has trusted in him. And again, Behold, I and the children that God has given me.

Since then the children mentioned share our mortal nature, He too took on Himself a full share of the same, in order that He by His death might put a stop to the power of him who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

Because of this it was necessary for him to be made like his brothers in every way, so that he might be a high priest full of mercy and keeping faith in everything to do with God, making offerings for the sins of the people.

The fact that he himself suffered under temptation enables him to help those who are tempted.

to see how faithful He was to God who appointed Him, just as Moses was in all the house of God.

Now Moses was a faithful servant among all of [those belonging to] God's household [i.e., the Israelites], as [one who gave] testimony about the things which [were to be] spoken [by him],

Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart] that turns away from the living God.

But continually encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today” [and there is an opportunity], so that none of you will be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [its cleverness, delusive glamour, and sophistication].

For we have become sharers with Christ, if we hold firmly onto the confidence [we had in Him] from the beginning until the end [of our lives].

As it is said, Today if you will let his voice come to your ears, be not hard of heart, as when you made him angry.

For who was it that heard and yet provoked Him? Was it not all who came out of Egypt led by Moses?

To whom did He take oath that they should not be admitted to His rest, if it was not to those who disobeyed Him?

So, as long as God's promise of entering into a state of rest with Him [still] remains, we should fear that someone among you will appear [in the end] to have fallen short of [attaining] it. [Note: In this section "entering into rest" refers to Israel entering Canaan (verses 6, 8) and to Christians entering heaven (verses 3, 9). The "Sabbath day rest" is represented as a type of both].

No creature of His can escape God's sight, but everything is bare and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we have to give account.

Since then we have in Jesus, the Son of God, a great High Priest who has gone right up to heaven itself, let us continue to keep a firm hold on our profession of faith in Him.

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.

can deal gently with those who err through ignorance, since he himself is beset with weakness ??3 which obliges him to present offerings for his own sins as well as for those of the People.

And because hereof it behoveth him, as for the people, so also for himself to offer for sins.

And besides, one does not appropriate for himself the honor [of being high priest], but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.

So also Christ did not glorify himself to become a high priest, but it was he who said to him, Thou are my Son, today I have begotten thee.

Who, in the days of his flesh, having offered up both prayers and supplications with strong shouting and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and who was heard because of his reverence,

And though he was a Son, through the pain which he underwent, the knowledge came to him of what it was to be under God's orders;

And having been fully perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation to all those who obey him,

while God himself pronounced him High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

I have much to say to you about Him, but it is difficult to make it clear to you, since you have become so dull in your spiritual senses.

And we will do so [i.e., go on to more advanced teaching] if God allows us to. For it is impossible to get people who have [completely] fallen away [from God] to repent again, because they [continue to] crucify for themselves God's Son all over again, and hold Him up to contempt.

who tasted the goodness of God's word and the powers of the world to come, and then fell away ??6 it is impossible to make them repent afresh, since they crucify the Son of God in their own persons and hold him up to obloquy.

and who fell away, to restore again to repentance, crucifying to themselves the Son of God, and disgracing him publicly.

for the earth which drinks up the frequent show'rs that fall upon it, and produces plants fit for the use of him that cultivates it, is stiled heavenly land:

For God is true, and will not put away from him the memory of your work and of your love for his name, in the help which you gave and still give to the saints.

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,

And so by patiently waiting he obtained what God had promised him.

Men verily swear by him that is greater than themselves; And an oath to confirm the thing, is among them an end of all strife.

so that by these two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to prove false, we who have taken refuge with Him may have encouragement strong enough to make us seize upon the hope that lies ahead of us.

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, having met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, also blessed him.

and it was to him that Abraham apportioned a tithe of all the spoil. He was first, as his name signifies, King of righteousness, and then King of Salem, that is, King of Peace;

He has no father, mother, or genealogy, no birth date recorded for him, nor a date of death. Like the Son of God, he continues to be a priest forever.

Now see how great this man must have been that even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of his spoils.

But this man who had no Levitical genealogy actually took tithes of Abraham, and blessed him to whom the promises belong.

now 'tis past dispute, he that is blessed is inferior to him that blesses:

and in one case tithes are received by mortal men, while in the other by him who is affirmed to be alive.

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

for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

For it has been witnessed of him, You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

And as he was not [constituted] without swearing,??21 for they were made priests without swearing, but he with swearing by him who says to him, The Lord swore, and he will not change, You are a priest forever;??22 by so much is Jesus the pledge of a better covenant.

but he with an oath, because of him who says to him, The Lord swore and will not change his mind, Thou are a priest into the age according to the order of Melchizedek.

Whereupon he is able also to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, being always alive in order to intercede on their behalf.

But, as the case with Him now stands, He has entered upon a priestly service as much superior to theirs as the covenant of which He is the Mediator is superior to theirs, superior because it has been enacted upon superior promises.

And truly therefore the first had precepts of divine service for him, and a worldly holy place.

but into the second [inner tabernacle, the Holy of Holies], only the high priest enters [and then only] once a year, and never without [bringing a sacrifice of] blood, which he offers [as a substitutionary atonement] for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

The which is a similitude for the present season, according to which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot, as to the conscience, perfect him that rendereth the divine service: -

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

And for this cause it is through him that a new agreement has come into being, so that after the errors under the first agreement had been taken away by his death, the word of God might have effect for those who were marked out for an eternal heritage.

For where a testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him that made it.

Nor was it necessary for Him to offer Himself [to God] often, like the head priest does, who enters the Holy of Holies year after year with blood that belongs to others [i.e., the blood of animal sacrifices].

since it would be necessary for him to suffer often, from the foundation of the world. But now once, at the end of the ages, he was made known for an annulment of sin by the sacrifice of himself.

so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him, unto salvation.

but this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, sat him down for ever on the righthand of God,

And has been waiting there from that time, till all who are against him are made a foot-rest for his feet.

For by that one sacrifice He has made perfect for all time those who are consecrated to Him.

and since in Him we have a Great Priest over the house of God,

let us come to him with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and the body washed with pure water:

let us hold the hope we avow without wavering (for we can rely on him who gave us the Promise);

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 him that said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

But my righteous one shall live by faith: And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him.

By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect of his gifts: and through it he being dead yet speaketh.

By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God translated him: for he hath had witness borne to him that before his translation he had been well-pleasing unto God:

And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him ; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.

By faith Noah, being moved by the fear of God, made ready an ark for the salvation of his family, because God had given him news of things which were not seen at the time; and through it the world was judged by him, and he got for his heritage the righteousness which is by faith.

By faith Abraham did as God said when he was ordered to go out into a place which was to be given to him as a heritage, and went out without knowledge of where he was going.

By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised:

wherefore also there sprang of one, and him as good as dead,'so many as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand, which is by the sea-shore, innumerable.

By faith Abraham offered up Isaac, when he was tempted, and he offered him being his only begotten son, which had received the promises:

Even him of whom it had been said - In Isaac, shall there be called to thee, a seed:

accounting that God is able to raise up, even from the dead; from whence he did also in a figure receive him back.

'Twas by faith that the parents of Moses conceal'd him for three months after his birth, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's edict.

For he counted 'the reproaches that are heaped upon the Christ' of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, looking forward, as he did, to the reward awaiting him.

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

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.

looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider him that hath endured such gainsaying of sinners against himself, that ye wax not weary, fainting in your souls.

and ye have forgotten the exhortation which reasoneth with you as with sons, My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord, Nor faint when thou art reproved of him;