For if the word uttered through angels stood firm, so that every transgression and act of disobedience met with its just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a 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,

But, as we know, a writer has solemnly said, "How poor a creature is man, and yet Thou dost remember him, and a son of man, and yet Thou dost come to him!

Therefore, my fellow-Christians, who have likewise heard the heavenly invitation, observe how faithful Jesus, the commissioner and high priest of our religion,

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

For he has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses, by how much he that has built it has more honour than the house.

Although He was a Son, He learned from what He suffered how to obey,

and have experienced how good God's message is and the mighty powers of the age to come,

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.

And notice how great this man was, to whom also the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth out of the best spoils.

And by how much it was not without the swearing of an oath;

But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

and let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and to do good deeds,

of how much sorer punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

But you must continue to remember those earlier days, how after you were enlightened you endured a hard and painful struggle.

For ye suffered also with my bonds, and took in worth the spoiling of your goods, and that with gladness, knowing in yourselves how that ye had in heaven a better, and an enduring substance.

For, yet a little while, how short! how short! The Coming One will be here, and will not tarry;

By faith Moses, after his birth, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful and divinely favored child; and they were not afraid of the king’s (Pharaoh’s) decree.

for you should consider how he endured such opposition from sinners against himself, lest ye be tired out, and quite despond.

And again, if the fathers of our flesh gave us punishment and had our respect, how much more will we be under the authority of the Father of spirits, and have life?

Look carefully [at how you are living] so that no one falls away from God's unearned favor, and that no "poisonous plant sprouts up" to cause trouble and corrupt many people [Note: This is an analogy from Deut. 29:16-18 being used as a warning against the evil influence of wicked people],

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.

See to it that you do not refuse to listen to Him who is speaking to you. For if they did not escape, because they refused to listen to him who warned them here on earth, how much less can we, if we reject Him who is from heaven?

You must not forget your former leaders, for it was they who brought you the message of God. Consider how they closed their lives; imitate their faith.