But God said [this] about the angels [Psa. 104:4 LXX], "He [i.e., God] makes His angels to be [like] winds and His servants [like] flames of fire." [Note: The idea is probably that angels obediently serve God's purpose similar to the way wind and lightening do].

They will perish, but You remain [forever and ever];
And they will all wear out like a garment,

And like a robe You will roll them up;
Like a garment they will be changed.
But You are the same [forever],
And Your years will never end.”

Therefore it behooves us the more earnestly to give heed to the things which we have heard, lest at some time we may leak out.

and one in a certain place did testify fully, saying, 'What is man, that Thou art mindful of him, or a son of man, that Thou dost look after him?

And again, [Isa. 8:17 LXX], "I will place my trust in God." And again, [Isa. 8:18], "Look, [here] I am with the children whom God gave me."

Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

Holy brothers, you who participate in a heavenly calling, look at Jesus then, at the apostle and high priest of our confession;

Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, Like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,

As it has been said [Psa. 95:7], "Today, if you hear His [i.e., God's] voice, do not have a stubborn heart like you did when you provoked [God]."

And so we see that it was owing to lack of faith that they could not be admitted.

Let us then strive to enter into that rest, that no one may fall, as a like example of disobedience.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Nobody takes this honor on himself, but he is called by God, just like Aaron was.

And though by this time it would be right for you to be teachers, you still have need of someone to give you teaching about the first simple rules of God's revelation; you have become like babies who have need of milk, and not of solid food.

now he that is disciplined like a child, is not prepared for the doctrine of justification:

but that which bears thorns and briars, is look'd upon as lying under a curse; whose end will be to be burnt.

But, beloved, we are persuaded of better things for you, and things that accompany salvation, even though we speak like this.

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

where Jesus has entered as a forerunner on our behalf, having become, like Melchizedek, a High Priest for ever.

to whom Abraham apportioned one tenth of all the spoil, who is first, as his name shows, king of righteousness and then king of Salem, which means king of peace??3 with no father or mother or ancestry, and with no beginning to his days nor end to his life, but like no one but the Son of God, continues as priest forever.

Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

Just look at how great this man was! Even Abraham the patriarch himself gave him a tenth of what he had captured!

Those of the descendants of Levi who are appointed to the priesthood are directed by the Law to collect tithes from the people, that is, from their own brothers, although they are descended from Abraham like themselves.

And this becomes clearer if another priest like Melchizedek appears,

who needeth not daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the'sins of the people: for this he did once for all, when he offered up himself.

Now every high priest is given authority to take to God the things which are given and to make offerings; so that it is necessary for this man, like them, to have something for an offering.

Further, if he were still on earth, he would not be a priest at all, for there are priests enough provided to offer the gifts the Law prescribes??5 though the service they engage in is only a shadow and imitation of that in heaven. For when Moses was going to make the tent of worship he was warned, "Be sure to make it all just like the pattern you were shown on the mountain."

Being servants of that which is a copy and an image of the things in heaven, as Moses, when he was about to make the Tent, had special orders from God: for, See, he said, that you make everything like the design which you saw in the mountain.

If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one,

But finding fault with His people, He says:

Look, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah—

Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
On the day when I took them by the hand
To lead them out of the land of Egypt;
For they did not abide in My covenant,
And so I withdrew My favor and disregarded them, says the Lord.

Above it were the cherubim [Note: These were winged, angelic-like, golden figurines] spread out over the [Chest] covering, where sins were [symbolically] forgiven. But we cannot now speak of these things in detail.

When everything had been arranged like this, the priests always went into the first part of the tent to perform their duties.

Moreover the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry he sprinkled in like manner with the blood.

Now, while the copies of the heavenly things had to be cleansed with sacrifices like these, the heavenly things themselves required nobler sacrifices.

For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us:

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].

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Then I said, 'Look, I have come to do what you want, O God, [just as] it is written in the scroll of the book [about me].'"

He then said, "Look, I have come to do what you want." [So], Christ takes away the first [i.e., the animal and grain sacrifices] in order to establish the second [i.e., the sacrifice of Himself].

For if we go on willfully and deliberately sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice [to atone] for our sins [that is, no further offering to anticipate],

But we are not like those people who turn back and are destroyed, but like those who have faith [in God] and obtain the salvation of their souls.

By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land, as in a strange land, living in tents [as nomads] with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise.

And therefore these were fathered from one man, and [he] being as good as dead, as the stars of heaven in number and like the innumerable sand by the shore of the sea.

for he concluded that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; wherefore he received him even in like manner.

greater wealth having reckoned the reproach of the Christ than the treasures in Egypt, for he did look to the recompense of reward;

It was by faith that he left Egypt, not from any fear of the king's wrath; like one who saw the King Invisible, he never flinched.

It was by faith that they crossed the Red Sea like dry land ??and when the Egyptians attempted it they were drowned.

We should fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and completer of the [or, "our"] faith. [Note: Jesus is here pictured as the one who completely fulfills the life of faith, or who provides us with the ability to live such a life]. [And] because He could look forward to joy, He endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right side of God's throne.

But if you do not receive [such] discipline, like all of us do, then you are illegitimate children and not true children.

See to it that no one falls short of God’s grace; that no root of resentment springs up and causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;

[that] no one [be] a sexually immoral or totally worldly [person] like Esau, who for one meal traded his own birthright.

and to the church of the firstborn ones [i.e., those who have received an inheritance from their Father], whose names are recorded in heaven. [See Luke 10:20]. [You have come] to God, who is the Judge of all people, and to the spirits of righteous people who have become [morally] perfect [i.e., that great company of God's people who have gone on to their heavenly reward],

Keep in mind those who were over you, and who gave you the word of God; seeing the outcome of their way of life, let your faith be like theirs.

[You should] obey your leaders [Note: This probably refers to church elders] and submit to their oversight, for they look out for [the welfare of] your souls as men who will give an accounting [for your spiritual progress]. [Be obedient], so that they will be able to do this joyfully and not with sorrow, for that would be unprofitable to you.