Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to serve for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

For it is not to angels that he subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking.

and put everything in subjection under his feet." Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. As it is, we do not yet see everything subject to him.

For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

For surely it is not with angels that he is concerned, but with the descendants of Abraham.

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,

Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, 'They always go astray in their hearts; and they have not known my ways.'

while it is said, "Today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."

Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?

And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?

So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

For we also have had the good news preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

God again set a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later of another day.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

So also Christ did not exalt himself to become a high priest, but it was he who said to him, "You are my son, today I have begotten you";

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of God's word. You need milk, not solid food;

Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

For God is not so unjust as to forget your work and the love which you have shown for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do.

so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

But this man whose genealogy is not derived from them received a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.

Now if perfection could have been through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not one designated according to the order of Aaron?

who has become a priest not on the basis of a law of carnal requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life.

And it was not without an oath.

Those who formerly became priests took their office without an oath, but he became a priest with an oath through the One who said to him, "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever.'"

He does not need, like those high priests, to offer up daily sacrifices, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people, because he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

a minister in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle which is set up by the Lord, not by man.

Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law.

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 continue in my covenant, and so I paid no heed to them, says the Lord.

And they shall not teach every one his fellow or every one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

But into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the holy place had not yet been disclosed as long as the outer tabernacle was still standing.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, he entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation.

He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the holy place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.

This is why even the first covenant was not ratified without blood.

For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.

Nor was it that he should offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood not his own.

so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.

For since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near.

Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered? If the worshipers had once been cleansed, they would no longer have any consciousness of sins.

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;

When he said above, "You did not desire, nor did you take pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law),

not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the Day drawing near.

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

"For yet in a very little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and keep their souls.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had taken him. For before he was taken he was attested as having pleased God.

By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in godly fear prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which comes by faith.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from a distance, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's edict.

By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the anger of the king; for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.

By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch them.

By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had welcomed the spies.

of whom the world was not worthy wandering in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised,

because God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

And have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are rebuked by him.

It is for discipline that you endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

If you are left without discipline, in which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

Besides this, we have had fathers of our flesh to discipline us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?

and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

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

For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned."

See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less shall we escape, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?

Then his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also heaven."

Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.

For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city which is to come.

Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Obey your leaders and submit to them; for they are keeping watch over your souls, as men who will have to give account. Let them do this with joy, and not with grief, for that would be of no advantage to you.