It was bit by bit and in many different ways that God in olden times spoke to our forefathers through the prophets,

He is the reflection of God's glory and the perfect representation of His being, and continues to uphold the universe by His mighty word. After He had procured man's purification from sins, He took His seat at the right hand of God's majesty,

thus proving Himself to be as much superior to angels as the title He has inherited is superior to theirs.

And you will fold them up just like a robe, and they will be changed like the changing of one's coat, but you are the same, and your years will never cease."

Are not the angels all attending spirits sent forth to serve for the sake of those who are going to be unceasing possessors of salvation?

This is why we must pay much closer attention to the message once heard, to keep from drifting to one side.

For if the message spoken through angels proved to be valid, and every violation and infraction of it had its adequate penalty,

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,

For it was not to angels that He gave authority over that world to be, of which we are speaking.

but we do see Jesus, who was made inferior to the angels for a little while, crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by God's favor He might experience death for every human being.

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,

Therefore He had to be made like His brothers, so that He could be a sympathetic High Priest, as well as a faithful one, in things relating to God, in order to atone for the people's sins.

For inasmuch as He has suffered Himself by being tempted, He is able to give immediate help to any that are tempted.

For just as the man who builds a house has greater glory than the house, by just so much is Jesus judged to be worthy of greater glory than Moses.

For every house is built by somebody, but the builder and furnisher of the universe is God.

Now Moses was faithful in all the house of God, yet only as a servant to bear witness to the message that should be spoken,

So in my anger I took oath, 'They shall not be admitted to my rest!'"

See to it, my brothers, that no wicked, unbelieving heart is found in any of you, as shown by your turning away from the ever-living God,

but day by day, as long as "Today" shall last, continue to encourage one another, so that not one of you may be hardened by sin's deceiving ways,

and yet the warning continues to be spoken: "If you but hear His voice, you must not harden your hearts as they did in provoking me."

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 we see that it was because of their unbelief that they could not be admitted to it.

So let us fear that when the promise for us to be admitted to His rest is still remaining valid some one of you may be found to have missed it.

For we have had the good news told to us as well as they, but the message heard did them no good, because they were not by faith made one with those who heeded it.

For we who have believed are being admitted to that rest, just as He has said: "As in my anger I took oath, they shall not be admitted to my rest," although God's works had been completed at the creation of the world.

while in this passage again He says: "They shall not be admitted to my rest."

So let us do our best to be admitted to that rest, so that not one of us may fail through the same sort of disobedience.

And no one takes this honor upon himself but is called to it by God, as Aaron was.

For although you ought to be teachers of others because you have been Christians so long, you actually need someone to teach you over and over again the very elements of the truths that God has given us, and you have gotten into such a state that you are in constant need of milk instead of solid food.

and then have fallen by the wayside -- it is impossible, I say, to keep on restoring them to their first repentance, since they continue to crucify the Son of God to their detriment and hold Him up to contempt.

For when God made His promise to Abraham, He took an oath by Himself, since He had no one greater by whom He could take it,

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

For it is a custom among men to take oath by something greater than themselves, and an oath taken for confirmation settles any dispute among them.

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.

And those of the descendants of Levi who accept the priesthood are authorized by the law to collect a tenth from the people; that is, from their own brothers, though they have sprung from Abraham.

Now beyond any contradiction, it is always the inferior that is blessed by the superior.

And by so much as He was not appointed without God's taking an oath --

And the Levitical priests, on the one hand, have become numerous, because they have been prevented by death from continuing in office,

For the law appoints imperfect men as high priests, but the assertion about the taking of an oath, which was spoken after the time of the law, appoints a Son who is perfectly qualified to be High Priest forever.

However, if He were still on earth, He would not be a priest at all, because there are those who officiate in accordance with the law in offering the gifts;

Unlike the one that I made with their forefathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them out from the land of Egypt, for they did not abide by their covenant with me, so I did not care for them,' says the Lord.

'For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel in those days,' says the Lord; 'I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. And nevermore will each one need to teach his fellow-citizen,

For I will be merciful to their deeds of wrong, and never, never any more will I recall their sins,'"

but into the second or inner part nobody but the high priest may go, and he only once a year, and never without blood which he offers for himself and for the sins committed in ignorance by the people.

By this the Holy Spirit was showing that there was as yet no access to the real sanctuary while the outer tent was still in existence,

But when Christ came as the High Priest of good things that have already taken place, He went by way of that greater and more perfect tent of worship, not made by human hands, that is, not belonging to this material creation,

For when a will is made, it is necessary that the death of him who makes it be proved.

For after every regulation in the law had been spoken by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, crimson wool, and a bunch of hyssop, and sprinkled the book containing the law and all the people,

So, on the one hand, the copies of the original things in heaven had to be purified with such sacrifices; but on the other hand, the original things themselves in heaven with better sacrifices than these.

For it was not a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, that Christ entered, but it was into heaven itself that He went, in order now to appear for us in the very presence of God.

for, if that had been the case, He would have had to suffer over and over again, ever since the creation of the world. But, as it is, once at the close of the ages He has appeared, to put away sin by His sacrifice.

Indeed, just as men must die but once and after that be judged,

It is by this will of God that we are consecrated through the offering of Jesus' body once for all.

from that time waiting till His enemies should be made the footstool of His feet.

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

let us, without ever wavering, keep on holding to the hope that we profess, for He is to be trusted who has made the promise,

For if we go willfully sinning after we have received full knowledge of the truth, there is no sacrifice left to be offered for our sins,

How much severer punishment do you suppose that one deserves who tramples the Son of God underfoot, and counts as a common thing the blood of the covenant by which he was consecrated, and has insulted the Spirit that grants God's unmerited favor?

For we know who it was that said, "Vengeance belongs to me, I will pay back!" and again, "The Lord will be His people's judge."

partly by being exposed as a public spectacle to insults and violent sufferings, and partly by showing yourselves ready to share with those who were living in this condition.

Meantime, my righteous servant will live by faith. But if a man draws back, my soul has no delight in him."

For by it the men of old won God's approval.

By faith we understand that the worlds were created, beautifully coordinated, and now exist, at God's command; so the things that we see did not develop out of mere matter.

By faith Abel offered a sacrifice more acceptable to God than Cain did, for by it he was approved as an upright man, since God approved him for the offering he made; and by it he still continues to speak, though dead.

By faith Enoch was transplanted from earth, so that he did not experience dying; and he could not be found, because God had transplanted him from earth. For before he was transplanted from earth evidence was given him that he pleased God;

By faith Noah, on being divinely warned about things not seen as yet, in reverence prepared an ark for saving his family, and by his faith condemned the world and became possessor of the uprightness that results from faith.

By faith Abraham, on being called, obeyed in starting off for a country which he was to receive as his own, and he did it in spite of the fact that he did not know where he was going.

By faith he made his temporary home in the land that God had promised him, although a land inhabited by others, living merely in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were to share the promise with him.

By faith Sarah received strength to become pregnant, and actually gave birth to a child, although she was past the time of life for it, because she thought that He who made her the promise was to be trusted.

These people all died victoriously as a result of their faith, although they did not receive the blessings promised; that is, because they really saw them in the far-off future and welcomed them, and so professed to be only foreigners and strangers here on earth.

But in reality they were aspiring for a better country, I mean, a heavenly one. This is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

By faith Abraham, when he was put to the test, offered Isaac as a sacrifice; that is, he who had received the promise was starting to offer as a sacrifice his only son,

of whom it had been said, "Through Isaac your offspring must be traced."

By faith Isaac put his blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau.

By faith Jacob, when about to die, put his blessing on each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

By faith Joseph, at the closing of his life, made mention of the future migration of the Israelites, and gave directions what to do with his body.

By faith, Moses, at his birth was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king's decree.

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as a son of Pharaoh's daughter,

By faith he left Egypt, because he was not afraid of the king's anger, for he persevered as though he were actually seeing Him who is unseen.

By faith he instituted the Passover and the pouring of blood upon the doorposts, so that the destroyer of the first-born might not touch them.

By faith they crossed the Red Sea as though it were dry land, while the Egyptians, in attempting it, were drowned.

By faith the walls of Jericho collapsed, after being surrounded each of seven days.

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who disobeyed God, because she had welcomed the scouts as friends.

who by their faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, received new promises, shut the mouths of lions,

stopped the force of fire, escaped from dying by the sword, out of weakness found great strength, grew mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Women by a resurrection received their dead again; others endured tortures, because they would not accept release, that they might rise to a better life.

Though all these people by their faith won God's approval, yet none of them received what He had promised,

Yes, to keep from growing weary and fainthearted, just think of the examples set by Him who has endured so great opposition aimed at Him by sinful men!

and you have forgotten the encouragement which is addressed to you as sons: "My son, refrain from thinking lightly of the discipline the Lord inflicts, and giving up when you are corrected by Him.

Now for the time being no discipline seems to be pleasant; it is painful; later on, however, to those who are trained by it, it yields the fruit of peace which grows from upright character.

and keep your feet in straight paths, so that limbs may not be dislocated, but instead be cured.

Continue to look after one another, that no one fails to gain God's spiritual blessing; or some evil like a bitter root may spring up and trouble you, and many of you be contaminated by it --

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

and trumpet-blast, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not a word more should be added;

for they did not try to bear the order, "Even if a wild animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death,"

but now His promise is, "Once more I will make not only the earth but heaven itself tremble." Now that expression, "Once more," signifies the final removal of the things that can be shaken, to let remain the things that cannot be shaken.

Let us, therefore, be thankful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and in this way continue to serve God acceptably in reverence and fear;

Do not remain neglectful of hospitality to strangers, for by it some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Marriage must be held in honor by all, and the marriage relations kept sacred. Persons who are sexually vicious and immoral God will punish.