[but] during these final days He has spoken to us through His Son [Note: This period refers to the Christian age (See Acts 2:14-36)], whom He appointed to be heir of all things [and] through whom He created the universe. [See John 1:3; Col. 1:16].

He had become as much superior [in rank] to the angels as the name He inherited [i.e., "Son." See next verse] was superior to theirs [i.e., the name "angels" means "messengers"].

And again, when God sent the Firstborn One [i.e., Jesus. See Rom. 8:29; Col. 1:15, 18; Rev. 1:5] into the world, He said [Deut. 32:43 LXX], "And all of God's angels should worship Him."

For if the message spoken through angels proved to be binding [Note: This is a reference to the law of Moses. See Acts 7:53; Gal. 3:19], and every violation [of it] and disobedience [to it] received a just penalty,

You made him a little bit lower than the angels [i.e., a little less exalted]. [Note: Although these Psalms passages referred to mankind, they are here applied to Jesus. See verse 9]. You crowned him with splendor and honor {{some ancient manuscripts add "and placed him as ruler over what you made"}}.

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 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.

And again he says, I will put my faith in him. And again, See, I am here, and the children which God has given to me.

For he certainly did not embrace heavenly agents, but he embraced the seed of Abraham.

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

even though they had seen my actions for 40 years. That is why I was indignant with that generation and said, "They are always going astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways.'

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,

and who were they, who, he sware, should not enter into his rest, but those that did not believe? so we see that they could not enter in,

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

Let us be afraid therefore, lest, a promise being left behind to enter into his rest, any of you should seem to have come short.

For we [Christians] have had the good news [about resting with God] preached to us, just as the Israelites [had good news proclaimed to them. See 1:16-19]. But the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not coupled with faith by those who heard it.

So, since it still remains for some people to enter into that rest, but those to whom the good news was previously proclaimed [See verse 2] failed to enter it because of disobedience [See 3:18]

So, we should do our best to enter into that state of rest, so that no one fails [to do so] by following the same example of disobedience [i.e., as seen in the Israelites. See verses 2, 6].

For the word of God is living and full of power, and is sharper than any two-edged sword, cutting through and making a division even of the soul and the spirit, the bones and the muscles, and quick to see the thoughts and purposes of the heart.

Since then we [Christians] have [such] a great Head Priest, who has passed through the skies [i.e., ascended to heaven. See Acts 1:9], Jesus, the Son of God, we should remain true to our profession [of faith in Him].

But solid food is for men of full growth, even for those whose senses are trained by use to see what is good and what is evil.

and of teaching about immersions [Note: The use of the plural word here suggests teaching on the distinctions between Jewish washings and John's and Christian immersion, whether in water or the Holy Spirit. See Acts 19:1-7], and about placing hands on people [Note: This act was practiced in the appointment of church leaders, in healing sick people and to impart supernatural gifts], and about people being raised from the dead and about never ending judgment.

[These are people] who were once enlightened [by the Gospel message], who had experienced the gift from heaven [i.e., forgiveness, never ending life, etc. See Rom. 6:23], who had partaken of the Holy Spirit [See Acts 2:38],

Nevertheless dear friends, we trust to see better of you, and things which accompany salvation, though we thus speak.

For this Melchizedek was king of Salem [Note: This probably refers to Jerusalem], and a priest of the Most High God. He met Abraham returning [from battle] when he defeated the kings [See Gen. 14:1ff] and blessed him.

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

For the Lord [See next verse], about whom these things are being said, belonged to another tribe, from which no one has [ever] been appointed to serve at the Altar.

For the law of Moses appoints [morally] weak men to be head priests, but the message of [God's] oath, which came after that law [Note: The quotation from Psa. 110:4 (See verse 21) was written after the law of Moses was given] appointed the Son, who was made perfect [in every way] forever.

Now were he on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there are here those who present the gifts according to the Law??5 those priests who serve a mere outline and shadow of the heavenly reality, just as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to build the Tabernacle. "See", he says, "that you make everything on the pattern showed you on the mountain."

who serve for an example and shadow of the heavenly things. Just as Moses who was divinely warned while going to complete the tabernacle, for he says, See thou make all things according to the pattern that was shown thee on the mou

But Jesus, as we see, has obtained a ministry as far excelling theirs, as the Covenant of which he is the intermediary, based, as it is, on better promises, excels the former Covenant.

For, because He was dissatisfied with His people, He said: "'See; the time is coming,' says the Lord, 'When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

When he says, A new agreement, he has made the first agreement old. But anything which is getting old and past use will not be seen much longer.

But when Christ became the Head Priest of the good things that have come, He entered the greater and more complete Tabernacle, not made by hand, that is, not part of this creation [i.e., heaven, See 8:2].

From which we see that neither was the first covenant dedicated without blood.

For Christ did not enter the Holy of Holies made by hand, which is [only] a counterpart of the true one, but into heaven itself, where He now appears in God's presence for us. [See verse 12].

So Christ, having at his first coming taken on himself the sins of men, will be seen a second time, without sin, by those who are waiting for him, for their salvation.

Then I said, 'See, I have come, just as the Scripture writes about me in the book, O God, to do your will.'"

At first he says, "You never wished or cared for sacrifices or offerings, or burnt-offerings or sacrifices for sin"??ll of which the Law prescribes??9 and then he adds, "See, I have come to do your will!" He is taking away the old to put the new in its place.

He afterward said, "See, I have come to do your will." He is taking away the first to let the second take its place.

we should draw close [to God] with a sincere heart and a fully assured faith, having had our hearts sprinkled from a guilty conscience [See 9:13-14] and having had our bodies washed with clean water [i.e., in our immersion].

and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good deeds ??25 not ceasing to meet together, as is the habit of some, but admonishing one another, all the more so, as you see the Day coming near.

not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another ; and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.

But give thought to the days after you had seen the light, when you went through a great war of troubles;

For you need to be steadfast so that, after you have done what God wants, you will receive the promise [of an inheritance. See 9:15].

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

For the men of old [i.e., the forefathers. See 1:1], received [God's] approval [for their faith].

By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear.

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 warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

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

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

but now they seek a better, that is, a heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he has prepared for them a city.

even he to whom it was said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called:

By [having] faith, Isaac pronounced a future blessing on Jacob and Esau. [See Gen. 27:26-40].

By [having] faith, when Joseph was about to die, he mentioned the Israelites' departure [from Egypt] and gave [them] instructions concerning his bones [i.e., that they were to take them back to Palestine. See Gen. 50:25].

By faith, he forsook Egypt - not put in fear of the wrath of the king; for, as seeing him who cannot be seen, he persevered.

By [having] faith, he established the Passover Festival [Note: This festival was first celebrated in Egypt by the fleeing Israelites, then observed annually in commemoration of that event], and had [lambs'] blood sprinkled [on the door jambs] to prevent the one who destroyed the firstborn children from touching them. [See Ex. 12:23].

By faith Rahab, the loose woman, was not put to death with those who had gone against God's orders, because she had taken into her house in peace those sent to see the land.

and all chastening for the present, indeed, doth not seem to be of joy, but of sorrow, yet afterward the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those exercised through it -- it doth yield.

and see that ye have straight steps unto your feet, lest any halting turn out of the way: yea, let it rather be healed.

Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord:

Looking with care to see that no man among you in his behaviour comes short of the grace of God; for fear that some bitter root may come up to be a trouble to you, and that some of you may be made unclean by it;

And make sure that there isn’t any immoral or irreverent person like Esau, who sold his birthright in exchange for one meal.

For you recall how, even after he [later] wanted to inherit the blessing, Esau was rejected [by his father Isaac. See Gen. 37:35-40]. For he was not able to get his father to change his mind, even though he tearfully begged him [or, "he was not able to change the situation, even though he shed tears over his loss"].

[Unlike the Israelites at Mount Sinai] you [Christians] have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that burned with fire [See Ex. 19:12, 16-19; 20:18-21; Deut. 4:11]; to [a place of] darkness, gloom and wind;

to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words [from God] that the hearers begged not to have to listen to [anymore]. [See Ex. 20:19].

And the sight [of all these things] was so terrifying that Moses said [See Deut. 9:19], "I tremble with fear."

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],

and to Jesus, the Mediator of a New Agreement [between God and mankind], and to the sprinkled blood [of Jesus], which says better things [to us] than [the blood of] Abel did. [Note: The contrast seems to be that "Abel's blood called for vengeance and death (See Gen. 4:10) whereas the blood of Christ provides mercy and life"].

See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not when they refused him that warned them on earth, much more'shall not we escape who turn away from him that warneth from heaven:

Therefore, we should be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken [i.e., the church. See Col. 1:13; Rev. 1:6, 9]. So, with reverence and awe, we should serve God in a way that pleases Him,

Remember them which have the oversight of you, which have declared unto you the word of God: consider the conversation of their living, the end of whose conversation see that ye look upon, and follow their faith.

For we have not here an abiding city, but we seek after the city which is to come.

Know ye that our brother Timothy hath been set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you.