He is as much superior to the angels as the name that he has inherited surpasses theirs.

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?

It is not to angels that God subjected the age to be, of which we are speaking.

But some one, somewhere, testified, saying. What is Man, that thou art mindful of him? Or any man, that thou carest for him?

Thou hast made him only a little lower that the angels; With glory and honor hast thou crowned him; And hast set him to govern the works of thy hands;

What we do see is Jesus, who was made for a time a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor, because of the suffering of death, in order that through God's grace he might taste death for every man.

Therefore, since the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also similarly partook of the same, in order that through death he might render powerless him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

And so it was necessary that he should in all points be made like his brothers, so that he might become a compassionate and faithful high priest, in all that relates to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

but Christ as a Son in his own house; and we are that house, if we retain the cheerful courage and pride of our hope firm unto the end.

For this reason I was sore displeased with that generation, And said, "They are always wandering in their hearts; They have never learned my ways";

See to it, brothers, that there shall never be in any one of you an evil and unbelieving heart, manifesting itself in apostasy from the living God.

On the contrary, encourage each other daily, so long as there is a "Today," so that no one of you is hindered by the deceitfulness of sin.

For who were they that heard and yet provoked him? Was it not all who came out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses?

And to whom did he swear that they should never enter into his rest, if not to those who had proved faithless?

So you see that it was through unbelief that they were not able to enter in.

We are actually entering into that rest, we who have believed, as God has said,??n my wrath I swore??They shall not enter into my Rest

Concerning him I have much to say, and much that is hard to make clear to you, because you have grown dull of hearing.

But solid food is for adults, that is, for those who by constant practise have their faculties trained to discriminate between good and evil.

For land that has drunk the showers that now and again fall upon it, and produced vegetation useful for those for whom it was tilled, receives a blessing from God;

But though we thus speak, we are persuaded better things of you, beloved, and things that accompany salvation.

but I am longing that each of you continue to show the same diligence to realize the fulness of your hope, even to the end.

that by means of two immutable things??is promise and his oath??n which it is impossible for God to break faith, we refugees may have strong encouragement to grasp the hope set before us.

and it was to him that Abraham apportioned a tithe of all the spoil. He was first, as his name signifies, King of righteousness, and then King of Salem, that is, King of Peace;

Now those of the sons of Levi who are appointed to the priesthood, are authorized by the Law to take tithes of the people, that is, of their brothers, and that too, although these are descended from Abraham.

Now it is beyond all controversy that the inferior is always blessed by the superior.

Now if there were perfection through the Levitical priesthood, (and it was under it that the people received the Law) why was it still necessary for another kind of priest to arise, after the order of Melchizedek, instead of being reckoned according to the order of Aaron?

For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe of which Moses said nothing concerning the priesthood.

Hence also he is able to continue saving to the uttermost those who are ever drawing near to God through him, seeing that he is ever living to intercede for them.

The pith of all that we have been saying is this; we do have such a High Priest; and he has taken his seat on the right hand of the throne of Majesty in the heavens,

For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; whence it follows that this High Priest also must have some offering to make.

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."

In it was the golden altar of incense, and also the Ark of the Covenant covered all over with gold, in which was a golden pot holding the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;

but into the inner tent the high priest only goes alone, once a year, and that not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the ignorances of the people.

The Holy Spirit teaching by this that the way into the Holiest has not yet been disclosed while the first tent is still standing.

This is a parable, for the present time, according to which gifts and sacrifices are offered that are not able, as far as conscience is concerned, to perfect the worshiper;

But when Christ came, a High Priest of good things to come, he passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is to say, not of this material creation,

And because of this he is the Mediator of a new testament, in order that, since a death has taken place to atone for offenses committed under the first testament, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Accordingly we find that not without blood was the first testament enacted.

saying, This is the blood of that testament which God commanded in regard to you.

While, then, it was necessary that the copies of the heavenly things should be cleansed by such sacrifices, the heavenly things themselves required nobler sacrifices than these.

For it was not into a Sanctuary made by hands, a mere type of the reality, that Christ entered, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the very presence of God on our behalf.

Nor did he enter to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest entered into the sanctuary, year after year, with blood that was not his own;

(for in that case he would have needed to suffer repeatedly, ever since the foundation of the world;)but now, once for all, at the end of the ages, he has appeared to abolish sin, but the offering of himself.

And since it is appointed to men once to die, and after that the judgment;

It is for this reason that the Christ, on coming into the world, declared. Sacrifice and offerings thou dost not desire, But a body didst thou prepare for me;

(offerings regularly made under the law), and then it is added, Lo, I come to do thy will, he does away with the first, in order that he may establish the second.

And it is by this will that we have been sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

by the way which he dedicated for us, that new and living way, through the veil (that is, his flesh);

How much surer, think you, will be the punishment of one who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has profaned that covenant blood with which he was sanctified, and has done despite to the spirit of grace?

partly by being made a public spectacle in reproaches and afflictions, and partly by sharing the fortunes of those that were so used.

For you did sympathize with the prisoners, and you did take joyfully the confiscation of your goods; conscious that you had for yourselves greater, even lasting possessions.

For you need stedfastness, so that after having done the will of God, you may receive the promise,

But it is by faith that my Righteous One will live, And if he draws back, my soul takes no pleasure in him.

By faith we understand that the world was fashioned by the Word of God, so that what we see was not made out of what is visible.

By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice more acceptable than that of Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God giving the testimony by accepting his gifts; and through it he, although he is dead, still speaks.

By faith Enoch was translated so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had translated him. Before his translation he had witness borne to him that he pleased God.

now without faith it is impossible to please him; for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he ever rewards those who are seeking.

It was by faith that he sojourned in the promised land as an alien, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, his fellow heirs of the same promise.

These all died in faith, not having yet received the promises; nay, but they saw them from afar, and hailed them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

For those who say such things make it plain that they are seeking a Fatherland.

And if they had cherished the memory of that land from which they went out, they would have found an opportunity to return;

but now they are longing for a better homeland, that is, a heavenly. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; and he has prepared a city for them.

of whom it had been said, It is through Isaac that your posterity will be traced.

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid 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 he established the Passover, and the sprinkling with blood, in order that the Destroying Angel might not touch the firstborn.

Woman received their dear ones alive from the dead; and others were broken on the wheel, not accepting the offered deliverance, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection.

since it was for us that God had in store some better thing, so that apart from us they should not be perfected.

Seeing then that we are encircled with this great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and the sin that clings about us. Let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

looking unto Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured a cross, despising shame, and has now taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

For it is those whom he loves that he disciplines, And he scourges every son whom he acknowledges.

It is for discipline that you are enduring these sufferings. God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

For they only disciplined us for a few days, as seemed good to them; but he does it for our profit, that we may share his holiness.

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

Look carefully that there be no one who falls back from the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up to trouble you, and by its means many become defiled.

For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; he found no room for repentance, though he sought it earnestly, with tears.

nor to gloom and darkness and tempest and the blare of a trumpet and an audible voice. Those who heard that voice entreated that no word more should be spoken to them.

For they could not endure that which was enjoined, Even if a wild beast touches the mountain it shall be stoned to death;

and so terrible was the scene that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and tremble.

to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to his sprinkled Blood whose message cries louder than that of Abel.

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape punishment when they refused to listen to their instructor on earth, much less shall we escape if we turn away from him who is teaching us from heaven;

That phrase, "Once again," signifies the removal of the things which can be shaken, created things, in order that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

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

Do not allow yourselves to be swept away by various and strange teachings. For it is a beautiful thing to be established in heart by grace, and not by regulations regarding food, from which those that occupied themselves with them have derived no benefit.

For we have not here an abiding city, but we are earnestly seeking the city that is to be.

In his name, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of lips that confess his name.

And forget not to be kind and liberal; for with that sort of sacrifice God is well pleased.

Obey your leaders and submit to them; for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who must give account; that they may do thus with joy and not with lamentation, for this would be unprofitable to you.

Keep on praying for me. I am persuaded that I have a clear conscience, and I desire in every way to live nobly.

I the more earnestly ask for your prayers, that I may be the more speedily restored to you.

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of an eternal covenant,

You know that our brother Timothy has been set free. If he comes soon, I will see him with you.