Having become so much better than the heavenly agents, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they.

They will perish, but you always remain; they all will grow old like a coat,

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 they not all ministering spirits sent forth for service for the sake of those who are going to inherit salvation?

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"}}.

For, both he that maketh holy, and they who are being made holy, are, all, of One; For which cause, he is not ashamed to be calling them, brethren,

and might free those who were slaves all their lives because they were terrified by death.

For having been put to the test himself, he is able to give help to others when they are tested.

You must not harden your hearts as they did in provoking me, as on the day in the desert they tested me,

Where your forefathers found I stood their test, because they saw my works for forty years,

Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, They are always led astray in their heart, and they did not know my ways.

So I swore in my wrath, They will not enter into my rest.

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

Were they not all that came out of Egypt by Moses? And with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them who had sinned?

To whom did He take oath that they should not be admitted to His rest, if it was not to those who disobeyed Him?

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

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 those who believe enter into that rest, just as he said, So I swore in my wrath, They will not enter into my rest, although the works occurred from the foundation of the world.

For he saith thus in a certain place, of the seventh day, And God rested on the seventh day from all his works: And in this again, They shall not enter into my rest.

and in this again, They will not enter into my rest.

So that as it is clear that some have to go in, and that the first hearers of the good news were not able to go in because they went against God's orders,

[Now] we have many things to say about Melchizedek, but because of your slowness to grasp things, they are hard to explain.

And we will do so [i.e., go on to more advanced teaching] if God allows us to. For it is impossible to get people who have [completely] fallen away [from God] to repent again, because they [continue to] crucify for themselves God's Son all over again, and hold Him up to contempt.

For it is not possible that they which were once lighted, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were become partakers of the holy ghost,

and who had experienced the good teaching of God and the powers of the coming age [i.e., they had already received some of the blessings of the Christian life, perhaps even miraculous signs].

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.

but that which bringeth forth thorns and briars, is rejected and near to a curse, (whose end is burning) so are they.

for when men swear by a superior, the ratifying what they say with an oath, puts an end to all further debate.

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.

Furthermore, here [in the Levitical priesthood] tithes are received by men who are subject to death; but in that case [concerning Melchizedek], they are received by one of whom it is testified that he lives on [perpetually].

Now if the crowning blessing was attainable by means of the Levitical priesthood--for as resting on this foundation the people received the Law, to which they are still subject-- what further need was there for a Priest of a different kind to be raised up belonging to the order of Melchizedek instead of being said to belong to the order of Aaron?

And as he was not [constituted] without swearing,??21 for they were made priests without swearing, but he with swearing by him who says to him, The Lord swore, and he will not change, You are a priest forever;??22 by so much is Jesus the pledge of a better covenant.

For, they, indeed, apart from oath-taking, have been made priests, but, he, with an oath-taking, through him that was saying unto him - The Lord sware, and will not regret, - Thou, art a priest, age-abidingly

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 constitutes men high-priests, though they have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which is since the law, constitutes the Son, unto eternity completely perfect.

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."

and yet they officiate in a sanctuary that is a mere copy and shadow of the heavenly one, as Moses, when he was about to make the tent of worship, was warned, for, said He, "See to it that you make it all just like the pattern shown you on the mountain."

Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers In the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt; For they continued not in my covenant, And I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, And on their heart also will I write them: And I will be to them a God, And they shall be to me a people:

And they shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen, And every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: For all shall know me, From the least to the greatest of them.

Now these things having been prepared in this way, the priests enter into the first tent {continually} [as they] accomplish their service,

for it is merely a symbol of the present time in connection with which gifts and sacrifices are repeatedly offered though they cannot make the conscience of the worshiper perfect,

since they deal only with food and drink and various washings, that is, with mere material regulations which are in force only until the time of setting things straight.

And for this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

And because by God's law death comes to men once, and after that they are judged;

For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect them that draw nigh.

Else would they not have ceased to be offered? because the worshippers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins.

They really only serve to remind the people annually of the sins they have committed,

after having said, "victims, oblations, holocausts, and sacrifice for sin, thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein," tho' they are all prescrib'd by the law;

Every other priest stands officiating day after day and over and over again offering the same sacrifices, although they are unable to take away our sins.

now where they are remitted, there is no need of any further oblation for sin.

How much worse then, think you, will be the punishment deserved by those who have trampled underfoot the Son of God, who have treated the blood that rendered the Covenant valid--the very blood by which they were purified--as of no account, and who have outraged the Spirit of Love?

But faith is, of things hoped for, a confidence, of facts, a conviction, when they are not seen;

Therefore indeed they were born of one, and those things of one having died, as the stars of heaven for multitude, and as the sands which are by the sea, which are innumerable.

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 make it manifest that they are seeking after a country of their own.

And if indeed they had been mindful of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

But now they desire a better country , that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city.

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 Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a goodly child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.

By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were swallowed up.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been compassed about for seven days.

Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions,

Put out the power of fire, got safely away from the edge of the sword, were made strong when they had been feeble, became full of power in war, and put to flight the armies of the nations.

Women received their dead by a resurrection: and others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

others, again, had to experience scoffs and scourging, aye chains and imprisonment ??37 they were stoned, sawn in two, and cut to pieces; they had to roam about in sheepskins and goatskins, forlorn, oppressed, ill-treated

they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword: they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated

(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

And not one of these got the good things of the agreement, though they all had a good record through faith,

God having provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness.

and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them;

for they could not endure that which was enjoined, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned;

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:

But, the saying, Yet once for all, maketh clear the removal of the things which can be shaken, as of things done with, - that they may remain, which cannot be shaken.

Continue to remember those in prison as if you were in prison with them, as well as those who are mistreated, since they also are only mortal.

You must not forget your former leaders, for it was they who brought you the message of God. Consider how they closed their lives; imitate their faith.

Be not carried away by divers and strange teachings: for it is good that the heart be established by grace; not by meats, wherein they that occupied themselves were not profited.

We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat that serve the tabernacle.

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit to them : for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with grief: for this were unprofitable for you.

Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you.

They of Italy salute you. Grace be with you all.