They will come to an end, but you will remain forever. They will all wear out like clothes.

You will roll them up like a robe, and they will be changed like clothes. But you remain the same, and your life will never end."

All of them are spirits on a divine mission, sent to serve those who are about to inherit salvation, aren't they?

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

do not harden your hearts as they did when they provoked me during the time of testing in the wilderness.

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.'

So in my anger I swore a solemn oath that they would never enter my rest."

As it is said, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as they did when they provoked me."

And to whom did he swear that they would never enter his rest? It was to those who disobeyed him, was it not?

So we see that they were unable to enter because of their unbelief.

because we have had the good news told to us as well as to them. But the message they heard did not help them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened to it.

We who have believed are entering that rest, just as he has said, "So in my anger I swore a solemn oath that they would never enter my rest,"

and again in this passage, "They will never enter my rest."

and who have fallen away, as long as they continue to crucify the Son of God to their own detriment by exposing him to public ridicule.

The descendants of Levi who accept the priesthood have a commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their own brothers, even though they are also descendants of Abraham.

They serve in a sanctuary that is a copy, a shadow of the heavenly one. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tent: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain."

It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors at the time when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. Because they did not remain loyal to my covenant, I ignored them, declares the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

since they deal only with food, drink, and various washings, which are required for the body until the time when things would be set right.

Otherwise, would they not have stopped offering them, because the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer be aware of any sins?

All these people died having faith. They did not receive the things that were promised, yet they saw them in the distant future and welcomed them, acknowledging that they were strangers and foreigners on earth.

For people who say such things make it clear that they are looking for a country of their own.

If they had been thinking about what they had left behind, they would have had an opportunity to go back.

Instead, they were longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he has prepared a city for them.

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

By faith they went through the Red Sea as if it were dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do this, they were drowned.

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

Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, received promises, shut the mouths of lions,

Women received their dead raised back to life. Other people were brutally tortured, but refused to be ransomed, so that they might gain a better resurrection.

They were stoned to death, sawed in half, and killed with swords. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins. They were needy, oppressed, and mistreated.

The world wasn't worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and from caves to holes in the ground.

All these people won approval for their faith but they did not receive what was promised,

since God had planned something better for us, so that they would not be perfected without us.

For a short time they disciplined us as they thought best, but God does it for our good, so that we may share in his holiness.

For they could not endure the command that was given: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death."

See to it that you do not ignore the one who is speaking. For if the hearers did not escape when they ignored the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we turn away from the one who is from heaven!

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.

Continue to follow and be submissive to your leaders, since they are watching over your souls as those who will have to give a word of explanation. By doing this, you will be letting them carry out their duties joyfully, and not with grief, for that would be harmful for you.