They will perish, but you continue. And they will all grow old like a garment,

and like a robe you will fold them up and like a garment they will be changed, but you are the same and your years will never run out."

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to serve those who will inherit salvation?

"There your fathers tested me and tried me, and they saw my works for forty years.

"Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, 'Their hearts are always wandering and they have not known my ways.'

"As I swore in my anger, 'They will never enter my rest!'"

And to whom did he swear they would never enter into his rest, except those who were disobedient?

So we see that they could not enter because of unbelief.

For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in with those who heard it in faith.

For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, "As I swore in my anger, 'They will never enter my rest!'" And yet God's works were accomplished from the foundation of the world.

but to repeat the text cited earlier: "They will never enter my rest!"

and then have committed apostasy, to renew them again to repentance, since they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again and holding him up to contempt.

And those of the sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have authorization according to the law to collect a tithe from the people, that is, from their fellow countrymen, although they too are descendants of Abraham.

The place where they serve is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Moses was warned by God as he was about to complete the tabernacle. For he says, "See that you make everything according to the design shown to you on the mountain."

"It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.

"For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people.

"And there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, 'Know the Lord,' since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest.

So with these things prepared like this, the priests enter continually into the outer tent as they perform their duties.

They served only for matters of food and drink and various washings; they are external regulations imposed until the new order came.

For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have no further consciousness of sin?

These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth.

For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.

But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

By faith, when Moses was born, his parents hid him for three months, because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king's edict.

By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were swallowed up.

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

They were stoned, sawed apart, murdered with the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins; they were destitute, afflicted, ill-treated

(the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth.

And these all were commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.

For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us.

For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness.

For they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned."

Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven?

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. Let them do this with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you.