For he is the radiance of the Glory of God and the very expression of his Being, upholding all creation by the power of his word; and, when he had made an expiation for the sins of men, he 'took his seat at the right hand' of God's Majesty on high,

For to which of the angels did God ever say-- 'Thou art my Son; this day I have become thy Father'? or again-- 'I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son'?

while of the Son he said-- 'God is thy throne for ever and ever; The scepter of his Kingdom is the scepter of Justice;

To which of the angels has God ever said-- 'Sit thou at my right hand until I put thy enemies as a stool for thy feet'?

Are not all the angels spirits in the service of God, sent out to minister for the sake of those who are destined to obtain Salvation?

Therefore we must give still more heed to what we were taught, for fear we should drift away.

For, if the Message which was delivered by angels had its authority confirmed, so that every offence against it, or neglect of it, met with a fitting requital,

how can we, of all people, expect to escape, if we disregard so great a Salvation? It was the Master who at the outset spoke of this Salvation, and its authority was confirmed for us by those who heard him,

Thou hast made him, for a while, lower than angels; With glory and honour thou hast crowned him; Thou hast set him over all that thy hands have made;

What our eyes do see is Jesus, who was made for a while lower than angels, now, because of his sufferings and death, crowned with glory and honour; so that his tasting the bitterness of death should, in God's loving-kindness, be on behalf of all mankind.

It was, indeed, fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, should, when leading many sons to glory, make the author of their Salvation perfect through suffering.

For he who purifies, and those whom he purifies, all spring from One; and therefore he is not ashamed to call them 'Brothers.'

And again-- 'As for me, I will put my trust in God.' And yet again-- 'See, here am I and the children whom God gave me.'

and so might deliver all those who, from fear of death, had all their lives been living in slavery.

And consequently it was necessary that he should in all points be made like 'his Brothers,' in order that he might prove a merciful as well as a faithful High Priest in man's relations with God, for the purpose of expiating the sins of his People.

He has been deemed worthy of far higher honour than Moses, just as the founder of the House is held in greater regard than the House itself.

For every House has its founder, and the founder of the universe is God.

Where your ancestors tried my forbearance, And saw my mighty deeds for forty years.

For we now all share in the Christ, if indeed we retain, unshaken to the end, the confidence that we had at the first.

And with whom was it that God was sorely vexed for forty years? Was not it with those who had sinned, and who fell dead in the desert?

For we have had the Good News told us just as they had. But the Message which they heard did them no good, since they did not share the faith of those who were attentive to it.

for, in a passage referring to the seventh day, you will find these words-- 'God rested upon the seventh day after all his work.'

For he who enters upon God's Rest does himself rest after his work, just as God did.

Therefore, let us draw near boldly to the Throne of Love, to find pity and love for the hour of need.

and is therefore bound to offer sacrifices for sins, not only for the People, but equally so for himself.

and on another occasion also-- 'Thou art a priest for all time of the order of Melchizedek.'

For whereas, considering the time that has elapsed, you ought to be teaching others, you still need some one to teach you the very alphabet of the Divine Revelation, and need again to be fed with 'milk' instead of with 'solid food.'

For every one who still has to take 'milk' knows nothing of the Teaching of Righteousness; he is a mere infant.

But 'solid food' is for Christians of mature faith--those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish right from wrong.

Therefore, let us leave behind the elementary teaching about the Christ and press on to perfection, not always laying over again a foundation of repentance for a lifeless formality, of faith in God--

For if those who were once for all brought into the Light, and learned to appreciate the gift from Heaven, and came to share in the Holy Spirit,

if those, I say, fell away, it would be impossible to bring them again to repentance; they would be crucifying the Son of God over again for themselves, and exposing him to open contempt.

Ground that drinks in the showers that from time to time fall upon it, and produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is tilled, receives a blessing from God;

but, if it 'bears thorns and thistles,' it is regarded as worthless, it is in danger of being 'cursed,' and its end will be the fire.

For God is not unjust; he will not forget the work that you did, and the love that you showed for his Name, in sending help to your fellow Christians--as you are still doing.

For he intended us to find great encouragement in these two unchangeable things, which make it impossible for God to prove false--we, I mean, who fled for safety where we might lay hold on the hope set before us.

This hope is a very anchor for our souls, secure and strong, and it 'reaches into the Sanctuary that lies behind the Curtain,'

where Jesus, our Forerunner, has entered on our behalf, after being made for all time a High Priest of the order of Melchizedek.

for Levi was still in the body of his ancestor when Melchizedek met Abraham.

For it is plain that our Lord ad sprung from the tribe of Judah, though of that tribe Moses said nothing about their being priests.

for that is the meaning of the declaration-- 'Thou art for all time a priest of the order of Melchizedek.'

(for the Law never brought anything to perfection); and, on the other hand, we have the introduction of a better hope, which enables us to draw near to God.

but his appointment was ratified by an oath, when God said to him-- 'The Lord has sworn, and will not change, "Thou art a priest for all time."'

but Jesus remains for all time, and therefore the priesthood that he holds is never liable to pass to another.

And that is why he is able to save perfectly those who come to God through him, living for ever, as he does, to intercede of their behalf.

one who has no need to offer sacrifices daily as those High Priests have, first for their own sins, and then for those of the People. For this he did once and for all, when he offered himself as the sacrifice.

The Law appoints as High Priests men who are liable to infirmity, but the words of God's oath, which was later than the Law, name the Son as, for all time, the perfect Priest.

Every High Priest is appointed for the purpose of offering gifts and sacrifices to God; it follows, therefore, that this High Priest must have some offering to make.

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.

If that first Covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second.

Not such a Covenant as I made with their ancestors on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not abide by their Covenant with me, And therefore I disregarded them," says the Lord.

There shall be no need for every man to instruct his fellow-citizen, or for a man to say to his Brother 'Learn to know the Lord'; For every one will know me, From the lowest to the highest.

For I will be merciful to their wrong-doings, And I will no longer remember their sins."'

It is true that even the first Covenant had its regulations for divine worship, and its Sanctuary--though only a material one.

For a Tabernacle was constructed, with an outer part which contained the stand for the lamps, and the table, and the consecrated bread. This is called the Sanctuary.

For that was only a type, to continue down to the present time; and, in keeping with it, both gifts and sacrifices are offered, though incapable of satisfying the conscience of the worshiper;

Nor was it with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, that he entered, once and for all, into the Sanctuary, and obtained our eternal deliverance.

For, if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, purify those who have been defiled (as far as ceremonial purification goes),

how much more will the blood of the Christ, who, through his eternal Spirit, offered himself up to God, as a victim without blemish, purify our consciences from a lifeless formality, and fit us for the service of the Living God!

For such a Covenant takes effect only upon death, it does not come into force as long as the testator is alive.

For, when every command had been announced to all the people by Moses in accordance with the Law, he took the blood of the calves and of the goats, with water, scarlet wool, and a bunch of hyssop, and sprinkled even the Book of the Law, as well as all the people,

While, then, it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly realities to be purified by such means as these, the heavenly realities themselves required better sacrifices.

For it was not into a Sanctuary made by human hands, which merely foreshadowed the true one, that Christ entered, but into Heaven itself, that he might now appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

for then Christ would have had to undergo death many times since the creation of the world. But now, once and for all, at the close of the age, he has appeared, in order to abolish sin by the sacrifice of himself.

And, as it is ordained for men to die but once (death being followed by judgment),

so it is with the Christ. He was offered up once and for all, to 'bear away the sins of many'; and the second time he will appear--but without any burden of sin--to those who are waiting for him, to bring Salvation.

For the blood of bulls and goats is powerless to remove sins.

That is why, when he was coming into the world, the Christ declared-- 'Sacrifice and offering thou dost not desire, but thou dost provide for me a body;

Thou dost take no pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin.

First come the words-- 'Thou dost not desire, nor dost thou take pleasure in, sacrifices, offerings, burnt offerings, and sacrifices for sin' (offerings regularly made under the Law),

And it is in the fulfillment of the will of God that we have been purified by the sacrifice, once and for all, of the body of Jesus Christ.

But, this priest, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, which should serve for all time, 'took his seat at the right hand of God,'

and has since then been waiting 'for his enemies to be put as a stool for his feet.'

By a single offering he has made perfect for all time those who are being purified.

We have also the testimony of the Holy Spirit. For, after saying--

And, when these are forgiven, there is no further need of an offering for sin.

by the way which he inaugurated for us--a new and living way, a way through the Sanctuary Curtain (that is, his human nature);

Let us maintain the confession of our hope unshaken, for he who has given us his promise will not fail us.

Remember, if we sin willfully after we have gained a full knowledge of the Truth, there can be no further sacrifice for sin;

We know who it was that said-- 'It is for me to avenge, I will requite'; and again-- 'The Lord will judge his people.'

For you not only sympathized with those who were in prison, but you even took the confiscation of your possessions joyfully, knowing, as you did, that you had in yourselves a greater possession and a lasting one.

Do not, therefore, abandon the confidence that you have gained, for it has a great reward awaiting it.

'For there is indeed but a very little while ere He who is coming will have come, without delay;

Faith is the realization of things hoped for--the proof of things not seen.

And it was for faith that the men of old were renowned.

Faith led to Enoch's removal from earth, that he might not experience death. 'He could not be found because God had removed him.' For, before his removal, he was renowned as having pleased God;

But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that God exists, and that he rewards those who seek for him.

It was faith that enabled Abraham to obey the Call that he received, and to set out for the place which he was afterwards to obtain as his own; and he set out not knowing where he was going.

For he was looking for the City with the sure foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Again, it was faith that enabled Sarah to conceive (though she was past the age for child-bearing), because she felt sure that he who had given her the promise would not fail her.

But no, they were longing for a better, a heavenly, land! And therefore God was not ashamed to be called their God; indeed he had already prepared them a city.

For he argued that God was able even to raise a man from the dead--and indeed, figuratively speaking, Abraham did receive Isaac back from the dead.

Faith caused the parents of Moses to hide the child for three months after his birth, for they saw that he was a beautiful child; and they would not respect the King's order.

It was faith that caused Moses, when he was grown up, to refuse the title of 'Son of a Daughter of Pharaoh.'

For he counted 'the reproaches that are heaped upon the Christ' of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, looking forward, as he did, to the reward awaiting him.

Faith caused him to leave Egypt, though undaunted by the King's anger, for he was strengthened in his endurance by the vision of the invisible God.

Faith caused the walls of Jericho to fall after being encircled for seven days.

since God had in view some better thing for us, that they, apart from us, should not attain perfection.

our eyes fixed upon Jesus, the Leader and perfect Example of our faith, who, for the joy that lay before him, endured the cross, heedless of its shame, and now 'has taken his seat at the right hand' of the throne of God.

for it is him whom he loves that he disciplines, and he chastises every child whom he acknowledges.'