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 we who have believed are being admitted to that rest, just as He has said: "As in my anger I took oath, they shall not be admitted to my rest," although God's works had been completed at the creation of the world.

while in this passage again He says: "They shall not be admitted to my rest."

Since then it still remains that some are being admitted to it and that those who first had the good news told to them were not admitted because of disobedience,

He again fixes a definite day, saying long afterward through David, as has been quoted: "If you but hear His voice, you must not harden your hearts."

For if Joshua had really given them rest, He would not afterward have been speaking of another day.

So let us do our best to be admitted to that rest, so that not one of us may fail through the same sort of disobedience.

For we do not have a High Priest who is incapable of sympathizing with us in our weaknesses, but we have One who was tempted in every respect as we are, and yet without committing any sin.

So let us continue coming with courage to the throne of God's unmerited favor to obtain His mercy and to find His spiritual strength to help us when we need it.

and so is obliged to offer sin-offerings, not only for the people but for himself as well.

So Christ too did not take upon Himself the glory of being appointed High Priest, but it was God who said: "You are my Son; I have today become your Father,"

For although you ought to be teachers of others because you have been Christians so long, you actually need someone to teach you over and over again the very elements of the truths that God has given us, and you have gotten into such a state that you are in constant need of milk instead of solid food.

For God is not so unjust as to forget the work you have done and the love you have shown His name in the service you have rendered for your fellow-Christians, and still are doing.

so that you may not grow careless, but may follow the example of those who through their faith and patient endurance are now possessors of the blessings promised.

But in this case, the man whose ancestry is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham, and put his blessing on the man who had the promises from God.

Now if perfection had been reached through the Levitical priesthood -- for on it as a basis even the law was enacted for the people-- what further need would there have been of appointing a different priest, with the rank of Melchizedek, instead of designating one with the rank of Aaron?

who is appointed not on the basis of a physical qualification but on the basis of a power flowing from a life that cannot end.

And by so much as He was not appointed without God's taking an oath --

for the Levitical priests were appointed without His taking an oath, but He with His oath, when He said to Him: "The Lord took oath and will not change, You are a priest forever" --

who does not need, as did the Levitical priests, to offer sacrifices, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; this latter is just what He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

as officiating Priest in that sanctuary, which is also the true tent of worship, which the Lord and not man set up.

However, if He were still on earth, He would not be a priest at all, because there are those who officiate in accordance with the law in offering the gifts;

Unlike the one that I made with their forefathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them out from the land of Egypt, for they did not abide by their covenant with me, so I did not care for them,' says the Lord.

'For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel in those days,' says the Lord; 'I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. And nevermore will each one need to teach his fellow-citizen,

But when Christ came as the High Priest of good things that have already taken place, He went by way of that greater and more perfect tent of worship, not made by human hands, that is, not belonging to this material creation,

and not with blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He once for all went into the real sanctuary and secured our eternal redemption.

So not even the first covenant was ratified without the use of blood.

For it was not a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, that Christ entered, but it was into heaven itself that He went, in order now to appear for us in the very presence of God.

And He does not enter to offer Himself over and over again, as the high priest enters the sanctuary year after year with blood that is not his own;

For since the law cast only a shadow of the blessings to come and did not possess the reality itself of those blessings, the priests with the same sacrifices that are perpetually offered year after year cannot make perfect those who come to worship.

Otherwise, would they not have ceased offering them, because those who offered them, having once been purified, would have had no further consciousness of sins?

"Sacrifice and offering you did not wish, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt-offerings and sin-offerings you never took delight.

For when these are forgiven, there is no more need of an offering for sin.

Indeed, to carry out the will of God and to receive the blessing He has promised, you need endurance, for:

"In just a very little while, the Coming One will come and not delay;

But we are not of a disposition to draw back so as to perish, but we have faith that leads to the saving of the soul.

By faith we understand that the worlds were created, beautifully coordinated, and now exist, at God's command; so the things that we see did not develop out of mere matter.

By faith Enoch was transplanted from earth, so that he did not experience dying; and he could not be found, because God had transplanted him from earth. For before he was transplanted from earth evidence was given him that he pleased God;

By faith Noah, on being divinely warned about things not seen as yet, in reverence prepared an ark for saving his family, and by his faith condemned the world and became possessor of the uprightness that results from faith.

By faith Abraham, on being called, obeyed in starting off for a country which he was to receive as his own, and he did it in spite of the fact that he did not know where he was going.

These people all died victoriously as a result of their faith, although they did not receive the blessings promised; that is, because they really saw them in the far-off future and welcomed them, and so professed to be only foreigners and strangers here on earth.

But in reality they were aspiring for a better country, I mean, a heavenly one. This is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

By faith, Moses, at his birth was hidden 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 left Egypt, because he was not afraid of the king's anger, for he persevered as though he were actually seeing Him who is unseen.

By faith he instituted the Passover and the pouring of blood upon the doorposts, so that the destroyer of the first-born might not touch them.

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who disobeyed God, because she had welcomed the scouts as friends.

Women by a resurrection received their dead again; others endured tortures, because they would not accept release, that they might rise to a better life.

men of whom the world was not worthy, though wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and holes in the ground.

for God had provided something still better for us, that they, apart from us might not attain perfection.

You have not yet, as you have struggled on against sin, resisted to the point of pouring out your blood,

Now if you are without any discipline, in which all true sons share, you are only illegitimate children and not true sons.

and keep your feet in straight paths, so that limbs may not be dislocated, but instead be cured.

For you have not come to a blazing fire that can be touched, to gloom and darkness, storm

and trumpet-blast, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not a word more should be added;

for they did not try to bear the order, "Even if a wild animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death,"

See to it that you do not refuse to listen to Him who is speaking to you. For if they did not escape, because they refused to listen to him who warned them here on earth, how much less can we, if we reject Him who is from heaven?

but now His promise is, "Once more I will make not only the earth but heaven itself tremble." Now that expression, "Once more," signifies the final removal of the things that can be shaken, to let remain the things that cannot be shaken.

Do not remain neglectful of hospitality to strangers, for by it some have entertained angels without knowing it.

So we can confidently say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can men do to me?"

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.

You must stop being carried away with varied and strange teachings. For it is a good thing for the heart to be strengthened by God's spiritual strength, not by special kinds of food, from which those adhering to them have gotten no good.

Continue to obey and to be submissive to your leaders, for they are ever watching in defense of your souls, as men who will have to give account of their trust. Treat them in this way, so that they may work with joy and not with grief.

(1:7) unreliable in every step he takes, must not expect to get anything from the Lord.

for a man's anger does not produce the uprightness that God requires.

Keep on obeying this message; do not merely listen to it, and so deceive yourselves.

But the man who looks at the flawless law that makes men free, and keeps on looking, proving himself to be, not a forgetful hearer but an actual doer of what it requires, will be blessed in what he does.

If anyone thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives himself, his religious worship is worthless.

do you not make improper distinctions among yourselves and prove to be critics with evil motives?

Listen, my dearly loved brothers. Has not God chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith and to possess the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

But you, in contrast, have humiliated the poor man. Are not the rich men those who oppress you and drag you to court?

Are not they the ones who scoff at the beautiful name you bear?

For He who said, "You must not commit adultery," also said, "You must not commit murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but you do commit murder, you are just the same a lawbreaker.

Was not our forefather Abraham shown to be upright by his good deeds, namely, by offering Isaac his son upon the altar?

You see that a man is shown to be upright by his good deeds, and not merely by his faith.

Was not even Rahab the prostitute shown to be upright by her good deeds, namely, by entertaining the scouts and sending them off by a different road?

Out of the same mouth flow blessing and cursing! It ought not to be like this, my brothers.

This is not the kind of wisdom that comes down from above; no, it is earthly, human, demoniacal.

What causes wars and quarrels among you? Is it not your different desires which are ever at war within your bodies? You desire things and cannot have them, and so you commit murder.

You covet things, but cannot acquire them, and so you quarrel and fight. You do not have them, because you do not ask for them.

You faithless wives! Do you not know that the friendship of the world means enmity with God? So whoever wants to be a friend to the world puts himself down as an enemy to God.

Stop talking against one another, brothers. Whoever is in the habit of talking against a brother or of criticizing his brother is criticizing and condemning the law. But if you are in the habit of criticizing the law, you are not a practicer but a critic of the law.

although you do not have the slightest knowledge of tomorrow. What is the nature of your life? It is really nothing but a mist which appears for a little while and then disappears.

So when a man knows what is right but does not do it, he is guilty of sin.

Elijah was a man with feelings just like ours, and yet he earnestly prayed for it not to rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.

You must continue to love Him, although you have never seen Him, but because you do believe in Him, although you do not now see Him, you must continue to rejoice with an unutterable and triumphant joy,

It was made known to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in their searching for these things that have already been told to you by those who through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven brought you the good news. The angels long to take a peep into these things.

As obedient children, stop molding your character by the evil desires you used to cherish when you did not know any better,

because you know that you have not been ransomed with things that perish as silver or gold, from the futile way of living taught by your fathers,

because you have been born anew, not from a germ that perishes but from one that does not perish, by the word of the living and everlasting God.

It must be so, because the Scriptures say: "Here now I lay in Zion a chosen stone, a costly cornerstone, And not a single one who puts his trust in Him will ever be put to shame."

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once His mercy had not been shown you, but now it has.

Live like free men, only do not make your freedom a pretext for doing evil, but live like slaves of God.

You house-servants must be submissive to your masters and show them perfect respect, not only to those who are kind and fair but also to those who are cruel.

You married women, in the same way, must be submissive to your husbands, so that, if any of them do not believe the message, they may be won over without a word through the living of the wives,

Your adornments must be not of an external nature, with braids of hair or ornaments of gold, or changes of dress,

You married men, in the same way, must live with your wives in an intelligent consideration of them; you must show them deference, too, as the weaker sex, as they share with you the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Baptism, which corresponds to this figure, now saves you, too -- I do not mean the mere removal of physical stains, but the craving for a clear conscience toward God -- through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

They are astonished that you are not still rushing hand in hand with them into the same excesses of profligate living, and they abuse you for it;

Dearly beloved, do not be astonished that a test by fire is coming upon you, as though something strange were happening to you,

For not one of you should suffer as a murderer or as a thief or any sort of criminal, or as a meddler in other people's business,