And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?

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

For we also have had the good news preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, "As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall never enter my rest,'" although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had the good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience,

for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.

And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

He can deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is beset with weakness.

So also Christ did not exalt himself to become a high priest, but it was he who said to him, "You are my son, today I have begotten you";

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his godly fear.

and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

for every one who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their sense trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.

For it is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit,

so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,

so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, though these also are descended from Abraham.

But this man whose genealogy is not derived from them received a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.

In this case tithes are received by mortal men, but in that case by one of whom it is witnessed that he lives on.

One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham,

For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar.

who has become a priest not on the basis of a law of carnal requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life.

Those who formerly became priests took their office without an oath, but he became a priest with an oath through the One who said to him, "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever.'"

Therefore he is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,

Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law.

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh,

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

For where a will is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it.

For a will is in force only when somebody has died, since it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.

so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.

For since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near.

For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful;

Anyone who has rejected the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

How much severer punishment do you think a man will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as an unclean thing the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

For we know him who said, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people."

sometimes being publicly exposed to insult and persecution; and at other times standing side by side with those who were so treated.

"For yet in a very little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and keep their souls.

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

By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, because she considered him faithful who had promised.

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

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son,

of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your descendants be called."

By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the anger of the king; for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.

By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had welcomed the spies.

who through faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of justice, received promises, shut the mouths of lions,

quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, whose weakness was turned to strength, who became mighty in war, and put foreign armies to flight.

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

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.

For those whom the Lord loves he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives."

It is for discipline that you endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

that no one be immoral or godless like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,

See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less shall we escape, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?

Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves are also in the body.

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith.

Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.

We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.

Obey your leaders and submit to them; for they are keeping watch over your souls, as men who will have to give account. Let them do this with joy, and not with grief, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the eternal covenant,

equip you with every good thing to do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I will see you if he comes soon.

Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

But he must ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;

But one who looks intently into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but a doer that acts, this man will be blessed in what he does.

and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here in a good place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand there," or, "Sit by my feet,"

Listen, my beloved brethren: has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him?

But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court?

Is it not they who blaspheme the honorable name by which you have been called?

For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," said also, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.

For judgment will be without mercy to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God.

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good life let him show his deeds in the humility of wisdom.

And the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But youwho are you to judge your neighbor?

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit."

Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out against you; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Behold, we call those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling with his blood: may grace and peace be yours in abundance.

who are protected by God's power through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you inquired and searched carefully,