He has no need to offer sacrifices every day like high priests do, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he sacrificed himself.

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.

This illustration for today indicates that the gifts and sacrifices being offered could not clear the conscience of a worshiper,

how much more will the blood of the Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead actions so that we may serve the living God!

For the Messiah did not go into a sanctuary made by human hands that is merely a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, to appear now in God's presence on our behalf.

Nor did he go into heaven to sacrifice himself again and again, the way the high priest goes into the Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.

For this reason, the Scriptures say, when the Messiah was about to come into the world: "You did not want sacrifices and offerings, but you prepared a body for me.

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did, and by faith he was declared to be righteous, since God himself accepted his offerings. And by faith he continues to speak, even though he is dead.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who also inherited the same promise,

Abraham was as good as dead, yet from this one man came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

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.

Abraham was certain that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did get Isaac back in this way.

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not die with those who were disobedient, because she had welcomed the spies with a greeting of peace.

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.

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

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!

Jesus, the Messiah, is the same yesterday and today and forever!

Now may the God of peace, who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep,

In the same way, faith by itself, if it does not prove itself with actions, is dead.

You see that his faith worked together with what he did, and by his actions his faith was made complete.

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without actions is also dead.

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town, stay there a year, conduct business, and make money."

You have condemned and murdered the one who is righteous, even though he did not rebel against you.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! Because of his great mercy he has granted us a new birth, resulting in an immortal hope through the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, from the dead

Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.

When he was insulted, he did not retaliate. When he suffered, he did not threaten. It was his habit to commit the matter to the one who judges fairly.

They will give an account to the one who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

When we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, we did not follow any clever myths. Rather, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but threw them into the lowest hell and imprisoned them in chains of deepest darkness, holding them for judgment;

and if he did not spare the ancient world but protected Noah, a righteous preacher, along with seven others when he brought the flood on the world of ungodly people;

by saying, "What happened to the Messiah's promise to return? Ever since our ancestors died, everything continues as it did from the beginning of creation."

See what kind of love the Father has given us: We are called God's children and that is what we are! For this reason the world does not recognize us, because it did not recognize him, either.

Do not be like Cain, who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because what he was doing was evil and his brother's actions were righteous.

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love one another. The person who does not love remains spiritually dead.

Now I want to remind you, even though you are fully aware of these things, that the Lord who once saved his people from the land of Egypt later destroyed those who did not believe.

He has also held in eternal chains those angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their assigned place. They are held in deepest darkness for judgment on the great day.

Even the archangel Michael, when he argued with the Devil and fought over the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him. Instead, he said, "May the Lord rebuke you!"

11How terrible it will be for them! For they lived like Cain did , rushed headlong into Balaam's error to make a profit, and destroyed themselves, as happened in Korah's rebellion.

These people are stains on your love feasts. They feast with you without any sense of awe. They are shepherds who care only for themselves. They are waterless clouds blown about by the winds. They are autumn trees that are fruitless, totally dead, and uprooted.

and from Jesus the Messiah, the witness, the faithful one, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. But he placed his right hand on me and said, "Stop being afraid! I am the first and the last,

the living one. I was dead but look! I am alive forever and ever! I have the keys of Death and Hades.

"To the messenger of the church in Smyrna, write: "The first and the last, who was dead and became alive, says this:

I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will reward each of you as your actions deserve.

"I know what you've been doing. You are known for being alive, but you are dead. Be alert, and strengthen the things that are left, which are about to die. I note that your actions are incomplete before my God.

"Who are these people wearing white robes," one of the elders asked me, "and where did they come from?"

The rest of the people who survived these plagues did not repent from their evil actions or stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk.

They did not repent from their murders, their witchcraft, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.

Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

For three and a half days some members of the nations, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead bodies and will not allow them to be placed in a tomb.

The nations were angry, but the time for your wrath has come. It is time for the dead to be judged to reward your servants, the prophets, the saints, and all who fear your name, both unimportant and important, and to destroy those who destroy the earth."

Our brothers conquered him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to their lives even in the face of death.

I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write this: How blessed are the dead, that is, those who die in the Lord from now on!" "Yes," says the Spirit. "Let them rest from their labors, for their actions follow them."

The second angel poured his bowl into the sea. It became like the blood of a dead body, and every living thing in the sea died.

and they were burned by the fierce heat. They cursed the name of God, who has the authority over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.

and cursed the God of heaven because of their pain-filled sores. But they did not repent of their behavior.

The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were over. This is the first resurrection.

I saw the dead, both unimportant and important, standing in front of the throne, and books were open. Another book was opened the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to their actions, as recorded in the books.

The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to their actions.