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

In it is the gold incense-altar, and the Ark containing the Covenant, completely covered with gold. In the Ark is a gold casket containing the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets on which the Covenant was written;

but into the inner only the High Priest goes, and that but once a year, and never without taking the blood of a victim, which he offers on his own behalf, and on behalf of the errors of the People.

By this the Holy Spirit is teaching that the way into the Sanctuary was hidden, as long as the outer part of the Tabernacle still remained.

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;

But, when Christ came, he appeared as High Priest of that Better System which was established; and he entered through that nobler and more perfect 'Tabernacle,' not made by human hands--that is to say, not a part of this present creation.

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.

And that is why he is the intermediary of a new Covenant; in order that, as a death has taken place to effect a deliverance from the offenses committed under the first Covenant, those who have received the Call may obtain the eternal inheritance promised to them.

saying, as he did so-- "This is the blood that renders valid the Covenant which God has commanded to be made with you."

And in the same way he also sprinkled with the blood the Tabernacle and all the things that were used in public worship.

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.

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;

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.

Every other priest stands day after day at his ministrations, and offers the same sacrifices over and over again--sacrifices that can never take sins away.

'"This is the Covenant that I will make with them after those days," says the Lord; "I will impress my laws on their hearts, and will inscribe them on their minds,"'

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

And let us not, as some do, cease to meet together; but, on the contrary, let us encourage one another, and all the more, now that you see the Day drawing near.

How much worse then, think you, will be the punishment deserved by those who have trampled underfoot the Son of God, who have treated the blood that rendered the Covenant valid--the very blood by which they were purified--as of no account, and who have outraged the Spirit of Love?

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.

You still have need of patient endurance, in order that, when you have done God's will, you may obtain the fulfillment of his promise.

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

Faith enables us to perceive that the universe was created at the bidding of God--so that we know that what we see was not made out of visible things.

Faith made the sacrifice which Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain's, and won him renown as a righteous man, God himself establishing his renown by accepting his gifts; and it is by the example of his faith that Abel, though dead, still speaks.

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 Noah, after he had received the divine warning about what could not then be foreseen, to build, in reverent obedience, an ark in which to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world, and became possessed of that righteousness which follows upon faith.

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.

It was faith that made him go to live as an emigrant in the Promised Land--as in a strange country--living there in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him.

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.

And so from one man--and that when his powers were dead--there sprang a people as numerous 'as the stars in the heavens or the countless grains of sand upon the shore.'

Those who speak thus show plainly that they are seeking their fatherland.

If they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they could have found opportunities to return.

It was faith that enabled Abraham, when put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice--he who had received the promises offering up his only son,

of whom it had been said-- 'It is through Isaac that there shall be descendants to bear thy name.'

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.

It was faith that enabled Isaac to bless Jacob and Esau, even with regard to the future.

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 led him to institute the Passover and the Sprinkling of the Blood, so that the Destroyer might not touch the eldest children of the Israelites.

Women received back their dead raised to life. Some were tortured on the wheel, and refused release in order that they might rise to a better life.

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

Seeing, therefore, that there is on every side of us such a throng of witnesses, let us also lay aside everything that hinders us, and the sin that clings about us, and run with patient endurance the race that lies before us,

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.

Weigh well the example of him who had to endure such opposition from 'men who were sinning against themselves,' so that you should not grow weary or faint-hearted.

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

It is for your discipline that you have to endure all this. God is dealing with you as his Children. For where is there a child whom his father does not discipline?

If you are left without that discipline, in which all children share, it shows that you are bastards, and not true Children.

make straight paths for your feet,' so that the lame limb may not be put out of joint, but rather be cured.

Try earnestly to live at peace with every one, and to attain to that purity without which no one will see the Lord.

Take care that no one fails to use the loving help of God, 'that no bitterness is allowed to take root and spring up, and cause trouble,' and so poison the whole community.

Take care that no one becomes immoral, or irreligious like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

For you know that even afterwards, when he wished to claim his father's blessing, he was rejected--for he never found an opportunity to repair his error--though he begged for the blessing with tears.

It is not to tangible 'flaming fire' that you have drawn near, nor to 'gloom, and darkness, and storm,

and the blast of a trumpet, and an audible voice.' Those who heard that voice entreated that they might hear no more,

and so fearful was the sight that Moses said-- 'I tremble with fear.'

No, but it is to Mount Zion that you have drawn near, the City of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless hosts of angels,

to Jesus, the intermediary of a new Covenant, and to the Sprinkled Blood that tells of better things than the blood of Abel.

And those words 'still once more' indicate the passing away of all that is shaken--that is, of all created things--in order that only what is unshaken may remain.

Therefore, let us, who have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken, be thankful, and so offer acceptable worship to God, with awe and reverence.

Remember the prisoners, as if you were their fellow-prisoners, and the oppressed, not forgetting that you also are still in the body.

for here we have no permanent city, but are looking for the City that is to be.

Through him let us offer, as our sacrifice, continual praise to God--an offering from lips that glorify his Name.

Obey your Leaders, and submit to their control, for they are watching over your souls, as men who will have to render an account, so that they may do it with joy, and not in sorrow. That would not be to your advantage.

Pray for us, for we are sure that our consciences are clear, since our wish is to be occupied with what is good.

And I the more earnestly ask for your prayers, that I may be restored to you the sooner.

May God, the source of all peace, who brought back from the dead him who, 'by virtue of the blood that rendered valid the unchangeable Covenant, is the Great Shepherd of God's Sheep,' Jesus, our Lord--

may God make you perfect in everything that is good, so that you may be able to do his will. May he bring out in us all that is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be all glory for ever and ever. Amen.

You will be glad to hear that our Brother, Timothy, has been set free. If he comes here soon, we will visit you together.

James, a Servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, greets The Twelve Tribes that are living abroad.

My Brothers, whatever may be the temptations that beset you from time to time, always regard them as a reason for rejoicing,

Knowing, as you do, that the testing of your faith develops endurance.

And let endurance do its work perfectly, so that you may be altogether perfect, and in no respect deficient.

Such a man must not expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

Because he so willed, he gave us Life, through the Message of the Truth, so that we should be, as it were, an earnest of still further creations.

Therefore, have done with all filthiness and whatever wickedness still remains, and in a humble spirit receive that Message which has been planted in your hearts and is able to save your souls.

Put that Message into practice, and do not merely listen to it--deceiving yourselves.

But he who looks carefully into the perfect Law, the Law of Freedom, and continues to do so, not listening to it and then forgetting it, but putting it into practice--that man will be blessed in what he does.

When a man appears to be religious, yet does not bridle his tongue, but imposes upon his own conscience, that man's religious observances are valueless.

That religious observance which is pure and spotless in the eyes of God our Father is this--to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the world.

Is not that to make distinctions among yourselves, and show yourselves prejudiced judges?

Is not it they who malign that honorable Name which has been bestowed upon you?

But, if you worship rank, you commit a sin, and stand convicted by that same law of being offenders against it.

My Brothers, what is the good of a man's saying that he has faith, if he does not prove it by actions? Can such faith save him?

It is a part of your Faith, is it not, that there is one God? Good; yet even the demons have that faith, and tremble at the thought.

Now do you really want to understand, you foolish man, how it is that faith without actions leads to nothing?

Look at our ancestor, Abraham. Was not it the result of his actions that he was pronounced righteous after he had offered his son, Isaac, on the altar?

You see how, in his case, faith and actions went together; that his faith was perfected as the result of his actions;

And that in this way the words of Scripture came true-- "Abraham believed God, and that was regarded by God as righteousness," and "He was called the friend of God."

You see, then, that it is as the result of his actions that a man is pronounced righteous, and not of his faith only.

Was not it the same with the prostitute, Rahab? Was not it as the result of her actions that she was pronounced righteous, after she had welcomed the messengers and hastened them away by a different road?

I do not want many of you, my Brothers, to become teachers, knowing, as you do, that we who teach shall be judged by a more severe standard than others.

From the very same mouth come blessings and curses! My Brothers, it is not right that this should be so.

Who among you claims to be wise and intelligent? Let him show that his actions are the outcome of a good life lived in the humility of true wisdom.

That is not the wisdom which comes from above; no, it is earthly, animal, devilish.

What is the cause of the fighting and quarreling that goes on among you? Is not it to be found in the desires which are always at war within you?

Unfaithful people! Do not you know that to be friends with the world means to be at enmity with God? Therefore whoever chooses to be friends with the world makes himself an enemy to God.

No; the gift that God gives is for a nobler end; and that is why it is said--'God is opposed to the haughty, but gives help to the humble.'