Not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but in the measure of his mercy, he gave us salvation, through the washing of the new birth and the giving of new life in the Holy Spirit,

Which he gave us freely through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

Hearing of the love and the faith which you have to the Lord Jesus and to all the saints;

That the faith which you have in common with them may be working with power, in the knowledge of every good thing in you, for Christ.

Having become by so much better than the angels, as the name which is his heritage is more noble than theirs.

To which of the angels did God say at any time, You are my Son, this day I have given you being? or, I will be his Father, and he will be my Son?

But of which of the angels has he said at any time, Take your seat at my right hand till I put all those who are against you under your feet?

For this reason there is the more need for us to give attention to the things which have come to our ears, for fear that by chance we might be slipping away.

Because if the word which came through the angels was fixed, and in the past every evil act against God's orders was given its full punishment;

What will come on us, if we do not give our minds to such a great salvation? a salvation of which our fathers first had knowledge through the words of the Lord, and which was made certain to us by those to whom his words came;

For he did not make the angels rulers over the world to come, of which I am writing.

And again he says, I will put my faith in him. And again, See, I am here, and the children which God has given to me.

And Moses certainly kept faith as a servant, in all his house, and as a witness of those things which were to be said later;

For if we keep the substance of the faith which we had at the start, even till the end, we have a part with Christ;

And there is nothing made which is not completely clear to him; there is nothing covered, but all things are open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Every high priest who is taken from among men is given his position to take care of the interests of men in those things which have to do with God, so that he may make offerings for sins.

And though he was a Son, through the pain which he underwent, the knowledge came to him of what it was to be under God's orders;

Of whom we have much to say which it is hard to make clear, because you are slow of hearing.

For this reason let us go on from the first things about Christ to full growth; not building again that on which it is based, that is, the turning of the heart from dead works, and faith in God,

But, my loved ones, though we say this, we are certain that you have better things in you, things which go with salvation;

For God is true, and will not put away from him the memory of your work and of your love for his name, in the help which you gave and still give to the saints.

So that we, who have gone in flight from danger to the hope which has been put before us, may have a strong comfort in two unchanging things, in which it is not possible for God to be false;

And this hope is like a strong band for our souls, fixed and certain, and going in to that which is inside the veil;

And to whom Abraham gave a tenth part of everything which he had, being first named King of righteousness, and then in addition, King of Salem, that is to say, King of peace;

For he of whom these things are said comes of another tribe, of which no man has ever made offerings at the altar.

So the law which went before is put on one side, because it was feeble and without profit.

(Because the law made nothing complete), and in its place there is a better hope, through which we come near to God.

(For those were made priests without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by him who says of him, The Lord gave his oath, which he will not take back, that you are a priest for ever);

By so much is it a better agreement which we have through Jesus.

The law makes high priests of men who are feeble; but the word of the oath, which was made after the law, gives that position to a Son, in whom all good is for ever complete.

As a servant of the holy things and of the true Tent, which was put up by God, not by man.

Now every high priest is given authority to take to God the things which are given and to make offerings; so that it is necessary for this man, like them, to have something for an offering.

Being servants of that which is a copy and an image of the things in heaven, as Moses, when he was about to make the Tent, had special orders from God: for, See, he said, that you make everything like the design which you saw in the mountain.

Not like the agreement which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand, to be their guide out of the land of Egypt; for they did not keep the agreement with me, and I gave them up, says the Lord.

For this is the agreement which I will make with the people of Israel after those days: I will put my laws into their minds, writing them in their hearts: and I will be their God, and they will be my people:

When he says, A new agreement, he has made the first agreement old. But anything which is getting old and past use will not be seen much longer.

And inside the second veil was the place which is named the Holy of holies;

Having a vessel of gold in it for burning perfumes, and the ark of the agreement, which was covered with gold and which had in it a pot made of gold for the manna, and Aaron's rod which put out buds, and the stones with the writing of the agreement;

And over it were the winged ones of glory with their wings covering the mercy-seat; about which it is not possible now to say anything in detail.

And this is an image of the present time; when the offerings which are given are not able to make the heart of the worshipper completely clean,

Because they are only rules of the flesh, of meats and drinks and washings, which have their place till the time comes when things will be put right.

Saying, This blood is the sign of the agreement which God has made with you.

For Christ did not go into a holy place which had been made by men's hands as the copy of the true one; but he went into heaven itself, and now takes his place before the face of God for us.

And he did not have to make an offering of himself again and again, as the high priest goes into the holy place every year with blood which is not his;

After saying, You had no desire for offerings, for burned offerings or offerings for sin (which are made by the law) and you had no pleasure in them,

And every priest takes his place at the altar day by day, doing what is necessary, and making again and again the same offerings which are never able to take away sins.

This is the agreement which I will make with them after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws in their hearts, writing them in their minds; he said,

By the new and living way which he made open for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

But only a great fear of being judged, and of the fire of wrath which will be the destruction of the haters of God.

But will not the man by whom the Son of God has been crushed under foot, and the blood of the agreement with which he was washed clean has been taken as an unholy thing, and who has had no respect for the Spirit of grace, be judged bad enough for a very much worse punishment?

For you had pity on those who were in prison, and had joy in the loss of your property, in the knowledge that you still had a better property and one which you would keep for ever.

So do not give up your hope which will be greatly rewarded.

By faith it is clear to us that the order of events was fixed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made from things which only seem to be.

By faith Noah, being moved by the fear of God, made ready an ark for the salvation of his family, because God had given him news of things which were not seen at the time; and through it the world was judged by him, and he got for his heritage the righteousness which is by faith.

By faith Abraham did as God said when he was ordered to go out into a place which was to be given to him as a heritage, and went out without knowledge of where he was going.

So that from one man, who was near to death, came children in number as the stars in heaven, or as the sand by the seaside, which may not be numbered.

And truly if they had kept in mind the country from which they went out, they would have had chances of turning back.

For this reason, as we are circled by so great a cloud of witnesses, putting off every weight, and the sin into which we come so readily, let us keep on running in the way which is marked out for us,

Having our eyes fixed on Jesus, the guide and end of our faith, who went through the pains of the cross, not caring for the shame, because of the joy which was before him, and who has now taken his place at the right hand of God's seat of power.

And you have not kept in mind the word which says to you as to sons, My son, do not make little of the Lord's punishment, and do not give up hope when you are judged by him;

But if you have not that punishment of which we all have our part, then you are not true sons, but children of shame.

For this cause let the hands which are hanging down be lifted up, and let the feeble knees be made strong,

Let your desire be for peace with all men, and to be made holy, without which no man may see the Lord;

You have not come to a mountain which may be touched, and is burning with fire, and to a black cloud, and a dark smoke, and a violent wind,

And to the sound of a horn, and the voice of words, the hearers of which made request that not a word more might be said to them:

For the order which said, If the mountain is touched even by a beast, the beast is to be stoned, seemed hard to them;

But you have come to the mountain of Zion, to the place of the living God, to the Jerusalem which is in heaven, and to an army of angels which may not be numbered,

And to Jesus by whom the new agreement has been made between God and man, and to the sign of the blood which says better things than Abel's blood.

See that you give ear to his voice which comes to you. For if those whose ears were shut to the voice which came to them on earth did not go free from punishment, what chance have we of going free if we give no attention to him whose voice comes from heaven?

And the words, Still one more, make it clear that there will be a taking away of those things which are shaking, as of things which are made, so that there may be only those things of which no shaking is possible.

If then, we have a kingdom which will never be moved, let us have grace, so that we may give God such worship as is pleasing to him with fear and respect:

Be free from the love of money and pleased with the things which you have; for he himself has said, I will be with you at all times.

Do not be turned away by different strange teachings, because it is good for your hearts to be made strong by grace, and not by meats, which were of no profit to those who took so much trouble over them.

We have an altar from which those priests who are servants in the Tent may not take food.

For here we have no fixed resting-place, but our search is for the one which is to come.

But, brothers, take kindly the words which I have said for your profit; for I have not sent you a long letter.

Let him make his request in faith, doubting nothing; for he who has doubt in his heart is like the waves of the sea, which are troubled by the driving of the wind.

There is a blessing on the man who undergoes testing; because, if he has God's approval, he will be given the crown of life, which the Lord has said he will give to those who have love for him.

Of his purpose he gave us being, by his true word, so that we might be, in a sense, the first-fruits of all the things which he had made.

For this reason, putting away all dirty behaviour and the overweight of evil, take into your souls without pride the word which, being planted there, is able to give you salvation.

But he who goes on looking into the true law which makes him free, being not a hearer without memory but a doer putting it into effect, this man will have a blessing on his acts.

The religion which is holy and free from evil in the eyes of our God and Father is this: to take care of children who have no fathers and of widows who are in trouble, and to keep oneself untouched by the world.

Give ear, my dear brothers; are not those who are poor in the things of this world marked out by God to have faith as their wealth, and for their heritage the kingdom which he has said he will give to those who have love for him?

Do they not say evil of the holy name which was given to you?

Let your words and your acts be those of men who are to be judged by the law which makes free.

And one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warm and full of food; but you do not give them the things of which their bodies have need, what profit is there in this?

And the holy Writings were put into effect which said, And Abraham had faith in God and it was put to his account as righteousness; and he was named the friend of God.

But the wisdom which is from heaven is first holy, then gentle, readily giving way in argument, full of peace and mercy and good works, not doubting, not seeming other than it is.

What is the cause of wars and fighting among you? is it not in your desires which are at war in your bodies?

Or does it seem to you that it is for nothing that the holy Writings say, The spirit which God put into our hearts has a strong desire for us?

When you are not certain what will take place tomorrow. What is your life? It is a mist, which is seen for a little time and then is gone.

Come now, you men of wealth, give yourselves to weeping and crying because of the bitter troubles which are coming to you.

See, the money which you falsely kept back from the workers cutting the grass in your field, is crying out against you; and the cries of those who took in your grain have come to the ears of the Lord of armies.

We say that those men who have gone through pain are happy: you have the story of Job and the troubles through which he went and have seen that the Lord was full of pity and mercy in the end.

And by the prayer of faith the man who is ill will be made well, and he will be lifted up by the Lord, and for any sin which he has done he will have forgiveness.

Who, by the power of God are kept, through faith, for that salvation, which will be seen at the last day.

So that the true metal of your faith, being of much greater value than gold (which, though it comes to an end, is tested by fire), may come to light in praise and glory and honour, at the revelation of Jesus Christ:

To whom your love is given, though you have not seen him; and the faith which you have in him, though you do not see him now, gives you joy greater than words and full of glory:

For the prophets who gave the news of the grace which would come to you, made search with all care for knowledge of this salvation;

Attempting to see what sort of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them was pointing to, when it gave witness to the pains which Christ would undergo and the glories which would come after them.