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

So that you may not be slow in heart, but may take as your example those to whom God has given their heritage, because of their faith and their long waiting.

But this man, who was not of their family, took the tenth from Abraham, and gave a blessing to him to whom God had given his undertaking.

But there is no doubt that the less gets his blessing from the greater.

Now at the present time, men over whom death has power take the tenth; but then it was taken by one of whom it is witnessed that he is living.

That is to say, not made by a law based on the flesh, but by the power of a life without end:

(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);

But this priest, because his life goes on for ever, is unchanging.

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.

But now his position as priest is higher. because through him God has made a better agreement with man, based on the giving of better things.

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.

But only the high priest went into the second, once a year, not without making an offering of blood for himself and for the errors of the people:

But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things of the future, through this greater and better Tent, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this world,

And has gone once and for ever into the holy place, having got eternal salvation, not through the blood of goats and young oxen, but through his blood.

For this cause it was necessary to make the copies of the things in heaven clean with these offerings; but the things themselves are made clean with better offerings than these.

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.

For then he would have undergone a number of deaths from the time of the making of the world: but now he has come to us at the end of the old order, to put away sin by the offering of himself.

But year by year there is a memory of sins in those offerings.

So that when he comes into the world, he says, You had no desire for offerings, but you made a body ready for me;

But when Jesus had made one offering for sins for ever, he took his place at the right hand of God;

Not giving up our meetings, as is the way of some, but keeping one another strong in faith; and all the more because you see the day coming near.

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?

But give thought to the days after you had seen the light, when you went through a great war of troubles;

But the upright man will be living by his faith; and if he goes back, my soul will have no pleasure in him.

But we are not of those who go back to destruction; but of those who have faith even to the salvation of the soul.

All these came to their end in faith, not having had the heritage; but having seen it with delight far away, they gave witness that they were wanderers and not of the earth.

But now their desire is for a better country, that is to say, for one in heaven; and so it is no shame to God to be named their God; for he has made ready a town for them.

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 they truly gave us punishment for a short time, as it seemed good to them; but he does it for our profit, so that we may become holy as he is.

At the time all punishment seems to be pain and not joy: but after, those who have been trained by it get from it the peace-giving fruit of righteousness.

And make straight roads for your feet, so that the feeble may not be turned out of the way, but may be made strong.

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,

Whose voice was the cause of the shaking of the earth; but now he has made an oath, saying, There will be still one more shaking, not only of the earth, but of heaven.

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

But go on doing good and giving to others, because God is well-pleased with such offerings.

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

But let this power have its full effect, so that you may be made complete, needing nothing.

But if any man among you is without wisdom, let him make his request to God, who gives freely to all without an unkind word, and it will be given to him.

But let the brother of low position be glad that he is lifted up;

But the man of wealth, that he is made low; because like the flower of the grass he will come to his end.

But every man is tested when he is turned out of the right way by the attraction of his desire.

You have knowledge of this, dear brothers. But let every man be quick in hearing, slow in words, slow to get angry;

But be doers of the word, and not only hearers of it, blinding yourselves with false ideas.

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.

If a man seems to have religion and has no control over his tongue but lets himself be tricked by what is false, this man's religion is of no value.

But you have put the poor man to shame. Are not the men of wealth rulers over you? do they not take you by force before their judges?

But if you keep the greatest law of all, as it is given in the holy Writings, Have love for your neighbour as for yourself, you do well:

But if you take a man's position into account, you do evil, and are judged as evil-doers by the law.

For anyone who keeps all the law, but makes a slip in one point, is judged to have gone against it all.

For he who said, Do not be untrue in married life, is the same who said, Put no man to death. Now if you are not untrue in married life, but you put a man to death, the law is broken.

For the man who has had no mercy will be judged without mercy, but mercy takes pride in overcoming judging.

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?

But a man may say, You have faith and I have works; let me see your faith without your works, and I will make my faith clear to you by my works.

Even so the tongue is a small part of the body, but it takes credit for great things. How much wood may be lighted by a very little fire!

But the tongue may not be controlled by man; it is an unresting evil, it is full of the poison of death.

But if you have bitter envy in your heart and the desire to get the better of others, have no pride in this, talking falsely against what is true.

This wisdom is not from heaven, but is of the earth and the flesh and the Evil One.

For where envy is, and the desire to get the better of others, there is no order, but every sort of evil-doing.

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.

You make your request but you do not get it, because your request has been wrongly made, desiring the thing only so that you may make use of it for your pleasure.

But he gives more grace. So that the Writings say, God is against the men of pride, but he gives grace to those who make themselves low before him.

For this cause be ruled by God; but make war on the Evil One and he will be put to flight before you.

Do not say evil against one another, my brothers. He who says evil against his brother or makes himself his brother's judge, says evil against the law and is judging the law: and in judging the law you become, not a doer of the law but a judge.

There is only one judge and law-giver, even he who has the power of salvation and of destruction; but who are you to be your neighbour's judge?

But the right thing to say would be, If it is the Lord's pleasure and if we are still living, we will do this and that.

But now you go on glorying in your pride: and all such glorying is evil.

But most of all, my brothers, do not take oaths, not by the heaven, or by the earth, or by any other thing: but let your Yes be Yes, and your No be No: so that you may not be judged.

And it was made clear to those prophets that they were God's servants not for themselves but for you, to give you word of the things which have now come to your ears from the preachers of the good news through the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; things which even angels have a desire to see.

But be holy in every detail of your lives, as he, whose servants you are, is holy;

But through holy blood, like that of a clean and unmarked lamb, even the blood of Christ:

Who was marked out by God before the making of the world, but was caused to be seen in these last times for you,

Because you have had a new birth, not from the seed of man, but from eternal seed, through the word of a living and unchanging God.

But the word of the Lord is eternal. And this is the word of the good news which was given to you.

To whom you come, as to a living stone, not honoured by men, but of great and special value to God;

And the value is for you who have faith; but it is said for those without faith, The very stone which the builders put on one side, was made the chief stone of the building;

But you are a special people, a holy nation, priests and kings, a people given up completely to God, so that you may make clear the virtues of him who took you out of the dark into the light of heaven.

In the past you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; then there was no mercy for you, but now mercy has been given to you.

As those who are free, not using your free position as a cover for wrongdoing, but living as the servants of God;

Servants, take orders from your masters with all respect; not only if they are good and gentle, but even if they are bad-humoured.

What credit is it if, when you have done evil, you take your punishment quietly? but if you are given punishment for doing right, and take it quietly, this is pleasing to God.

To sharp words he gave no sharp answer; when he was undergoing pain, no angry word came from his lips; but he put himself into the hands of the judge of righteousness:

Because, like sheep, you had gone out of the way; but now you have come back to him who keeps watch over your souls.

But let them be those of the unseen man of the heart, the ever-shining ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great price in the eyes of God.

And you husbands, give thought to your way of life with your wives, giving honour to the woman who is the feebler vessel, but who has an equal part in the heritage of the grace of life; so that you may not be kept from prayer.

Not giving back evil for evil, or curse for curse, but in place of cursing, blessing; because this is the purpose of God for you that you may have a heritage of blessing.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the upright, and his ears are open to their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

But you are happy if you undergo pain because of righteousness; have no part in their fear and do not be troubled;

But give honour to Christ in your hearts as your Lord; and be ready at any time when you are questioned about the hope which is in you, to give an answer in the fear of the Lord and without pride;

Because Christ once went through pain for sins, the upright one taking the place of sinners, so that through him we might come back to God; being put to death in the flesh, but given life in the Spirit;

Who, in the days of Noah, went against God's orders; but God in his mercy kept back the punishment, while Noah got ready the ark, in which a small number, that is to say eight persons, got salvation through water:

And baptism, of which this is an image, now gives you salvation, not by washing clean the flesh, but by making you free from the sense of sin before God, through the coming again of Jesus Christ from the dead;

So that you may give the rest of your lives in the flesh, not to the desires of men, but to the purpose of God.

But they will have to give an account of themselves to him who is ready to be the judge of the living and the dead.

For this was the reason why the good news of Jesus was given even to the dead, so that they might be judged as men in the flesh, but might be living before God in the spirit.

But the end of all things is near: so be serious in your behaviour and keep on the watch with prayer;

But be glad that you are given a part in the pains of Christ; so that at the revelation of his glory you may have great joy.

But if he undergoes punishment as a Christian, that is no shame to him; let him give glory to God in this name.

For the time has come for the judging, starting with the church of God; but if it makes a start with us, what will be the end of those who are not under the rule of God?

Keep watch over the flock of God which is in your care, using your authority, not as forced to do so, but gladly; and not for unclean profit but with a ready mind;