And they are judged because they have been false to their first faith;

For even now some are turned away to Satan.

If any woman of the faith has relations who are widows, let her give them help, so that the care of them does not come on the church, and so it may give help to those who are truly widowed.

Say sharp words to sinners when all are present, so that the rest may be in fear.

Do not take only water as your drink, but take a little wine for the good of your stomach, and because you are frequently ill.

The sins of some men are clearly seen, going before them to be judged; but with others, their sins go after them.

In the same way, there are good works which are clearly seen; and those which are not so, may not be kept secret.

Let all who are servants under the yoke give all honour to their masters, so that no evil may be said against the name of God and his teaching.

And let those whose masters are of the faith have respect for them because they are brothers, working for them the more readily, because those who take part in the good work are of the faith and are dear. Give orders and teaching about these things.

For we came into the world with nothing, and we are not able to take anything out;

But those who have a desire for wealth are falling into danger, and are taken as in a net by a number of foolish and damaging desires, through which men are overtaken by death and destruction.

You have had news that all those in Asia went away from me; among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes:

If we are without faith, still he keeps faith, for he will never be untrue to himself.

And their words will be like poisoned wounds in the flesh: such are Hymenaeus and Philetus;

Men whose ideas are all false, who say that the coming back from the dead has even now taken place, overturning the faith of some.

But God's strong base is unchanging, having this sign, The Lord has knowledge of those who are his: and, Let everyone by whom the name of the Lord is named be turned away from evil.

Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but others of wood and earth, and some which are honoured and some without honour.

But keep yourself from those desires of the flesh which are strong when the body is young, and go after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those whose prayers go up to the Lord from a clean heart.

And put away foolish and uncontrolled questionings, seeing that they are a cause of trouble.

For these are they who go secretly into houses, making prisoners of foolish women, weighted down with sin, turned from the way by their evil desires,

And as James and Jambres went against Moses, so do these go against what is true: men of evil minds, who, tested by faith, are seen to be false.

But see that you keep to the teaching you have been given and the things of which you are certain, conscious of who has been your teacher;

And that from the time when you were a child, you have had knowledge of the holy Writings, which are able to make you wise to salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus.

Men having a good record, husbands of one wife, whose children are of the faith, children of whom it may not be said that they are given to loose living or are uncontrolled.

For there are men who are not ruled by law; foolish talkers, false teachers, specially those of the circumcision,

By whom some families have been completely overturned; who take money for teaching things which are not right; these will have to be stopped.

One of their prophets has said, The men of Crete are ever false, evil beasts, lovers of food, hating work.

To the clean in heart all things are clean: but to those who are unclean and without faith nothing is clean; they become unclean in mind and in thought.

They say that they have knowledge of God, while by their acts they are turning their backs on him; they are hated by all, hard-hearted, and judged to be without value for any good work.

That old men are to be simple in their tastes, serious, wise, true in faith, in love, and of a quiet mind.

That old women are to be self-respecting in behaviour, not saying evil of others, not given to taking much wine, teachers of that which is good,

In all things see that you are an example of good works; holy in your teaching, serious in behaviour,

Servants are to be under the authority of their masters, pleasing them in all things, without argument;

Make clear to them that they are to put themselves under rulers and authorities, to do what they are ordered, to be ready for every good work,

This is a true saying; and it is my desire that you may give certain witness about these things, so that those who have had faith in God may give attention to good works. These things are good and of profit to men;

But have nothing to do with foolish questionings, and lists of generations, and fights and arguments about the law; for they are of no profit and foolish.

A man whose opinions are not those of the church, after a first and second protest, is to be kept out of your society;

All who are with me send you their love. Give our love to our friends in the faith. Grace be with you all.

I, Paul, writing this myself, say, I will make payment to you: and I do not say to you that you are in debt to me even for your life.

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?

You have been a lover of righteousness and a hater of evil; and so God, your God, has put the oil of joy on your head more than on the heads of those who are with you.

You, Lord, at the first did put the earth on its base, and the heavens are the works of your hands:

They will come to their end; but you are for ever; they will become old as a robe;

They will be rolled up like a cloth, even like a robe, and they will be changed: but you are the same and your years will have no end.

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?

Are they not all helping spirits, who are sent out as servants to those whose heritage will be salvation?

For he who makes holy and those who are made holy are all of one family; and for this reason it is no shame for him to give them the name of brothers,

And because the children are flesh and blood, he took a body himself and became like them; so that by his death he might put an end to him who had the power of death, that is to say, the Evil One;

For having been put to the test himself, he is able to give help to others when they are tested.

But Christ as a son, over his house; whose house are we, if we keep our hearts fixed in the glad and certain hope till the end.

So that I was angry with this generation, and I said, Their hearts are in error at all times, and they have no knowledge of my ways;

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.

For we have not a high priest who is not able to be touched by the feelings of our feeble flesh; but we have one who has been tested in all points as we ourselves are tested, but without sin.

He is able to have feeling for those who have no knowledge and for those who are wandering from the true way, because he himself is feeble;

In the same way Christ did not take for himself the glory of being made a high priest, but was given it by him who said, You are my Son, this day I have given you being:

As he says in another place, You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

And when he had been made complete, he became the giver of eternal salvation to all those who are under his orders;

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

But solid food is for men of full growth, even for those whose senses are trained by use to see what is good and what is evil.

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

And it is true that by the law, those of the sons of Levi who have the position of priests may take a tenth part of the people's goods; that is to say, they take it from their brothers though these are the sons of Abraham.

Because if the priests are changed, it is necessary to make a change in the law.

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

For it has been witnessed of him, You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

(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);

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.

Now of the things we are saying this is the chief point: We have such a high priest, who has taken his place at the right hand of God's high seat of glory in heaven,

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.

If he had been on earth he would not have been a priest at all, because there are other priests who make the offerings ordered by the law;

For, protesting against them, he says, See, the days are coming when I will make a new agreement with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah;

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.

And by the law almost all things are made clean with blood, and without blood there is no forgiveness.

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.

And because by God's law death comes to men once, and after that they are judged;

So Christ, having at his first coming taken on himself the sins of men, will be seen a second time, without sin, by those who are waiting for him, for their salvation.

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.

And has been waiting there from that time, till all who are against him are made a foot-rest for his feet.

Because by one offering he has made complete for ever those who are made holy.

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

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the sign that the things not seen are true.

For those who say such things make it clear that they are searching for a country for themselves.

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,

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,

To the great meeting and church of the first of those who are named in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of good men made complete,

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.

Keep in mind those who are in chains, as if you were chained with them, and those who are in trouble, as being yourselves in the body.

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

For the bodies of the beasts whose blood is taken into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the circle of the tents.

Give ear to those who are rulers over you, and do as they say: for they keep watch over your souls, ready to give an account of them; let them be able to do this with joy and not with grief, because that would be of no profit to you.

Make prayers for us, for we are certain that our hearts are free from the sense of sin, desiring the right way of life in all things.

Give words of love from me to those who are rulers over you, and to all the saints. Those who are in Italy send you their love.

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.

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?

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