By that pleasure we have been made holy, by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for ever.

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

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

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.

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

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 Enoch was taken up to heaven so that he did not see death; he was seen no longer, for God took him away: for before he was taken, witness had been given that he was well-pleasing to God:

And without faith it is not possible to be well-pleasing to him, for it is necessary for anyone who comes to God to have the belief that God is, and that he is a rewarder of all those who make a serious search for him.

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.

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.

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

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.

Judging that God was able to give life even to the dead; and because of this he did get him back as if from death.

By faith Joseph, when his end was near, said that the children of Israel would go out of Egypt; and gave orders about his bones.

By faith Moses was kept secretly by his father and mother for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a fair child; and they had no fear of the king's orders.

Feeling that it was better to undergo pain with the people of God, than for a short time to have a taste of the pleasures of sin;

By faith he kept the Passover, and put the sign of the blood on the houses, so that the angel of destruction might not put their oldest sons to death.

Women had their dead given back to them living; others let themselves be cruelly attacked, having no desire to go free, so that they might have a better life to come;

Because God had kept some better thing for us, so that it was not possible for them to become complete without us.

Give thought to him who has undergone so much of the hate of sinners against himself, so that you may not be tired and feeble of purpose.

It is for your training that you undergo these things; God is acting to you as a father does to his sons; for what son does not have punishment from his father?

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.

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

Looking with care to see that no man among you in his behaviour comes short of the grace of God; for fear that some bitter root may come up to be a trouble to you, and that some of you may be made unclean by it;

And that there may not be any evil liver, or any man without respect for God, like Esau, who let his birthright go for a plate of food.

For you have knowledge that even long after, when he was desiring the blessing for his heritage, he was turned away, though he made his request frequently and with weeping; because the past might not be changed.

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:

And the vision was so overpowering that even Moses said, I am shaking and full of fear.

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:

So that we say with a good heart, The Lord is my helper; I will have no fear: what is man able to do to me?

For this reason Jesus was put to death outside the walls, so that he might make the people holy by his blood.

Let us then make offerings of praise to God at all times through him, that is to say, the fruit of lips giving witness to his name.

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.

Now may the God of peace, who made that great keeper of his flock, even our Lord Jesus, come back from the dead through the blood of the eternal agreement,

Because you have the knowledge that the testing of your faith gives you the power of going on in hope;

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

Let it not seem to such a man that he will get anything from the Lord;

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.

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.

What use is it, my brothers, for a man to say that he has faith, if he does nothing? will such a faith give him salvation?

You have the belief that God is one, and you do well: the evil spirits have the same belief, shaking with fear.

Do you not see, O foolish man, that faith without works is of no use?

You see that his faith was helping his works and was made complete by them;

You see that a man's righteousness is judged by his works and not by his faith only.

Now if we put bits of iron into horses' mouths so that they may be guided by us, we have complete control of their bodies.

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.

O you who are false to God, do you not see that the friends of this world are not God's friends? Every man desiring to be a friend of this world makes himself a hater of God.

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?

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.

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.

Say no hard things against one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged; see, the judge is waiting at the doors.

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.

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.

So then, make a statement of your sins to one another, and say prayers for one another so that you may be made well. The prayer of a good man is full of power in its working.

Elijah was a man of flesh and blood as we are, and he made a strong prayer that there might be no rain; and there was no rain on the earth for three years and six months.

Be certain that he through whom a sinner has been turned from the error of his way, keeps a soul from death and is the cause of forgiveness for sins without number.

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:

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.

Being conscious that you have been made free from that foolish way of life which was your heritage from your fathers, not through a payment of things like silver or gold which come to destruction,

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

Who through him have faith in God who took him up again from the dead into glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.

And as you have made your souls clean, being ruled by what is true, and loving one another without deceit, see that your love is warm and from the heart:

Be full of desire for the true milk of the word, as babies at their mothers' breasts, so that you may go on to salvation;

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.

My loved ones, I make this request with all my heart, that, as those for whom this world is a strange country, you will keep yourselves from the desires of the flesh which make war against the soul;

Being of good behaviour among the Gentiles; so that though they say now that you are evil-doers, they may see your good works and give glory to God when he comes to be their judge.

Because it is God's pleasure that foolish and narrow-minded men may be put to shame by your good behaviour:

This is God's purpose for you: because Jesus himself underwent punishment for you, giving you an example, so that you might go in his footsteps:

He took our sins on himself, giving his body to be nailed on the tree, so that we, being dead to sin, might have a new life in righteousness, and by his wounds we have been made well.

Wives, be ruled by your husbands; so that even if some of them give no attention to the word, their hearts may be changed by the behaviour of their wives,

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.

Last of all, see that you are all in agreement; feeling for one another, loving one another like brothers, full of pity, without pride:

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.

Being conscious that you have done no wrong; so that those who say evil things about your good way of life as Christians may be put to shame.

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:

So that as Jesus was put to death in the flesh, do you yourselves be of the same mind; for the death of the flesh puts an end to sin;

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.

And they are wondering that you no longer go with them in this violent wasting of life, and are saying evil things of you:

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.

If anyone has anything to say, let it be as the words of God; if anyone has the desire to be the servant of others, let him do it in the strength which is given by God; so that in all things God may have the glory through Jesus Christ, whose are the glory and the power for ever.

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 this cause make yourselves low under the strong hand of God, so that when the time comes you may be lifted up;

Do not give way to him but be strong in your faith, in the knowledge that your brothers who are in the world undergo the same troubles.

I have sent you this short letter by Silvanus, a true brother, in my opinion; comforting you and witnessing that this is the true grace of God; keep to it.

And through this he has given us the hope of great rewards highly to be valued; so that by them we might have our part in God's being, and be made free from the destruction which is in the world through the desires of the flesh.

For I am conscious that in a short time I will have to put off this tent of flesh, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

And I will take every care so that you may have a clear memory of these things after my death.

Being conscious in the first place that no man by himself may give a special sense to the words of the prophets.

(Because the soul of that upright man living among them was pained from day to day by seeing and hearing their crimes):

But these men, like beasts without reason, whose natural use is to be taken and put to death, crying out against things of which they have no knowledge, will undergo that same destruction which they are designing for others;

Saying that they will be free, while they themselves are the servants of destruction; because whatever gets the better of a man makes a servant of him.

They are an example of that true saying, The dog has gone back to the food it had put out, and the pig which had been washed to its rolling in the dirty earth.