{For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us}, just as those also [did], but the message {they heard} did not benefit them, [because they] were not united with those who heard [it] in faith.

For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh [day] in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,"

Since therefore it remains [for] some to enter into it, and the ones to whom the good news was proclaimed previously did not enter because of disobedience,

Consequently a sabbath rest remains for the people of God.

For the one who has entered into his rest has also himself rested from his works, just as God [did] from his own [works].

For the word of God [is] living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow, and able to judge the reflections and thoughts of the heart.

Therefore, [because we] have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.

For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of people in the things relating to God, in order that he can offer both gifts and sacrifices on behalf of sins,

And someone does not take for himself the honor, but is called by God, just as Aaron also [was].

being designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

For indeed, [although you] ought to be teachers {by this time}, you have need of someone to teach you again the beginning elements of the oracles of God, and {you have need of} milk, not solid food.

But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have trained their faculties for the distinguishing of both good and evil.

Therefore, leaving behind the elementary message about Christ, let us move on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith in God,

And this we will do, if God permits.

and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the coming age,

and having fallen away, to renew [them] again to repentance, [because they] have crucified again for themselves the Son of God and held him up to contempt.

For ground that drinks the rain that comes often upon it, and brings forth vegetation usable to those [people] {for whose sake} [it is] also cultivated, shares a blessing from God.

For God [is] not unjust, [so as] to forget your work and the love which you demonstrated for his name [by] having served the saints, and continuing to serve [them].

For [when] God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself,

In the same way God, [because he] wanted to show even more to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his resolve, guaranteed [it] with an oath,

in order that through two unchangeable things, in which [it is] impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge may have powerful encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before [us],

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham [as he] was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God--he remains a priest for all time.

(for the law [made] nothing perfect), but on the other hand [there is] the introduction of a better hope through which we draw near to God.

Therefore also he is able to save completely those who draw near to God through him, [because he] always lives in order to intercede on their behalf.

For this [is] the covenant that I will decree with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I am putting my laws in their minds and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be {their} God and they will be {my} people.

But Christ has arrived [as] a high priest of the good [things] to come. Through the greater and more perfect tent not made by hands, that is, not of this creation,

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to serve [the] living God?

saying, "This [is] the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for you."

For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a [mere] copy of the true [one], but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf,

For the law, possessing a shadow of the good [things] that are about to come, not the form of things itself, [is] never able {year by year} by means of the same sacrifices which they offer without interruption to make perfect those who draw near.

Then I said, 'Behold, I have come-- in the roll of the book it is written about me-- to do your will, O God.'

But this one, [after he] had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,

and [since we have] a great priest over the house of God,

And let us think about {how to stir one another up to love} and good works,

How much worse punishment do you think the person will be considered worthy of who treats with disdain the Son of God and who considers ordinary the blood of the covenant by which he was made holy and who insults the Spirit of grace?

[It is] a terrifying [thing] to fall into the hands of the living God.

For you have need of endurance, in order that [after you] have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

By faith we understand the worlds were created by the word of God, in order that what is seen did not come into existence from what is visible.

By faith Abel offered to God a greater sacrifice than Cain, by which he was approved that he was righteous, [because] God approved [him] for his gifts, and through it he still speaks, [although he] is dead.

By faith Enoch was taken up, so that he did not experience death, and he was not found, because God took him up. For before his removal, he had been approved {as having been pleasing} to God.

Now without faith [it is] impossible to please [him], for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and is a rewarder of those who seek him.

For he was expecting the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder [is] God.

And therefore these were fathered from one man, and [he] being as good as dead, as the stars of heaven in number and like the innumerable sand by the shore of the sea.

But now they aspire to a better [land], that is, a heavenly [one]. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

having reasoned that God [was] able even to raise [him] from the dead, from which he received him back also as a symbol.

choosing instead to be mistreated with the people of God [rather] than to experience the transitory enjoyment of sin,

[because] God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the originator and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Endure [it] for discipline. God is dealing with you as sons. For what son [is there] whom a father does not discipline?

Take care [that] no one falls short of the grace of God; [that] no one growing up [like] a root of bitterness causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to tens of thousands of angels, to the festal gathering

and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous [people] made perfect,

Therefore, [since we] are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be thankful, through which let us serve God acceptably, with awe and reverence.

For indeed our God [is] a consuming fire.

Marriage [must be] held in honor by all, and the marriage bed [be] undefiled, because God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers.

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you; {considering the outcome of their way of life}, imitate their faith.

Do not be carried away by various and strange teachings, for [it is] good [for] the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods by which those who participate have not benefited.

Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate, in order that he might sanctify the people by his own blood.

Therefore through him let us offer up a sacrifice of praise {continually} to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.

And do not neglect doing good and generosity, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

Pray for us, for we are convinced that we have a good conscience, [and] want to conduct ourselves commendably in every [way].

Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,

equip you with every good [thing] to do his will, carrying out in us [what is] pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom [be] the glory {forever}. Amen.

James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion. Greetings!

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask for [it] from God, who gives to all without reservation and not reproaching, and it will be given to him.

No one who is being tempted should say, "I am being tempted by God," for God {cannot be tempted} by evil, and he himself tempts no one.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of change.

for human anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God.

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep oneself unstained by the world.

and you look favorably on the one wearing the fine clothing and you say, "Be seated here in a good place," and to the poor person you say, "You stand or be seated there by my footstool,"

Listen, my dear brothers! Did not God choose the poor of the world [to be] rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

Do they themselves not blaspheme the good name {of the one to whom you belong}?

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe, and shudder!

And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness," and he was called God's friend.

With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

Who [is] wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good behavior his works, with the humility of wisdom.

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, nonjudgmental, without hypocrisy,

Adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes [himself] an enemy of God.

But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Therefore subject yourselves to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse [your] hands, [you] sinners, and purify [your] hearts, [you] double-minded!

Therefore, to the one who knows to do good and does not do [it], to him it is sin.

according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and [for] sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time,

who through him [are] believing in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

[because you] have been born again, not from perishable seed but imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

to whom you are drawing near, a living stone rejected by men but chosen [and] precious in the sight of God.

And [you] yourselves, as living stones, are being built up [as] a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

But you [are] a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for [God's] possession, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light,

who once [were] not a people, but now [are] the people of God, the ones [who were] not shown mercy, but now are shown mercy.

maintaining your good conduct among the Gentiles, so that in [the things] in which they slander you as evildoers, by seeing your good deeds they may glorify God on the day of visitation.

or to governors as those sent out by him for the punishment of those who do evil and the praise of those who do good.

For the will of God is as follows: [by] doing good to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

[Live] as free [persons], and not using your freedom as a covering for evil, but as slaves of God.

Honor all [people], love the community of believers, fear God, honor the king.

Domestic slaves, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to those [who are] good and gentle, but also to those [who are] unjust.

For this [finds] favor, if because of consciousness of God someone endures sorrows [while] suffering unjustly.

For what credit [is it] if, [when you] sin and are beaten [for it], you endure? But if you endure [when you] do good and suffer [for it], this [finds] favor with God.