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,

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.

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.

For if that first agreement had been as good as possible, there would have been no place for a second.

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:

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.

How much more will the blood of Christ, who, being without sin, made an offering of himself to God through the Holy Spirit, make your hearts clean from dead works to be servants of the living God?

And for this cause it is through him that a new agreement has come into being, so that after the errors under the first agreement had been taken away by his death, the word of God might have effect for those who were marked out for an eternal heritage.

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

For the law, being only a poor copy of the future good things, and not the true image of those things, is never able to make the people who come to the altar every year with the same offerings completely clean.

Then I said, See, I have come to do your pleasure, O God (as it is said of me in the roll of the book).

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

And having a great priest over the house of God,

And let us be moving one another at all times to love and good works;

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?

We may well go in fear of falling into the hands of the living God.

For, having done what was right in God's eyes, you have need of waiting before his word has effect for you.

For by it our fathers had God's approval.

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 Abel made a better offering to God than Cain, and he had witness through it of his righteousness, God giving his approval of his offering: and his voice still comes to us through it though he is dead.

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.

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.

For he was looking for the strong town, whose builder and maker is God.

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 Jacob gave a blessing to the two sons of Joseph, when he was near to death; and gave God worship, supported by his stick.

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 Rahab, the loose woman, was not put to death with those who had gone against God's orders, because she had taken into her house in peace those sent to see the land.

Who through faith overcame kingdoms, did righteousness, got their reward, kept the mouths of lions shut,

Put out the power of fire, got safely away from the edge of the sword, were made strong when they had been feeble, became full of power in war, and put to flight the armies of the nations.

They were stoned, they were cut up with knives, they were tested, they were put to death with the sword, they went about in sheepskins and in goatskins; being poor and in pain and cruelly attacked,

Wandering in waste places and in mountains and in holes in the rocks; for whom the world was not good enough.

And not one of these got the good things of the agreement, though they all had a good record through faith,

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

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?

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.

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.

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,

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 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.

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:

For our God is an all-burning fire.

Let married life be honoured among all of you and not made unclean; for men untrue in married life will be judged by God.

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?

Keep in mind those who were over you, and who gave you the word of God; seeing the outcome of their way of life, let your faith be like theirs.

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.

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.

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

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,

Make you full of every good work and ready to do all his desires, working in us whatever is pleasing in his eyes through Jesus Christ; and may the glory be given to him for ever and ever. So be it.

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends words of love to the twelve tribes of the Jews living in all parts of the earth.

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.

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

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.

Let no man say when he is tested, I am tested by God; for it is not possible for God to be tested by evil, and he himself puts no man to such a test:

Every good and true thing is given to us from heaven, coming from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change or any shade made by turning.

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

For the righteousness of God does not come about by the wrath of man.

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.

And you do honour to the man in fair clothing and say, Come here and take this good place; and you say to the poor man, Take up your position there, or be seated at my feet;

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?

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

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.

With it we give praise to our Lord and Father; and with it we put a curse on men who are made in God's image.

Is a fig-tree able to give us olives, my brothers, or do we get figs from a vine, or sweet water from the salt sea?

Who has wisdom and good sense among you? let him make his works clear by a life of gentle wisdom.

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.

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 are burning with desire, and have not your desire, so you put men to death; you are full of envy, and you are not able to get your desire, so you are fighting and making war; you have not your desire, because you do not make request for it.

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.

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

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Make your hands clean, you evil-doers; put away deceit from your hearts, you false in mind.

How foolish it is to say, Today or tomorrow we will go into this town, and be there for a year and do business there and get wealth:

The man who has knowledge of how to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Go on waiting calmly, my brothers, till the coming of the Lord, like the farmer waiting for the good fruit of the earth till the early and late rains have come.

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.

Who, through the purpose of God, have been made holy by the Spirit, disciples of Jesus, made clean by his blood: May you have grace and peace in full measure.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through his great mercy has given us a new birth and a living hope by the coming again of Jesus Christ from the dead,

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

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.

Like children ruled by God, do not go back to the old desires of the time when you were without knowledge:

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

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.

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.