(Because the law made nothing complete), and in its place there is a better hope, through which we come near to God.

By so much is it a better agreement which we have through Jesus.

And it is true that there have been a great number of those priests, because death does not let them go on for ever;

So that he is fully able to be the saviour of all who come to God through him, because he is ever living to make prayer to God for them.

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;

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.

Not like the agreement which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand, to be their guide out of the land of Egypt; for they did not keep the agreement with me, and I gave them up, says the Lord.

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:

And there will be no need for every man to be teaching his brother, or his neighbour, saying, This is the knowledge of the Lord: for they will all have knowledge of me, great and small.

And I will have mercy on their evil-doing, and I will not keep their sins in mind.

And over it were the winged ones of glory with their wings covering the mercy-seat; about which it is not possible now to say anything in detail.

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.

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.

Because where there is a testament, there has to be the death of the man who made it.

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

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.

For if this had been possible, would there not have been an end of those offerings, because the worshippers would have been made completely clean and would have been no longer conscious of sins?

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

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

This is the agreement which I will make with them after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws in their hearts, writing them in their minds; he said,

And I will keep no more memory of their sins and of their evil-doings.

Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no more offering for sin.

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

For if we do evil on purpose after we have had the knowledge of what is true, there is no more offering for sins,

A man who has gone against the law of Moses is put to death without pity on the word of two or three witnesses:

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

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 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.

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.

Of whom it had been said, From Isaac will your seed take their name:

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.

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.

By faith they went through the Red Sea as if it had been dry land, though the Egyptians were overcome by the water when they made an attempt to do the same.

What more am I to say? For there would not be time to give the stories of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets:

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

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;

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Take care to keep open house: because in this way some have had angels as their guests, without being conscious of it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

For there is a division in his mind, and he is uncertain in all his ways.

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.

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.

For this reason, putting away all dirty behaviour and the overweight of evil, take into your souls without pride the word which, being planted there, is able to give you salvation.

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;

Is there not a division in your minds? have you not become judges with evil thoughts?

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?

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?

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.

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

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?

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:

Your gold and your silver are wasted and their waste will be a witness against you, burning into your flesh. You have put by your store in the last days.

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.

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, 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.

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.

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.

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;

You, as living stones, are being made into a house of the spirit, a holy order of priests, making those offerings of the spirit which are pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.

And, A stone of falling, a rock of trouble; the word is the cause of their fall, because they go against it, and this was the purpose of God.

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.

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.

Who did no evil, and there was no deceit in his mouth:

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 these were the ornaments of the holy women of the past, whose hope was in God, being ruled by their husbands:

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;

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;

And most of all be warm in your love for one another; because in love there is forgiveness for sins without number:

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.

For this reason let those who by the purpose of God undergo punishment, keep on in well-doing and put their souls into the safe hands of their Maker.

And after you have undergone pain for a little time, the God of all grace who has given you a part in his eternal glory through Christ Jesus, will himself give you strength and support, and make you complete in every good thing;

Because by his power he has given us everything necessary for life and righteousness, through the knowledge of him who has been our guide by his glory and virtue;

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 these words did not ever come through the impulse of men: but the prophets had them from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.

But there were false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly put forward wrong teachings for your destruction, even turning away from the Lord who gave himself for them; whose destruction will come quickly, and they themselves will be the cause of it.

And a great number will go with them in their evil ways, through whom the true way will have a bad name.

And in their desire for profit they will come to you with words of deceit, like traders doing business in souls: whose punishment has been ready for a long time and their destruction is watching for them.