and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat: of which it is not necessary now to speak particularly.

but into the second only the high-priest went once a year; and that not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the sins of the people committed through ignorance.

Which figure remains to the present time, wherein gifts and sacrifices are offered, that cannot perfect the worshipper as to his conscience,

saying, this is the blood of the covenant, which God hath enjoined you.

For Christ is not entered into holy places made with hands, which were but types of the true ones; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

For the law having but a faint shadow of good things to come, and not the full image of the things, can never, even by the great annual sacrifices which they offer statedly, make the comers thereunto perfect.

Having said before, "Thou didst not desire, nor hadst pleasure in, sacrifice and offering, and whole burnt-offerings, and sacrifices for sin," (which are offered by the law) then He adds,

By which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

And indeed every priest under the law standeth daily ministring, and frequently offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:

the new and living way which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say,

but a dreadful expectation of judgement, and a fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

of how much greater punishment, think ye, shall he be counted worthy, who hath trampled under foot the Son of God, and accounted the blood of the covenant, by which he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and abused the Spirit of grace?

But call to remembrance the former days, in which after being enlightened, ye sustained a great conflict of sufferings;

Cast not away therefore your couragious profession, which hath a great recompence of reward.

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, for the things which are seen were not made of things which appear.

By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God bearing witness to his gifts: and by it, though dead, he yet speaketh.

By faith Noah being warned by God of things which were not yet seen, moved with pious fear, prepared an ark for the safety of his family; whereby he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

By faith Abraham when called to go out to a place which he was afterwards to receive for an inheritance obeyed: and went out, though he knew not whither he was going.

For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose maker and founder is God.

and if they had been mindful of that from which they came, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

By faith they passed through the Red-sea, as by dry land, which the Egyptians attempting to do were drowned.

Have ye forgotten the exhortation, which speaketh to you as to sons, saying, "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor saint when rebuked by Him?

But if ye be without chastisement, of which all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons.

Follow peace with all men; and holiness, without which none shall see the Lord:

and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which they that heard, intreated that the word might not any more be thus delivered to them:

Now this expression "yet once more" signifieth the removing of the things that are shaken, as of things which had been appointed only for a season, that those which cannot be shaken may remain.

be not then carried about by various and strange doctrines; for it is good that the heart be established by grace, and not in meats, in which those that have been most exact, have not profited by them.

We have an altar, of which those who perform service in the tabernacle have no right to eat.

but are seeking that which is to come.

make you perfect in every good work, to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Happy is the man who sustaineth temptation; for being approved he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.

Laying aside therefore all filthiness, and excess of malice, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Hear, my beloved brethren; hath not God chosen the poor of this world who are rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which He hath promised to them that love Him? but ye have slighted the poor.

Do they not blaspheme the glorious name by which ye are called?

If ye fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, which saith, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.

And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God.

Behold also the ships which are of so great bulk, and even when they are driven by hard winds, yet are turned about by a very small helm which way soever the pilot pleaseth.

(though ye know not what will be on the morrow; for what is your life? a vapor, which appeareth for a little while, and then vanisheth away:) whereas ye ought to say,

Weep now, ye rich men, and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.

Behold the hire of the laborers, that reaped your fields, of which they are defrauded by you, crieth out against you: and the complaints of the reapers are come into the ears of the Lord of hosts.

In which ye rejoice, tho' now for a little while, if need be, ye are grieved through various trials.

That the proof of your faith, which is much more precious than of gold, (that perisheth, though tried by fire) may be found unto praise, and honor, and glory, when Jesus Christ shall be revealed:

concerning which salvation the prophets, who prophesied of the grace to be conferred on you, enquired and diligently sought after it:

to whom it was revealed, that it was not to themselves, but to us they ministered these things, which are now declared unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you, through the holy Spirit sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

being regenerated not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever.

but the word of the Lord abideth for ever. And this is the word which is preached to you in the gospel.

and envies, and all evil-speakings, as new-born babes desire that rational milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby:

To you therefore who believe it is precious: but to them that are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner,

and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence. These stumble at the word through unbelief, unto which also they were appointed.

Dearly beloved, I exhort you as strangers and sojourners here, to abstain from carnal lusts, which war against the soul:

having a good conversation among the Gentiles; that whereas they speak against you as evil-doers, they may glorify God in the day of their visitation, on account of the good works which they behold in you.

but the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

by which also He went and preached to the spirits now in prison;

The resemblance of which, even baptism, doth also now save us, (not the outward cleansing of filth from the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

in which they think it strange that ye run not with them into the same excess of riot, and therefore speak evil of you:

If any one speak, let it be as declaring the oracles of God: if any one minister, let it be as from the power which God affordeth him: that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Beloved, be not surprised at the fiery trial coming upon you, which is to try you, as if some strange thing befel you:

The elders that are among you I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker of the glory which shall be revealed; feed the flock of God that is among you,

by which are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye may become partakers of a divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

We have also the more sure word of the prophets, to which ye do well to attend, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, till the day dawn, and the morning-star rise in your hearts:

But these men, like brute beasts naturally produced to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil of things which they do not understand, shall perish by their own corruption; receiving the reward of their unrighteousness:

having eyes full of adultery, and which cannot be restrained from sin: ensnaring unstable souls, and having a heart practised in rapine; cursed people:

This second epistle, my beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your sincere mind in remembrance,

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements being set on fire shall be dissolved, and the earth and the works therein shall be burnt up.

But we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwelleth.

as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things: in which are some things hard to be understood, which the illiterate and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have contemplated, and our very hands have felt concerning the Word of life,

(for this Life was manifested, and we saw it; and we testify and declare unto you that eternal Life, which was with the Father,

Brethren, I write not a new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning: the old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning:

though I write it again as a new commandment, which is truth in Him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

Let that therefore, which ye have heard from the beginning, abide in you: for if that, which ye heard from the beginning, remain in you, ye also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

And this is the promise which He hath promised us, even eternal life.

But the unction, which ye have received from Him, abideth in you; and therefore ye have no need that any should teach you: since this very unction teacheth you concerning all things, and is truth and not falshood; even as that hath taught you, abide in Him.

for this is the injunction which ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another: not as Cain who was of the evil one, and slew his brother;

And he, that keepeth his commandments, abideth in Him, and He in him: and hereby we know that He abideth in us, even by the Spirit which He hath given us.

and every spirit that doth not confess Jesus Christ, who is come in the flesh, is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, which ye have heard was coming, and is already in the world.

And we have known and believed the love which God hath towards us: for God is love; and he, that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.

Now if we admit the testimony of men, sure the testimony of God is greater: and this is the testimony of God, which He hath testified concerning his Son.

He, that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself: he, that believeth not God, hath in effect made Him a liar, because he believed not the testimony which God hath testified of his Son.

And this is the confidence, which we have towards Him, that if we ask any thing according to his will, He heareth us:

and if we know that He heareth us in whatsoever we ask; we know that we shall have the petitions, which we have requested of Him.

If any one see his brother commit a sin which is not unto death, let him pray for him, and God will give him life, that is for them that do not sin unto death. There is a sin unto death: and for that I do not say that he should pray.

for the sake of the truth which dwelleth in us, and will be with us for ever:

And now I beseech thee, Lady, not as writing to thee a new commandment, but that which we had from the beginning, that we may love one another.

Look to yourselves, that ye lose not the things which ye have wrought, but that ye may receive a full reward.

Beloved, do not thou follow that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doth good is of God: but he, that doth evil, hath not seen God.

Beloved, having an earnest desire to write to you concerning the common salvation, I was under a necessity of writing to exhort you that ye would strive earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints.

But I would remind you of this, which ye know already, that though the Lord saved the people out of the land of Egypt, yet He afterwards destroyed those that believed not:

to pass judgement upon all, and to convict all the ungodly among them of all their wicked works, which they have impiously committed, and of all the hard things which impious sinners have spoken against Him.

But, beloved, remember the words which were formerly spoken by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; for they told you,

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to shew to his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John,

John to the seven churches in Asia---Grace and peace be to you, from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Write what thou hast seen, the things which are, and which are to be hereafter."

As to the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks; the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Let him, that hath an ear, hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Fear none of the things which thou wilt suffer: behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall suffer affliction ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

So thou hast also them that hold the like doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which I hate.

Let him, that hath an ear, hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna: and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth, but He that receiveth it.

be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect in the sight of God.