For since the Law has only a shadow [just a pale representation] of the good things to come—not the very image of those things—it can never, by offering the same sacrifices continually year after year, make perfect those who approach [its altars].

Wherefore, coming into the world, he saith, "Sacrifice and oblation thou hast not chosen, but thou hast exactly fashioned a body for me:

thou hast had no delight in whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin:

Then said I, 'Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it has been written concerning Me), to do Thy will, O God.'"

Having said before that sacrifice, and oblation, and whole burnt-offerings and sin-offerings thou hast not chosen, nor takest pleasure in, (which are offered according to the law,)

then he has said, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He takes away the first, that he may establish the second,

in consequence of which WILL we are sanctified by the oblation which Jesus Christ has made once for all of his own body.

And truly every priest has stood daily, serving and bringing in many times the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:

But Christ has offered for all time one sacrifice for sin, and has taken his seat at God's right hand,

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

For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

Now where forgiveness of sins has taken place, there is no longer [a need for an] offering for sin.

by the new, living way which he has opened for us, through the curtain, that is, his physical nature,

and since we have a great Priest who has authority over the house of God,

Let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we profess, for he who has given us his promise may be trusted.

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

How much worse punishment, do you think, will he be judged worthy of, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

For we know who it is that has said, "Vengeance belongs to me! I will pay back!" and in another place, "The Lord will be the judge of his people!"

Therefore do not throw away your boldness, which has a great reward.

but you will need endurance if you are to carry out God's will and receive the blessing he has promised.

But my righteous one will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him."

By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.

By faith, Enoch was taken away, so that he would not see death, and he was not found, because God took him away. For he has had testimony given to him that before his translation he had been well pleasing to God.

And unless one has faith, it is impossible for him to be pleasing to God, for the person who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.

By faith [with confidence in God and His word] Noah, being warned by God about events not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his family. By this [act of obedience] he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which comes by faith.

For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

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

By faith Abraham, when tried, has offered up Isaac; yea, he who gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten son,

By faith he has instituted the passover, and the applying of the blood, lest the destroyer of the first-born should touch them.

Therefore, [since] we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, putting aside every weight and {the sin that so easily ensnares us}, let us run with patient endurance the race that has been set before us,

looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider him who has endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you do not grow weary in your souls and lose heart.

For the Lord sends punishment on his loved ones; everyone whom he takes as his son has experience of his rod.

And if you are left without discipline, of which every true son has had a share, that shows that you are bastards, and not true sons.

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.

whose voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised, saying, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens."

The expression "once more" signifies the removal of what can be shaken, that is, what he has made, so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you."

Never let yourselves be carried away with a variety of novel doctrines; for the right thing is to have one's heart strengthened by grace, not by the eating of food ??that has never been any use to those who have had recourse to it.

May God, the giver of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus who through the blood by which he ratified the everlasting agreement has become the great shepherd of the sheep,

Know that our brother Timothy has been freed, with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you.

Let him make his request in faith, doubting nothing; for he who has doubt in his heart is like the waves of the sea, which are troubled by the driving of the wind.

For the sun has risen with its burning heat, and has withered the grass, and its flower has fallen, and the comeliness of its look has perished: thus the rich also shall wither in his goings.

Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which he promised to those who love him.

Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.

'tis he that has voluntarily renew'd us by the oracles of truth, that we might be the first converts of the new creation.

So strip yourselves of everything that soils you, and of every evil growth, and in a humble spirit let the message that has the power to save your souls be planted in your hearts.

For after looking at himself he goes away, and in a short time he has no memory of what he was like.

If a man seems to have religion and has no control over his tongue but lets himself be tricked by what is false, this man's religion is of no value.

and if you have respect to him who has the fancy clothing and say to him, You sit here in a good place, and say to the poor, You stand there, or sit here under my footstool;

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?

And do not they blaspheme the excellent name which has been called upon you?

For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

for He who is saying, 'Thou mayest not commit adultery,' said also, 'Thou mayest do no murder;' and if thou shalt not commit adultery, and shalt commit murder, thou hast become a transgressor of law;

For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him?

If some brother or sister has no clothes and has not food enough for a day,

Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.

Perhaps a man will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith by thy works, and I will shew thee by my works my faith.

For we all make many mistakes. Anyone who never makes a mistake in what he says has a character that is fully developed and is able to control his whole body as well.

So too the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it has great pretensions. Think how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze.

And the tongue is [like] a fire [i.e., like that spark]. [For] the tongue, as a part of the body, is [like] the world of evil. It corrupts the entire life [of a person] and inflames the course of nature itself [i.e., it affects a person throughout his whole earthly existence], and is ignited by hell itself [i.e., the evil produced by the fiery tongue has hell as its source and destiny].

For every sort of beast and bird and every living thing on earth and in the sea has been controlled by man and is under his authority;

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

You people desire something and yet do not have it, [so] you murder [to get it]. You are envious [of what someone has] and [yet] are not able to obtain it, [so] you fight and quarrel [over it]. You do not have [what you want] because you do not ask [God 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.

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?

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?

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

Your wealth has rotted, your clothes are moth-eaten,

Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who reaped your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

Here on earth you have lived self-indulgent and profligate lives. You have stupefied yourselves with gross feeding; but a day of slaughter has come.

So be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer has to wait for the precious crop from the ground, and be patient with it, until it gets the early and the late rains.

Be ye also patient. Establish your hearts, because the coming of the Lord has approached.

Murmur not against one another, brethren, that ye be not judged: behold, The Judge has taken His stand before the doors!

and the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Confess therefore your offences to one another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The fervent supplication of the righteous man has much power.

My brothers, if one of you has gone out of the way of the true faith and another has made him see his error,

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.

PETER an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the foreigners dispers'd thro' Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, whom God the father has chosen in pursuance of his decree,

whom God the Father has chosen and predestined by the consecration of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ, and to be sprinkled with his blood; God bless you and give you perfect peace.

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,

and into an inheritance imperishable and undefiled and fadeless, which has been kept in heaven for you

At the thought of this you are full of exultation, though (if it has been necessary) you have suffered for the moment somewhat from various trials;

that the genuineness of your faith--a thing far more precious than gold, which is perishable, yet has to be tested by fire--may win praise and glory and honour at the Appearing of Jesus Christ.

to them it was revealed that they got this intelligence not for themselves but for you, regarding all that has now been disclosed to you by those who preached the gospel to you through the holy Spirit sent from heaven. The very angels long to get a glimpse of this!

but like the holy Being who has called you, you must also prove holy in all your conduct,

Because it has been said in the Writings, You are to be holy, for I am holy.

And if you give the name of Father to him who, judging every man by his acts, has no respect for a man's position, then go in fear while you are on this earth:

who was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has been revealed in these last times for you

who by him do believe on God, who has raised him from among the dead and given him glory, that your faith and hope should be in God.

Now that your obedience to the Truth has purified your souls for a brotherly love that is sincere, love one another heartily and steadily.

since your new Life has come, not from perishable, but imperishable, seed, through the Message of the Everliving God.

For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass; the grass has withered, and its flower fell off;

But the word of the Lord will last forever," that is, the good news that has been brought to you.

And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God,

Because it is said in the Writings, See, I am placing a keystone in Zion, of great and special value; and the man who has faith in him will not be put to shame.

For you who believe therefore is the honor, but for those who do not believe, "The stone which the builders rejected, has become the chief cornerstone,"

But you are the chosen race, the royal priesthood, the consecrated nation, his own people, so that you may declare the virtues of him who has called you out of darkness into his wonderful light;

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.