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 offering, thou willedst not, but, a body, hast thou fitted for me, -

In whole burnt offerings and sin offerings Thou hast taken no pleasure.

then I said, Lo, I come in the volume of the Book it has been written of me to do thy will, O God.

First when it is said, Thou hast no longing for, thou takest no delight in Sacrifices and offerings, or whole burnt offerings and sin offerings,

then he has said, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He takes away the first in order to 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 fully perfected forever those being sanctified.

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

by a new and living way which he has first open'd for us, thro' the veil, that is, thro' his flesh;

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

let us, without ever wavering, keep on holding to the hope that we profess, for He is to be trusted who has made the promise,

Any man who has disregarded the law of Moses dies without mercies from two or three witnesses.

By how much worse punishment do ye think he will deserve who has trampled the Son of God, and who considered profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who treated the Spirit of grace contemptuously?

for we know who it is that has said, "vengeance belongeth unto me, I will repay." and again, "the Lord shall revenge his people."

Therefore do not throw off your boldness, which has great recompense of reward.

Indeed, to carry out the will of God and to receive the blessing He has promised, you need endurance, for:

Meantime, my righteous servant will live by faith. But if a man draws back, my soul has no delight in him."

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 Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him; for before his translation he has the testimony that he had pleased 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 anticipated the city that has the foundations, whose builder and architect is God.

But now they aspire for a superior one, 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.

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 kept the pascha, and the pouring out of blood, lest he destroying 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 pathfinder and perfecter of the faith, who, against the joy set before him, endured a cross, having despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Give thought to him who has undergone so much of the hate of sinners against himself, so that you may not be tired and feeble of purpose.

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 then shook the earth. But now he has promised, saying, Yet once, I shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.

Now this [expression], “Yet once more,” indicates the removal and final transformation of all those things which can be shaken—that is, of that which has been created—so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

The Way of life is to be without love of money, being content with the things that are present, for he has said, I will, no, not leave thee, and also, I will, no, not forsake thee.

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 the God of peace, who has raised from the dead our Lord Jesus (who by the blood of the eternal covenant is become the grand pastor of

You must know that our brother Timothy has been released from prison. If he comes soon, he and I will see you together.

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 person who endures trial, for when he stands the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.

Then when the illicit desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin has run its course, it gives birth to 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 he has looked carefully at himself, he goes away, and at once forgets what he is 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;

Listen, my dearly loved brothers. Has not God chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith and to possess the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

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

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

For, he that hath said - Do not commit adultery, hath also said - Do not commit murder, - now, if thou dost not commit adultery, but dost commit murder, thou hast become a transgressor of law.

For judgment is without mercy to the man who has showed no mercy. but mercy glories in the face of judgment.

What is the benefit, my brothers, if some man should say to have faith, but has no works? Can the faith save him?

If some brother or sister is thinly clad and has no food for the day,

So also faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself.

Yea, a man will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith apart from thy works, and I by my works will show thee 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 species, both of beasts and of birds, both of creeping things and things in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by the human species.

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 do you suppose that it is in vain that the Scripture says, "The spirit which has its home in us yearns over us unto jealousy?"

There is but one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who has the power to save and to destroy; then who are you that you presume to judge your brother?

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

Your wealth has decayed, and your garments have become 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.

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.

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 rescue him who is depressed, and the Lord will rouse him. And if he should be a man who has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

confess then to one another the offences you have committed, and pray for one another, that you may be healed; the fervent prayer of a virtuous man has great influence.

My brothers, if any one of you has wandered away from the truth, and someone brings him back,

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.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In accordance with His great mercy He has begotten us anew to an ever living hope through the resurrection 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 in accordance with the Holy Being who has called you, you must prove to be holy too,

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 destin'd before the creation of the world, tho' 'tis of late only that he has appear'd, upon your account:

it is by him that you believe in God, who has raised him from the dead, and invested him with glory, that your faith and your hope might 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.

Because all flesh is as grass, and all its glory as the flower of grass. The grass has withered and its flower has fallen;

But the word of the Lord lives on forever"; that is, the message of the good news which has been brought to you.

which however rejected it is by men, is the precious stone, which God has chosen: and

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, then, that believe, is the preciousness; but for those who do not believe, A stone which the builders rejected, The same has become the head stone of the corner,

But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people, that you may show forth the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light??10 you who once were not a people, but now are the people of God; who were once without mercy, but now you have found mercy.

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.