For the earth which imbibes the rain which often falls upon it, and bringeth forth herbage suitable for those by whom it is cultured, receiveth a blessing from God;

For God is not unjust, to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have demonstrated in his name, having ministered assistance to the saints, and still ministering.

that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us;

which, as an anchor for our soul, we hold both sure and stedfast, and entering into the sanctuary within the vail,

into which the forerunner for us is entered, even Jesus, made after the order of Melchisedec an high-priest for ever.

For he to whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, in which no man approached the altar.

For it is evident that our Lord sprang from Judah; to which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning the priesthood;

For the law led to no perfection, but was an introduction to a better hope, by which we draw nigh unto God.

For the law constitutes men high-priests, though they have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which is since the law, constitutes the Son, unto eternity completely perfect.

a minister of the holies, and of the true tabernacle which the Lord hath pitched, and not man.

But now hath Christ obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as he is the mediator of a better covenant, which hath been established on better promises.

not according to that covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day when I laid hold upon their hand to lead them up out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I took no longer care of them, saith the Lord.

For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; giving my laws to their understanding, even on their hearts will I inscribe them: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.

For the tabernacle was prepared; the first part, in which was both the candlestick, and the table, and the shew-bread, which is called the holy.

having the golden censer, and the coffer of the covenant, overlaid with gold within and without, in which were the golden urn containing the manna, and Aaron's rod which had budded, and the stone tables of the covenant;

but into the second once in every year entered the high-priest alone, not without blood, which he offered for his own inadvertencies, and for those of the people:

which figurative representation [continues] unto the present time, according to which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot, with respect to conscience, make him perfect who performs the services,

saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.

NOW the law, having a shadow of the good things which were to come, not the very substance of the things, cannot possibly, by the same sacrifices which they offer year by year continually, make those perfect who approach [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,)

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

And every priest standeth indeed daily performing the divine service, and frequently offering the same sacrifices, which cannot possibly take away sins:

"This is the testament which I will appoint to them after those days, saith the Lord; giving my laws to their hearts, even on their minds will I inscribe them;"

Having therefore, brethren, entire liberty of entrance into the holies by the blood of Jesus??20 a way, which he hath consecrated for us, newly opened, and giving life, through the vail, that is, his flesh;

by how much, think ye, shall he be counted worthy of more condign punishment who hath trampled on the Son of God, and regarded the blood of his testament, by which he was sanctified, as an unclean thing, and hath treated the gracious Spirit contumeliously?

But remember the past days in which, after ye had been illuminated, ye endured a great conflict of sufferings;

Recede not therefore from your boldness of profession, which brings a great recompence of reward.

By faith we understand that the worlds were exactly formed by the word of God, so that the visible objects were not made out of things which now appear.

By faith Abel offered unto God a sacrifice of more excellence than Cain, by which he received a testimony that he was a righteous man, God bearing witness upon his gifts: and by this, though dead, he still speaketh.

By faith Noah, being divinely warned respecting things not yet seen, filled with reverential awe, prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

By faith Abraham, called to go forth unto a place which he should in future obtain as an heritage, obeyed; and he went forth, not knowing whither he was going.

For he expected a city having foundations, of which God is the planner and architect.

Wherefore even from one person, and he become dead in respect to these matters, there sprang a race, as the stars of heaven for multitude, and as the sand, which is on the shore of the sea, innumerable.

By faith they passed through the Red sea, as on dry ground; which the Egyptians attempting to do were swallowed up.

And have you forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you, as children, "My son, count not lightly of the Lord's childlike correction, nor faint when under his rebuke:

If then ye are without correction, of which all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not children.

Earnestly seek peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which they who heard, earnestly begged that the discourse might not be directed to them:

and to Jesus the mediator of the new testament, and to the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Wherefore receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, may we hold fast the grace, by which we can offer to God acceptably divine service, with reverence and pious awe:

Be not tossed about by various and strange doctrines: for it is good to have the heart firmly established by grace, not by meats, in which observances they who have walked have found no manner of advantage.

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

For we have not here an abiding city, but we earnestly seek that which is to come.

make you fit for every good work to do his will, producing in you that which is acceptable in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory unto the everlasting ages. Amen.

JAMES, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are dispersed, greeting.

Blessed is the man who patiently supports temptation: for when he is proved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to those who love him.

Wherefore laying aside all vicious pollution, and the abundance of iniquity, receive with meekness the ingrafted word, which hath power to save your souls.

Hear me, my beloved brethren. Hath not God elected the poor of this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to those who love him;

Do they not blaspheme that honourable name by which ye are called?

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

This is not the wisdom which cometh from above, but is earthly, sensual, diabolical.

FROM whence come wars and conflicts among you? spring they not from hence, even from your passions, which war in your members?

Think ye that the scripture saith without meaning, The spirit which dwelleth in you strongly urges to envy?

though ye know nothing of what shall be to-morrow. For what is your life? It is but a vapour which appeareth for a little while, and then vanishes away.

COME now, ye rich men, let your tears run down, howling over your miseries which are coming upon you.

Behold, the wages of the workmen who have mowed down your fields, which is kept back by you from them, crieth out: and the loud moans of the reapers are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

who are guarded by the omnipotence of God, through faith to obtain the salvation which is ready to appear at the last time.

that the test of your faith (much more precious than that of gold, which is of a perishing nature, though proved by fire) may be found unto praise and honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ:

Concerning which salvation the prophets eagerly sought and diligently inquired, who prophesied of the grace which is come to you:

To whom it was revealed, that not for themselves, but for us were their ministrations employed in the things which are now declared unto you by those who have preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; on which things the angels bending forwards eagerly desire to gaze.

Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, vigilant, wait with assured hope for the grace, which shall be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the quickening word of God, and which abideth for ever.

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

By you therefore who believe is he honoured: but respecting the disobedient, "the stone which the builders rejected, this very stone is become the head of the corner,

Beloved, I exhort you, as strangers and sojourners, Abstain from carnal lusts, which war against the soul;

but let it be the hidden man of the heart, with that incorruptible ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God highly valuable.

but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be always ready with your reply to every man who demands a reason respecting the hope which is in you with meekness and fear:

by which also he went and preached to those spirits imprisoned;

who in time of old were disobedient, when the long suffering of God in the days of Noe waited, while the ark was preparing, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were preserved through the water.

The antitype to which baptism now saveth us (not the mere removal of filth from the flesh, but the engagement of a good conscience to God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

If any man speak, let it be agreeably to the oracles of God; if any man act as a deacon, let it be from the strength which God supplieth: that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory and might for ever and ever. Amen.

Beloved, be not amazed at the fiery trial among you which is to bring you to the test, as though something strange happened to you;

THE presbyters among you I exhort, who am a co-presbyter and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker of the glory which shall be revealed:

feed the flock of God which is among you, exercising your pastoral office not of necessity, but of choice, not for base gain, but with alacrity of mind;

against whom stand fast, firm in the faith, knowing that the very same sufferings are fully endured by the brotherhood which is in the world.

And we hold the prophetic word more confirmed, to which ye do well to attend, as to a lamp shining in a dark passage, until the day dawn, and the morning-star arise upon your hearts.

But these men, as the naturally irrational brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil of the things of which they are ignorant, will perish by their own corruption;

But the true proverb is verified in them, The dog hath returned to his own vomit; and the sow which was washed to its wallowing in the mire.

THIS second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I rouse up your sincere mind by awakening your recollection

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief by night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a rushing noise, and the first principles of matter in flames dissolve, and the earth and all the works upon it be burnt up.

expecting and hastening towards the coming of God's day, at which the heavens on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements in flames be melted as wax?

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

as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, of which some are difficult to be understood, which the uninstructed and the unstable torture, as indeed they do the rest of the scriptures unto their own destruction.

THAT which was from the beginning, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have gazed upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life;

(for the life was manifested, and we have beheld it, and bear testimony, and declare unto you that life eternal, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us;)

that which we have seen and heard, declare we to you, that ye also may have communion with us: and indeed our communion is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

And this is the promise which we have heard from him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and that darkness in him there is none.

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.

Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which is a true thing in him, and in you, because the darkness is past, and the true light is now shining.

Love not the world, neither the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For every thing which is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pomp of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

My dear children, it is the last hour; and as ye have heard that antichrist is coming, even now there are many antichrists: by which we know it is the last hour.

Let that abide in you therefore which ye have heard from the beginning. If that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning, ye also shall abide in the Son and in the Father.

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

But the unction which ye have received from him abideth in you; and ye need not that any person should instruct you. But as the same unction teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie; and as it hath taught you, abide in him.

For this is the commandment which ye have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

And whatsoever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments, and do the things which are pleasing in his sight.

And he that keepeth his commandments abideth in him, and he in him; and by this we know that he abideth in us, from the Spirit which he hath given us.

And every spirit who confesseth not that Jesus the Messiah is come into the world, is not from God: and this is that spirit of antichrist which ye have heard that it is coming, and now is already in the world.

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