For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:

(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

And they indeed have been made priests many in number, because that by death they are hindered from continuing:

For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

who has no day by day need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices, first of all for his own [personal] sins and then for those of the people, because He [met all the requirements and] did this once for all when He offered up Himself [as a willing sacrifice].

For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak [frail, sinful, dying men], but the word of the oath [of God], which came after [the institution of] the Law, permanently appoints [as priest] a Son who has been made perfect forever.

a priest of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle which the Lord made, and not man.

For, every high-priest, for the offering of both gifts and sacrifices, is constituted; whence it was necessary for, this one also, to have something which he might offer.

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.

Whereas God does find fault with the people of that covenant, when he says: The day is coming, saith the Lord, when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be on the lines of the covenant I made with their fathers,

Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.

Having a vessel of gold in it for burning perfumes, and the ark of the agreement, which was covered with gold and which had in it a pot made of gold for the manna, and Aaron's rod which put out buds, and the stones with the writing of the agreement;

while above it, and overshadowing the Cover on which atonement was made, are the Cherubim of the Presence. But I must not now dwell on these things in detail.

Now when these things have been prepared in this way, the priests continually enter the outer [or first section of the] tabernacle [that is, the Holy Place] performing [their ritual acts of] the divine worship,

The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:

since, with foods and drinks and various [ceremonial] washings, they are only outward regulations imposed until the time when everything would be made right [i.e., under the New Agreement].

But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

not made with hands, that is, not of this building, And not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

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 he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

For where a testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him that made it.

For a testament is of force where there hath been death: for it doth never avail while he that made it liveth.

So that even the first agreement was not made without blood.

saying, "This is the blood which confirms the Covenant that God has made binding upon you."

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

For this cause it was necessary to make the copies of the things in heaven clean with these offerings; but the things themselves are made clean with better offerings than these.

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

Nor did he enter, that he might offer himself often (as the high-priest entered into the holy place every year with the blood of others.)

Else had it been needful for him, ofttimes, to suffer, from the foundation of the world; but, now, once for all, upon a conjunction of the ages, for a setting aside of sin through means of his sacrifice, hath he been made manifest;

so the Christ also, having been once offered in sacrifice in order that He might bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, separated from sin, to those who are eagerly expecting Him, to make their salvation complete.

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 in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.

Therefore, when Christ enters into the world, He says,

“Sacrifice and offering You have not desired,
But [instead] You have prepared a body for Me [to offer];

Then said I, Lo, I have comein the volume of the book it is written of meto do thy will, O God."

After saying, You had no desire for offerings, for burned offerings or offerings for sin (which are made by the law) and you had no pleasure in them,

then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” [And so] He does away with the first [covenant as a means of atoning for sin based on animal sacrifices] so that He may inaugurate and establish the second [covenant by means of obedience].

And in accordance with this will [of God] we [who believe in the message of salvation] have been sanctified [that is, set apart as holy for God and His purposes] through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) once for all.

But when Jesus had made one offering for sins for ever, he took his place at the right hand of God;

From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

For by the one offering He has perfected forever and completely cleansed those who are being sanctified [bringing each believer to spiritual completion and maturity].

Now where there is [absolute] forgiveness and complete cancellation of the penalty of these things, there is no longer any offering [to be made to atone] for sin.

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

Let us go in with true hearts, in certain faith, having our hearts made free from the sense of sin and our bodies washed with clean water:

Let us continue to hold firmly to the hope that we confess without wavering, for the one who made the promise is faithful.

and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good deeds ??25 not ceasing to meet together, as is the habit of some, but admonishing one another, all the more so, as you see the Day coming near.

not neglecting--as some habitually do--to meet together, but encouraging one another, and doing this all the more since you can see the day of Christ approaching.

How much worse punishment do you think the person will be considered worthy of who treats with disdain the Son of God and who considers ordinary the blood of the covenant by which he was made holy and who insults the Spirit of grace?

Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.

For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

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

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.

Faith led to Enoch's removal from earth, that he might not experience death. 'He could not be found because God had removed him.' For, before his removal, he was renowned as having pleased God;

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.

Through faith he came and made his home for a time in a land which had been promised to him, as if in a foreign country, living in tents together with Isaac and Jacob, sharers with him in the same promise;

By faith Sarah, even though she was old and barren, received the strength to conceive, because she was convinced that the one who had made the promise was faithful.

And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

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.

By faith Abraham made an offering of Isaac, when he was tested: and he with whom the agreement had been made gave up as an offering the only son of his body,

Faith made Jacob when he was dying give a blessing to each of Joseph's sons, and bow in worship even while leaning on his staff.

By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

Faith made Moses, when he was grown up, refuse to be known as a son of Pharaoh's daughter,

because he deemed the reproaches which he might meet with in the service of the Christ to be greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt; for he fixed his gaze on the coming reward.

Faith made him leave Egypt, unafraid of the king's anger, for he persevered as though he saw him who is unseen.

By faith he celebrated the passover and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

By faith they passed through the Red sea as through dry land; of which the Egyptians having made trial were swallowed up.

Faith made the walls of Jericho fall, after they had marched around them each day for seven days.

Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

But if ye are without chastening, whereof all have been made partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Moreover, seeing we had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: should we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spiritual gifts that we might live?

For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

For this cause let the hands which are hanging down be lifted up, and let the feeble knees be made strong,

And make straight roads for your feet, so that the feeble may not be turned out of the way, but may be made strong.

Let your desire be for peace with all men, and to be made holy, without which no man may see the Lord;

Looking with care to see that no man among you in his behaviour comes short of the grace of God; for fear that some bitter root may come up to be a trouble to you, and that some of you may be made unclean by it;

Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

For you know that later on, when he wanted [to regain title to] his inheritance of the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance [there was no way to repair what he had done, no chance to recall the choice he had made], even though he sought for it with [bitter] tears.

For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,

and a sound of a trumpet, and a voice of sayings, which those having heard did entreat that a word might not be added to them,

And so dreadful was that being made to appear, Moses said, I am terrified and trembling:)

To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

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 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 this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom unmoved; we should have grace by which we might serve God acceptably, with reverence and circumspection:

Let married life be honoured among all of you and not made unclean; for men untrue in married life will be judged by God.

So, we can say with confidence [Psa. 118:6], "[Since] the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid [of] what people might do to me." [or, "what (harm) can people do to me?"]

Remember those who have the rule over you, who have preach'd to you the word of God: imitate their faith; consider their conduct, and the exit they made.

Do not be drawn aside by all sorts of strange teaching; for it is well to have the heart made stedfast through God's grace, and not by special kinds of food, from which those who scrupulously attend to them have derived no benefit.

Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

Believe them guiding you, and yield: (for they watch vigilantly for your souls, as going to return the word.) that with joy they might do this, and not lamenting: for this unprofitable for you.

And I beseech the more abundantly to do this, that I might the more speedily be restored to you.

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,

But let this power have its full effect, so that you may be made complete, needing nothing.

But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.