For he finds fault with them when he says: "The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;

This is symbolic for the present time. According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper,

For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.

For since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near.

When he said above, "You did not desire, nor did you take pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law),

For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and keep their souls.

By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

For people who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,

And have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are rebuked by him.

If you are left without discipline, in which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe,

Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves are also in the body.

For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp.

For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city which is to come.

Obey your leaders and submit to them; for they are keeping watch over your souls, as men who will have to give account. Let them do this with joy, and not with grief, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things.

Listen, my beloved brethren: has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him?

If you really fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well.

But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.

But are you willing to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is useless?

Look at the ships also; though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.

What causes quarrels and fights among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members?

Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But youwho are you to judge your neighbor?

Yet you do not know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.

Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.

who are protected by God's power through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Through him you have confidence in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are overbearing.

For what credit is it, if when you do wrong and are beaten for it you patiently endure? But if when you do right and suffer for it you patiently endure, you have favor with God.

just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children if you do what is right and are not frightened by any fear.

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with honor as the weaker partner, since you are joint heirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

Who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?

But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled,

and keep a clear conscience, so that, when you are abused, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they abuse you;

For this reason the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they might live in the spirit according to the will of God.

If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

Likewise you that are younger men be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren throughout the world.

Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.

and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desire and despise authority. Bold and willful, they are not afraid to revile the glorious ones,

But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed, reviling in matters of which they are ignorant, will be destroyed in the same destruction with them,

suffering wrong for their wrongdoing. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you.

These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm; for them the blackest darkness has been reserved.

They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved.

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

But by the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with fire, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy lives and godliness,

But according to his promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your own steadfastness.

But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in him:

I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.

I wrote to you, little children, because you have known the Father. I wrote to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I wrote to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God! And so we are! The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

By this it may be seen who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not do right is not of God, nor he who does not love his brother.

By this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

They are of the world and therefore speak as of the world, and the world listens to them.

We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us; he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

In this love is perfected among us, that we may have confidence for the Day of Judgment, because as he is so are we in this world.

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree.

We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the power of the evil one.

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

For I greatly rejoiced when some of the brethren arrived and testified to the truth of your life, and how you are walking in truth.

I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers;

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

But these men revile whatever they do not understand; and the things that they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals do, by these things they are destroyed.

These are the men who are blemishes in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted;

These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for their own advantage.

These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.

Blessed is he who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.

John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,

I, John, your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands:

I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance. I know that you cannot bear evil men, but you have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and have found them to be false;

"And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 'These are the words of the First and the Last, who died, and came to life:

I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and I know the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful even until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

"And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: 'These are the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword:

"And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: 'These are the words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze: