as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers,

no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, as a dear brother. He is especially so to me, and even more so to you now, both humanly speaking and in the Lord.

Therefore if you regard me as a partner, accept him as you would me.

Thus he became so far better than the angels as he has inherited a name superior to theirs.

who is faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was also in God's house.

For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself!

Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken.

But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. We are of his house, if in fact we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope we take pride in.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks!

"Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness.

"As I swore in my anger, 'They will never enter my rest!'"

But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called "Today," that none of you may become hardened by sin's deception.

As it says, "Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."

For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in with those who heard it in faith.

For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, "As I swore in my anger, 'They will never enter my rest!'" And yet God's works were accomplished from the foundation of the world.

So God again ordains a certain day, "Today," speaking through David after so long a time, as in the words quoted before, "O, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts."

For the one who enters God's rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works.

For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin.

and for this reason he is obligated to make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people.

And no one assumes this honor on his own initiative, but only when called to it by God, as in fact Aaron was.

as also in another place God says, "You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek."

and he was designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints.

For people swear by something greater than themselves, and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain,

Now this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him.

For when the priesthood changes, a change in the law must come as well.

For the law appoints as high priests men subject to weakness, but the word of solemn affirmation that came after the law appoints a son made perfect forever.

The place where they serve is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Moses was warned by God as he was about to complete the tabernacle. For he says, "See that you make everything according to the design shown to you on the mountain."

So with these things prepared like this, the priests enter continually into the outer tent as they perform their duties.

The Holy Spirit is making clear that the way into the holy place had not yet appeared as long as the old tabernacle was standing.

But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation,

And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment,

not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near.

By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith he still speaks, though he is dead.

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going.

By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise.

So in fact children were fathered by one man -- and this one as good as dead -- like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand on the seashore.

But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff.

By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king's anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible.

By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were swallowed up.

And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons? "My son, do not scorn the Lord's discipline or give up when he corrects you.

Endure your suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?

For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness.

Remember those in prison as though you were in prison with them, and those ill-treated as though you too felt their torment.

For the bodies of those animals whose blood the high priest brings into the sanctuary as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp.

I especially ask you to pray that I may be restored to you very soon.

But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him.

But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind.

But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well.

But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators.

Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom.

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

For we all stumble in many ways. If someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual, able to control the entire body as well.

You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask;

you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.

But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord's name.

Think of how we regard as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job's endurance and you have seen the Lord's purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each one's work, live out the time of your temporary residence here in reverence.

So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and priceless in God's sight,

you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul,

and maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears.

Be subject to every human institution for the Lord's sake, whether to a king as supreme

or to governors as those he commissions to punish wrongdoers and praise those who do good.

Live as free people, not using your freedom as a pretext for evil, but as God's slaves.

Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as the weaker partners and show them honor as fellow heirs of the grace of life. In this way nothing will hinder your prayers.

But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess.

after they were disobedient long ago when God patiently waited in the days of Noah as an ark was being constructed. In the ark a few, that is eight souls, were delivered through water.

Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

Dear friends, do not be astonished that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as though something strange were happening to you.

But let none of you suffer as a murderer or thief or criminal or as a troublemaker.

But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear such a name.

So then let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator as they do good.

So as your fellow elder and a witness of Christ's sufferings and as one who shares in the glory that will be revealed, I urge the elders among you:

Give a shepherd's care to God's flock among you, exercising oversight not merely as a duty but willingly under God's direction, not for shameful profit but eagerly.

From Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, have been granted a faith just as precious as ours.

May grace and peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!

Indeed, as long as I am in this tabernacle, I consider it right to stir you up by way of a reminder,

Moreover, we possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. You do well if you pay attention to this as you would to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. These false teachers will infiltrate your midst with destructive heresies, even to the point of denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring swift destruction on themselves.

and if he turned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he condemned them to destruction, having appointed them to serve as an example to future generations of the ungodly,

suffering harm as the wages for their harmful ways. By considering it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight, they are stains and blemishes, indulging in their deceitful pleasures when they feast together with you.

and saying, "Where is his promised return? For ever since our ancestors died, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation."

The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our dear brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him,

speaking of these things in all his letters. Some things in these letters are hard to understand, things the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures.

But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

The one who says he resides in God ought himself to walk just as Jesus walked.

Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. We know from this that it is the last hour.

As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

Now as for you, the anointing that you received from him resides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him.

Dear friends, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.

And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure).

Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous.