For to which of the angels did the Father ever say,

“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten (fathered) You [established You as a Son, with kingly dignity]”?

And again [did He ever say to the angels],

“I shall be a Father to Him
And He shall be a Son to Me”?

and again, when he brings in the firstborn into the habitable world, he says, And let all God's angels worship him.

And as to the angels he says, Who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire;

But about the Son [the Father says to Him],

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
And the scepter of [absolute] righteousness is the scepter of His kingdom.

It is also of His Son that God says, "Thou, O Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Thy hands.

But to which of the angels did he ever say, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"?

and this is attested by a certain writer, who says, "what is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him?

saying,

“I will declare Your (the Father’s) name to My brethren (believers),
In the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.”

And again [He says],

“My trust and confident hope will be placed in Him.”

And again,

“Here I am, I and the children whom God has given Me.”

And because the children are flesh and blood, he took a body himself and became like them; so that by his death he might put an end to him who had the power of death, that is to say, the Evil One;

Now the faithfulness of Moses in all the house of God was that of a servant, in faithfully repeating what he was told to say;

Wherefore, even as says the Holy Spirit, To-day if ye will hear his voice,

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

For he says this somewhere about the seventh day: And God rested from all his works on the seventh day.

Again, in that passage He says, They will never enter My rest.

After a long time, again naming a certain day, he says in David, Today (as he had said before), Today if you will let his voice come to your ears, be not hard of heart,

Even as also in another place he says, Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedec.

Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.

it is impossible, I say, to keep bringing them back to a new repentance, for, to their own undoing, they are repeatedly crucifying the Son of God afresh and exposing Him to open shame.

But, my loved ones, though we say this, we are certain that you have better things in you, things which go with salvation;

for when men swear by a superior, the ratifying what they say with an oath, puts an end to all further debate.

And to whom Abraham gave a tenth part of everything which he had, being first named King of righteousness, and then in addition, King of Salem, that is to say, King of peace;

And it is true that by the law, those of the sons of Levi who have the position of priests may take a tenth part of the people's goods; that is to say, they take it from their brothers though these are the sons of Abraham.

And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.

And what we say is yet more abundantly evident, if after the likeness of Melchizedek there ariseth another priest,

That is to say, not made by a law based on the flesh, but by the power of a life without end:

And as he was not [constituted] without swearing,??21 for they were made priests without swearing, but he with swearing by him who says to him, The Lord swore, and he will not change, You are a priest forever;??22 by so much is Jesus the pledge of a better covenant.

(for they indeed have been made priests without an oath), but he with an oath by him that says of him, "The Lord swore and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.'"

Now the main point of what we have to say is this: we have such a High Priest, [the Christ] who is seated [in the place of honor] at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty (God) in heaven,

Now were he on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there are here those who present the gifts according to the Law??5 those priests who serve a mere outline and shadow of the heavenly reality, just as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to build the Tabernacle. "See", he says, "that you make everything on the pattern showed you on the mountain."

who serve a sketch and shadow of the heavenly [things], just as Moses was warned [when he] was about to complete the tabernacle, for he says, "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern which was shown to you on the mountain."

For finding fault, he says to them, Behold, days come, saith the Lord, and I will consummate a new covenant as regards the house of Israel, and as regards the house of Juda;

Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
On the day when I took them by the hand
To lead them out of the land of Egypt;
For they did not abide in My covenant,
And so I withdrew My favor and disregarded them, says the Lord.

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
After those days, says the Lord:
I will imprint My laws upon their minds [even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding],
And engrave them upon their hearts [effecting their regeneration].
And I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.

There shall be no need for every man to instruct his fellow-citizen, or for a man to say to his Brother 'Learn to know the Lord'; For every one will know me, From the lowest to the highest.

In that he says New, he has made the first old; but that which grows old and aged is near disappearing.

And over it were the winged ones of glory with their wings covering the mercy-seat; about which it is not possible now to say anything in detail.

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;

And according to the law, I may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.

Wherefore coming into the world he says, Sacrifice and offering thou willedst not; but thou hast prepared me a body.

So I said, 'See, I have come! as the Book of the Law says of me, O God, to do your will!' "

[When he] says above, "Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and [offerings] for sin you did not want, nor did you delight in," which are offered according to the law,

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].

“This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, says the Lord:
I will imprint My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will inscribe them [producing an inward change],”

He then says,

“And their sins and their lawless acts
I will remember no more [no longer holding their sins against them].”

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

For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine [retribution and the deliverance of justice rest with Me], I will repay [the wrongdoer].” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”

[Hab. 2:3-4 LXX says], "For [it will be] only a short time [before] He [i.e., Christ], who is coming, will be here without delay.

By [having] faith, Enoch was taken [to be with God], so that he did not have to die. And he could not be found because God had taken him away. For he had been commended [by God] before he was taken away, that he had pleased God. [Note: The Hebrew of Gen. 5:24 says, "he walked with God"].

For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

but, as it is, we see them eager for a better land, that is to say, a heavenly one. For this reason God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has now prepared a city for them.

And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

and you have quite forgotten the encouraging words which are addressed to you as sons, and which say, "My son, do not think lightly of the Lord's discipline, and do not faint when He corrects you;

Therefore, [Prov. 4:26 says], "Strengthen your limp hands and weak knees;

to Jesus (mediator of a new covenant), and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel.

So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Let us then make offerings of praise to God at all times through him, that is to say, the fruit of lips giving witness to his name.

Give ear to those who are rulers over you, and do as they say: for they keep watch over your souls, ready to give an account of them; let them be able to do this with joy and not with grief, because that would be of no profit to you.