And [also He could] release all of those people who, because of their fear of death, were [kept] in bondage all their lives.

Now Moses was a faithful servant among all of [those belonging to] God's household [i.e., the Israelites], as [one who gave] testimony about the things which [were to be] spoken [by him],

For who were they who heard [God] and provoked [Him]? Was it not everyone who was led out of Egypt by Moses?

And to whom did God vow that they would not enter a state of rest with Him? [Was it not] those who were disobedient to Him?

And [so] we see that they were not able to enter [a state of rest with God] because of [their] unbelief.

Now we who have believed [will someday] enter that rest, even as God has said [Psa. 95:11], "So, I vowed in my anger, 'They will not enter a state of rest with me,'" although God's works were completed since the creation of the world.

[These are people] who were once enlightened [by the Gospel message], who had experienced the gift from heaven [i.e., forgiveness, never ending life, etc. See Rom. 6:23], who had partaken of the Holy Spirit [See Acts 2:38],

(for [Levitical] priests were appointed without [God] taking [such] an oath, but Christ was appointed with an oath by God when He said to Him [Psa. 110:4], "The Lord made a vow and will not change His mind [when He said], 'You are a priest forever')."

And on one hand, many people were appointed to be [Levitical] priests because they were prevented by death from continuing [to serve]. [Note: The idea is that Levitical priests had to be constantly replaced].

Now if He were [still] on earth, He would not be a priest [at all], since there are [already] those [on earth] who offer gifts according to the law of Moses.

Above it were the cherubim [Note: These were winged, angelic-like, golden figurines] spread out over the [Chest] covering, where sins were [symbolically] forgiven. But we cannot now speak of these things in detail.

For the law of Moses was [only] a foreshadow of the good things that [were] to come [i.e., in the Messianic age], not the exact image of those things. It can never, by the same sacrifices, continually offered year after year, make [morally] perfect those who draw near [to God in worship].

But those sacrifices were [only] a reminder of [the people's] sins year after year,

You were not pleased with whole burnt offerings and sin offerings.

[After] saying the above, "You did not want, nor were you pleased, with [peace] sacrifices and [meal] offerings and whole burnt offerings and sin offerings," [although] these are offered according to the law of Moses,

But remember the earlier days when, after you were enlightened [to the truth], you endured a difficult struggle by having to suffer [much].

Sometimes you were subjected to public ridicule and abuse, and at other times you shared [vicariously] with those people who were treated that way.

For you showed sympathy for those who were in prison and accepted it joyfully when your [own] possessions were taken away, [because] you knew that you yourselves had a better and more permanent possession [in heaven].

By [having] faith, he became an alien in the foreign country that had been promised to him. He lived in tents, along with Isaac [his son] and Jacob [his grandson], who [also] were to receive the same inheritance he had been promised.

Therefore, from one man [Abraham], who was as good as dead [i.e., because of having a sterile wife], were born descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the [grains of] sand on the seashore.

By [having] faith, when Joseph was about to die, he mentioned the Israelites' departure [from Egypt] and gave [them] instructions concerning his bones [i.e., that they were to take them back to Palestine. See Gen. 50:25].

By [having] faith, Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born because they saw that he was a handsome child, and they were not afraid of the king's decree [to destroy all male Hebrew children].

By [having] faith, the Israelites passed [safely] through the Red Sea as if it were dry ground, but when the Egyptians attempted to do it, they were drowned.

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me if I were to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and [all] the prophets,

they put out raging fires, and they escaped being killed by swords. They were strengthened when weak, became mighty in battle, and defeated foreign armies.

Women received their dead [loved ones] back to life. Others were tortured but refused to be rescued, so they could obtain a better resurrection.

And [still] others experienced mockings and floggings, and were even chained up and put in prison.

They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were executed by the sword. They traveled around in sheepskin and goatskin clothing; they were destitute, afflicted and mistreated.

And all of these people were commended [by God] for their faith, yet did not receive [all of] what was promised to them,

Remember [to pray for and help] those who are in prison, as though you [yourselves] were in prison with them. [Remember] those who are being mistreated, realizing that you [yourselves] also share [with them] a physical body [i.e., you are subject to the same kind of trials].