The Letter from Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews

1

Having many times, many ways, spoken to us through the prophets, God, 2 in these last days, has spoken to us through his son, whom he set in place as the heir of all things, by whom even the world itself was founded; 3 who, being the splendor of his glory and the very reflection of his substance, and bearing up all things by the word of his power, by himself made a purgation of our sins, sat down to the right of majesty in the heights; 4 being made far superior to the angels, having inherited himself a name more excellent than any of them.

5 For to which of the angels has he said,

My son you are;
today I have fathered you?
Or again,
I shall be like a father to him,
and he shall be to me like a son?

6 And again, when he brought his first-begotten into the earthly realm he said, And all the angels of God shall worship him.

7 And to the angels he said,

Who has made his angels a spirit,
and his ministers a flame of fire.

8 But to the son:

Your throne itself, God,
to the ages of ages;
a rod of equity
is the rod of your kingdom.

9 You have loved righteousness,
and hated iniquity;
therefore has God, your God,
anointed you in the oil of exultation
beyond your mates.

10 And:

You, in the beginning, Lord, laid the foundation of the world;
and the heavens are the work of your hands.

11 They shall pass away,
and you will remain forever;
and all things shall you fold up like clothing,

12 and like a robe you shall wrap them up;
and they shall be changed,
but you are the same;
and your years shall not fail.

13 And to which angel has he ever said,

Sit on my right,
until I shall place your enemies
as a footstool for your feet?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, who are sent to minister because of those who shall be heirs of salvation?

2

Therefore we need to pay attention all the more to that which we have heard, lest sometime we let them slip away. 2 For if the word which has been spoken by the angels were firm, and every transgression and disobedience received a just wage, 3 how shall we flee, if we were to neglect such a salvation, which from the beginning commenced to be told by the Lord, having been confirmed in us by those who had heard, 4 God attesting, as well as signs and wonders and various powers, and the distribution of holy spirit according to his own will? 5 For he has not subjected the angels to the earthly realm to come, of which we speak. 6 But a certain one of them bore witness, saying,
What is a man that you remember him,
the son of man that you visit him?

7 You have made him not much inferior to the angels,
crowned him with glory and honor,
and placed him over the works of your hands,

8 all things thrown down under his feet.
For in this he subjected or threw down all things, leaving nothing which he did not subject. But we do not yet see all these things to have been subjected.

9 But we see the one who has been made not much lower than the angels; we perceive Jesus because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God, he would taste death for everyone. 10 For it seemed right to him, because of whom all things are, and by whom all things are, that he lead many sons into glory, to perfect the prince of their salvation through sufferings. 11 After all, both the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified, are all from one; for which reason he is not embarrassed to call them brothers, saying,

12 I shall proclaim your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the community I shall praise you.
13 And again: I will place my faith in him. And again: Behold, me and the sons which God has given to me.

14 Therefore, considering that the children have business with flesh and blood, he himself likewise is made a partaker in them, so that by death he would do away with the one who has command over death—that is to say, the devil— 15 and make them free, who through the fear of death were subject to servitude their whole lives. 16 For he did not take up the angels, but he took up the seed of Abraham; 17 from there, he needed to be made like his brothers in all things, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest, in these things that pertain to God, to the expiating of the sins of the people. 18 For from this which he himself suffered, being tempted, he is able to help those who may be tempted.

3

Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of your confession, Jesus Christ, 2 that faithful is the one who placed him, as he also did Moses, over all his house. 3 For he was reckoned worthy of far greater glory than Moses, having so much greater honor, as the one who built the house does, compared to the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone; but the one who founded all things is God. 5 And Moses himself was faithful in all his house like a servant, in the testimony of those things which were to be said thereafter. 6 But Christ served like a son in his own house; which house we ourselves are, if we hold firmly to the faith and glory of hope until the end.

7 Therefore, as indeed the holy spirit says:

Today, if you people shall hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as in the provocation,
in the day of the temptation in the desert,

9 where your forefathers tempted me;
they tried me,
and beheld my works,
for all of forty years.

10 Therefore I became grieved with this generation,
and said,
They always stray in their heart,
and they do not know my ways;

11 such have I sworn in my rage,
In no way shall they enter my rest!

12 See, brothers, that there not be in any of you a depraved unbelieving heart, so as to depart from the living God, 13 but exhort each other daily, while the day is called today, that none of you be hardened by the seduction of sin. 14 We are made the partakers of Christ, if we shall hold firmly and steadily to the beginning of our confidence until the end. 15 In this, as it has been said, Today, if you shall hear my voice, do not harden your hearts as in the provocation. 16 For some, having heard, provoked; but not all who were brought out of Egypt by Moses. 17 But with whom was he grieved for forty years? Not those who sinned, those whose corpses fell over in the desert? 18 And to whom did he swear that they should not enter his rest? Not those who did not obey? 19 And we see that they could not enter in because of their disbelief.

4

Therefore let us be fearful lest, the promise left behind to enter his rest, any of you be seen to be lacking. 2 For it is proclaimed to us as also to them; but it was of no profit to them to hear the word, which was not joined in them with faith of the things they heard. 3 For we, we who have believed, shall enter the rest, as it is said, Such have I sworn in my rage, In no way shall they enter my rest; and this, indeed, when the works from the foundation of the world had been perfected. 4 For so he says in another place about the seventh day—And God rested on the seventh day from all his works. 5 And in this place again, In no way shall they enter my rest. 6 Therefore, considering that it remains for some to enter it, and those to whom it was first proclaimed could not enter because of their disbelief, 7 again, he defines a certain day—Today (speaking through David)—after such and such amount of time as it is said, Today—if you people shall hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. 8 For if Joshua had given them a rest, he would nevermore have spoken of another day thereafter; 9 therefore, a sabbathism yet remains to the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered into his rest is also himself rested from his own works, as God himself has from his own.

11 Therefore let us be studious to enter that rest, lest anyone fall in with the same example of disbelief. 12 For the word of God is alive and effective, and pierces far deeper than even a two-bladed sword, reaching as far as the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and is the discerner of the musings and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no other being which shall not be revealed in his sight; but all things are naked and opened to his eyes, to whom is our speech.

14 Therefore, having a great high priest who has pierced the heavens, Jesus the son of God, we ought to hold firmly to the confession. 15 For we do not have a chief priest incapable of empathizing with our failings; but one tempted by all things in the same manner as us, yet sinless. 16 Therefore, with confidence we shall approach the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy, and find grace toward opportune aid.

5

For every priest who is taken from men is set in place for men in the things which pertain to God, that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins, 2 who can have compassion on the unknowing and erring, for he himself is surrounded by weakness. 3 And for this reason he ought, as for the people so also for himself, to do sacrifice for sins. 4 Nobody usurps the honor for himself except the one who is also called by God, as Aaron also was. 5 Thus also Christ; he did not glorify himself, so that he might become a high priest, but the one who said to him, My son you are; today I have fathered you. 6 As he says also elsewhere, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

7 The one who, in the days of his flesh, offered prayers and supplications to the one who could render him safe from death, with strong crying and tears, was also heard for his reverence, 8 and though being the son, learned obedience by those things which he suffered; 9 and being made perfect, to all who obey him, he became the cause of eternal salvation, 10 named by God “a high priest according to the ordination of Melchizedek”, 11 of whom we have much to say that is difficult to explain, for your ears have become weak.

12 For also, where for the time being you should be teachers, you again have the need that we teach you those things which are the initial elements of the speaking of God; and you have become like those who need milk, and not solid food. 13 For everyone who is a partaker of milk is crude in the word of justice, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the perfect ones; for those who by habit have their sense exercised to the discernment of good and evil.

6

Therefore, leaving the principles of the word which begins in Christ toward perfection, we shall go on, not setting again the foundation of repentance from dead works and faith in God, 2 of the doctrine of baptism and the placing of hands, and the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment— 3 but we will do this also, if God shall allow it.

4 For it is not possible for those who have been illuminated and have tasted the heavenly gift, and become partakers of the holy spirit, 5 and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the coming age, but having fallen away, 6 to be renewed anew to repentance, crucifying entirely to themselves the son of God and making a mockery of him. 7 For the earth, which drinks up the rain which comes often upon it, and bears forth plants suited to those who work it, receives blessing from God, 8 but that which produces thorns and thistles is rejected, and confined to curses; whose end is to be burned up. 9 However, beloved, we are persuaded by you of those things which are better, and which are joined together with salvation, although we speak thusly. 10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work, and the toil which you do out of love, which you have showed toward his name, you who have ministered to the holy ones, and continue to minister. 11 And we desire that each and every one of you should exhibit the same diligence to the full certitude of hope, until the completion; 12 so that you not be weak, but imitators of those who by faith and patience have received inheritance in the promises. 13 For when God promised to Abraham, not being able to swear by anyone greater, swore by his own self, 14 saying, Doubtless, blessing you will I bless you; and multiplying you will I multiply you; 15 and then, having waited patiently, he obtained the promise. 16 For people indeed swear by that which is greater, and an oath is for them the end of all dispute, 17 in which matter God desiring all the more to show to the heirs of the promise the stability of his counsel, confirmed by an oath, 18 that by two likewise stable and immovable matters in which it was not possible for God to be a liar, we might have a valid consolation, having fled together, to grasp the hope set before us, 19 which we hold, like an anchor to the soul, stable and secure, and entering even to that which is behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner for us is entered according to the order of Melchizedek—Jesus, made high priest to eternity.

7

For this Melchizedek was “King of Salem, high priest of God Most High”; who met upon Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and he blessed him; 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth of everything; firstly his name translates as “king of justice”; and afterward also, “King of Salem”, that is to say, “King of Peace”. 3 Knowing neither a father, nor a mother, nor genealogy, and neither a beginning or end to his days, he instead remains, like the son of God, a priest in perpetuity.

4 And consider how great he must have been for Abraham, the patriarch, to give him ten percent of the loot. 5 And those indeed who, being of the number of the sons of Levi, take the function of the priesthood; they have a commandment to take ten percent from the people, according to the law, that is to say from their own brothers; even though they themselves came from the loins of Abraham. 6 But one whose lineage was not reckoned through them received ten percent from Abraham, and he blessed the one who had the promises. 7 But no one can deny that the one who is lesser received a blessing from the one who is greater. 8 And yet people here, who do die, receive the ten percent; but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. 9 And, if I may say so, Levi, who takes the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Abraham met Melchizedek.

11 Therefore if perfection were through the levitical priesthood (for in it the people received the law), what more need would there have been for another priest to arise, who was called according to the order of Melchizedek, and not according to the order of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood having been transferred, it becomes necessary that the law also be transferred. 13 For the one of whom these things have been spoken belongs to another tribe, of which no one has stood at altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord sprang from the tribe of Judah, but Moses spoke nothing of a priesthood belonging to that tribe. 15 But it is all the more visible, for indeed, by the likeness of Melchizedek arises another priest, 16 who is not made so according to the law commanded by flesh, but according to the power of an indissoluble life. 17 For he testifies in this manner, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. 18 For the commandment which preceded shall be rejected due to its weakness and uselessness, 19 for the law leads nothing to perfection, but it was an introduction to a greater hope by which we draw near to God, 20 for the matter was not acted on without an oath. For these had been made priests without an oath; 21 but he, with an oath, by the one who said to him,

The Lord swore,
and he will not change his mind about it;
you are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek;

22 by so much, Jesus was made the sponsor of a more powerful testament.

23 And they indeed became many priests, because by way of death they were unable to remain so; 24 but just the same he remains eternally, having a perpetual priesthood. 25 Hence also, he can save them to the fullest who came to God by him; for he lives always for the purpose of interceding for them. 26 For it was fitting that there be such a high priest for us—godly, innocent, unpolluted, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27 who does not, like the other priests, need to offer day after day first sacrificial victims for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people; but he did this all at once, when he offered himself up. 28 For the law places people as high priests who have weaknesses; but by the word of the oath, which is above the law, the son is set in the position, perfected, forever.

8

But of the things which have been said, this is chief—that we have such a high priest, who has taken his seat at the right of the throne of majesty in heaven, 2 a minister over the holy ones, and the true tabernacle which the Lord, not mankind, has set in place. 3 For every high priest is set up to offer gifts and sacrificial victims, whence it is necessary that he have also something that he may offer. 4 For if he were on the earth, he would not himself be a priest, where there are priests who offer gifts according to the law, 5 who themselves serve as an exemplar, a shadow-image of the heavenly, as it was answered to Moses as he was about to complete the tabernacle—For see, he says, that you make all things according to the exemplar which is shown to you on the mountain. 6 But now he has obtained a more excellent priesthood, so much as he is the mediator of a superior testament established upon superior promises. 7 For had the first one been such that no flaw could be found in it, then there would be nowhere sought for a second. 8 For, finding fault with them,
Behold, the days will come, —says the Lord,
and I shall perfect upon the house of Israel
and upon the house of Judah
a new testament,

9 not according to the testament
which I made to their fathers in the day
when I took them by the hand
and led them out of the land of Egypt,
for they did not persist in my testament;
and I neglected them, —says the Lord;

10 for this is the testament
which I shall set down for the house of Israel
after those days, —says the Lord,
placing my laws in their minds,
and writing them upon their hearts;
and I will be a God for them,
and they will be a people for me;

11 and they will not each and every one teach their neighbors,
and each and every one their brothers,
saying, Know the Lord;
for all shall know me,
from the smallest to the greatest.

12 For I shall be merciful upon their unrighteousness and their sin;
and their iniquities I shall no more remember.

13 In saying “new”, he antiquates the prior; now what is antiquated or becomes old is about to fade away.

9

Therefore, the first one had its justification of worship and worldly sanctuary. 2 For there had been made the first tabernacle, in which were lamps and tables and the placing of bread, which was called the Holy. 3 And behind a second veil or curtain is another tabernacle called the Holy of Holies; 4 having the gold censer and the ark of the testament completely plated in gold, in which there was the golden urn having the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the testament, 5 and upon it the Cherubim of glory shading the propitiatorium; of which there is now no speaking in particular.

6 Now when these things had been put into place, the priests would always go into the first tabernacle, to perform the sacred rite; 7 but into the second only the high priest himself, once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the failings of the people; 8 this signifying the holy spirit, the way of the holy not being revealed while the first tabernacle remained standing; 9 which was a likeness for the time being, in which gifts and sacrificial victims were offered, which could not make the worshiper perfect according to conscience, 10 standing only in food and drink and various ablutions and fleshly justifications, until the imposition of the time of correction.

11 But Christ having come, the high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands—that is, not of this creation— 12 nor by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered once into the holy place, having acquired eternal redemption. 13 For if sprinkling the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a cow on the unclean makes holy to the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more the blood of Christ, who by an eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, will cleanse your conscience from dead works to the serving of the living God!

15 And therefore he is the mediator of a new testament that, death having taken place, to the redemption of their transgressions which where under the former testament, those who have been called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 16 For wherever there is a testament, the death of the testator must take place. 17 For the testament is ratified by death; for it can have no effect while the testator lives. 18 Thus not even the first testament itself was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had explained every precept to the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool, and hyssop, sprinkling the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the testament which God has commanded you.” 21 And furthermore, he also likewise sprinkled the tabernacle and all the holy jars of the ministry with blood. 22 And practically everything, according to the law, would be purified with blood; and without the flow of blood there was no remission. 23 Therefore it was necessary that the exemplars of those things which are in heaven should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves should be cleansed with more powerful sacrifices. 24 For Christ did not enter into a holy place made by hands, exemplars of the true, but into heaven itself, that he may appear now in the sight of God for us, 25 not to offer himself often as the high priest would enter into the holy place every year in foreign blood, 26 or else he would have needed to suffer since the founding of the world; but now once under the completion of the age, for the destitution of sin, by his own sacrifice, has he appeared. 27 And as it remains for every human being to die once, and after that, judgment— 28 thus also Christ has been offered once to bear away the sins of many; and again, without sin, shall he appear to those who await him, in salvation.

10

For the law, having but a shadow of the good things yet to come, and not the image itself of the matters, can never make the comers perfect with those sacrificial victims which they offered continually year after year; 2 or would they not have ceased being offered, since those who had sacrificed to be cleansed would no longer have conscience of the sins? 3 But in them there is a commemoration made of the sins every year. 4 For the blood of bulls and goats cannot bear away sins; 5 for which reason coming into the world he says,
A sacrifice and an offering you have not desired,
but you prepared me a body;

6 nor have whole burnt sacrifices for sin pleased you,
7 but I said, Behold, it is I, God—
at the top of the book it has been written of me—
here to do your will.

8 And when he said above,

Sacrifice and offering
and whole burnt sacrifices for sin
you did not desire
nor did they please you—
which were offered according to the law— 9 But I said, Behold, it is I, God, here to do your will—he bears away the former to establish the latter, 10 in which will we are made holy by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 And indeed every priest attends to the holy things day by day, and offers often the very same sacrificial victims, which can never bear away sins. 12 But he, indeed, offering a single sacrifice for sins forever, sits at God’s right, 13 that which remains awaiting for his enemies to be given him as a stool for his feast. 14 For by a single offering he has rendered those who shall be made holy perfect forever. 15 For also the holy spirit itself shall bear witness to us, when it was said before,

16 This is the testament which I shall institute
with them after those days, —says the Lord:
I shall give my laws upon their hearts,
and upon their minds I shall inscribe them;

17 and their sins and iniquity
I shall no further bring to memory.
18 Now where there is remission of these things, there is no longer an offering for sin.

19 Therefore, brothers, being that we have the freedom of entering into the holy place in the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way which he has dedicated to us, through the veil—that is to say, by his flesh— 21 and that we have a great priest set over the house of God, 22 we ought to come with true heart in trueness of faith, hearts sprinkled from evil conscience, and bodies washed with pure water. 23 We ought to grasp the confession of hope unwavering—for God, who promised, is faithful— 24 and to consider each other that we may provoke ourselves to love and good works, 25 not deserting the gathering together among ourselves as is the manner of some, but exhorting each other, and so much more now that you see the day approaching.

26 For if we shall sin of our own will after having received knowledge of the truth, there is no further sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain terrifying awaiting of judgment, and mighty fire which shall devour adversaries. 28 Those who shall spurn the law of Moses will die under the witness of two or three, without mercy; 29 how much worse punishment do you suppose one deserves for crushing the son of God underfoot, and deeming the blood of the testament profane in which he had been made holy, and spiting the spirit of grace? 30 For we know the one who said, Mine is the vindication; I will make retribution, says the Lord. And again: The Lord will judge his people. 31 It is truly something to fear, to fall into the hands of the living God.

32 And put yourselves in mind of the former days, in which you were enlightened, enduring a great suffering; 33 in part being made a spectacle of all in reproach and suffering, and in part being made companions to those so used. 34 For also you were co-sufferers in my chains, and received with joy the pillaging of your goods, knowing yourselves to have a stronger and lasting substance in yourselves.

35 Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has a great recompense of reward. 36 For you are in need of patience, so that having done the will of God you may receive the promise.

37 For not much time hence,
and the coming one comes,
and will not delay.

38 But the one righteous from faith shall live;
but if he shall hold back,
my soul shall not have pleasure in him.
39 We are not the sons of holding back into perishing; but of faith into the acquisition of souls.

11

Now faith is the substantiation of those things which are hoped-for, the proof of those things which are not seen. 2 For in this the ancients obtained a witness. 3 By faith we understand the ages to have been perfected by the word of God, so that from those things which do not appear, those which have been seen were made.

4 By faith, Abel offered more of a sacrifice to God than Cain, by which he obtained a witness that he was righteous, God bearing witness of his gifts; and by it, dead though he is, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was carried over so as not to see death; and he was not found, for God had borne him over to the other side; for before he had been transferred, he had obtained a witness that he had pleased God. 6 But without faith, one cannot please God. For whoever draws near to God must believe him to be God, and to be the remunerator of those who seek him.

7 By faith, warned in an oracle of things which had not been seen by anyone, Noah prepared an ark, to the salvation of his house, by which (ark) God condemned the world; and Noah is made the heir of his righteousness which is according to faith.

8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed, to depart into a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he departed, not knowing where he was to go. 9 By faith he migrated in the land of promise like a pilgrim, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, co-heirs in his promise. 10 For he had been awaiting a city having foundations, whose builder and founder is God. 11 By faith even Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and beyond a reasonable age bore a child; for she determined the one who promised to be faithful. 12 Therefore also, of one man were brought to birth (and him almost as good as dead) such a number as counts the stars of the sky, and like the sand, which is, according to the seashore, innumerable. 13 According to faith, all of them have died, not receiving the promises, but having seen them from a distance; and they believed, and saluted, and confessed themselves to be strangers and newcomers on the earth. 14 For those who speak such things, declare themselves to be seeking a fatherland. 15 And if they indeed had been mindful of whence they came, they may have had opportunity to return; but now they await a better one, that is to say, a heavenly one. 16 Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he has prepared them a city. 17 By faith Abraham offered Isaac, when he was tempted; and he offered his only-begotten, in whom he received the promises, 18 to whom it had been said, In Isaac shall seed be called to you; 19 figuring that God could raise him up even from the dead, whence he received him in a parable. 20 By faith Isaac blessed his son Jacob, and Esau, concerning things to come. 21 By faith Jacob, dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph; and worshiped upon the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, dying, mentioned the departure of the sons of Israel, and commanded concerning his bones.

23 By faith, when Moses was born, he was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw an elegant child, and did not respect the edict of the king. 24 By faith Moses, already grown, refused to be called the son of the daughter of Pharaoh, 25 choosing all the more to suffer the worse affliction together with the people of God, than for a time to enjoy the pleasures of sin, 26 deeming the reproach of Christ to be greater riches than the treasure of the Egyptians, for he had respect to the retribution. 27 By faith he left Egypt behind, not fearing the rage of the king; for he remained steadfast, as if to have almost seen the one who is invisible. 28 By faith he observed the passover, and the flow of blood; lest the destroyer of the firstborn touch them. 29 By faith they crossed the Red Sea as by dry land; which, when the Egyptians attempted it, they were consumed.

30 By faith the walls of Jericho collapsed, surrounded for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab, the prostitute, did not perish with those who did not obey, having received the explorers peacefully. 32 And what more shall I say? For there is not enough time for me to commemorate Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, nor even David and Samuel; or the prophets, 33 who by faith fought against kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, closed the mouths of lions, 34 extinguished the strength of fire, fled from the blade of the sword, were made strong from their weakness, became mighty in war, turned away the incursions of foreigners; 35 women received their dead from the resurrection; but others were tortured, spurning redemption, that they may find a greater resurrection. 36 Others, again, were searched with mocking and whipping, and further, in chains and prison; 37 they were killed with rocks, hacked to pieces, tempted, killed with swords; they wandered around in sheep’s skin and goats’ hair, destitute, pressed, afflicted; 38 of whom the world was not worthy; wandering in deserts and mountains, and in caves and caverns of the earth, 39 and all of these earned a witness by faith, not receiving the promise, 40 which, God will provide something better for us, lest they, without us, not be perfected.

12

As for us as well, being that we are so surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, we should set down every burden and the inherently tenacious sin; we should run by tolerance in the race set before us, 2 looking to the chief and perfector of the faith, Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him took upon himself the cross, having contempted the shame, and has taken a seat to the right of the throne of God. 3 For, consider that he endured such a contradiction of sinners against himself; lest you should be fatigued and weary in mind. 4 You have not yet resisted as far as blood, fighting back against sin, 5 and have forgotten that exhortation which has been speaking to you as to sons, saying,
My son, do not deny the rebuke of the Lord,
nor be faint when chastised by him,

6 for those whom the Lord loves he chastises,
and whips every son whom he receives.

7 If you people receive rebuke, God is treating you as his children; for who is the son which the father does not rebuke? 8 But if you shall be strangers to rebuke, of which all are partakers, you are born out of wedlock; not sons.

9 Therefore, having had for correctors fathers of our own flesh, and we revered them, shall we not much greater be subject to a spiritual father and live? 10 For they indeed chastened us for a few days according to their own volition; but he did so for our benefit, in this, that he might impart to us his holiness. 11 And all rebuke indeed in the present will not be seen joyous, but bothersome; but afterward it gives the tranquil fruit of righteousness to those who were exercised by it.

12 Therefore, lift up the remiss hands and the weak knees, 13 and make the steps of your feet, that they may be correct, lest lameness stray from the way; but may it the more be healed.

14 Follow, with all, after peace and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord, 15 being careful not to be deficient of the grace of God, lest a root of bitterness sprouting be troublesome and by it many be defiled, 16 or that there may be a fornicator, or a profane person such as Esau, who for a single meal traded away his birthright. 17 For you know that also, afterward when he wanted to have inherited the blessing, he was refused, for he did not find a place to repent, so much as he sought for it with tears.

18 For you have not come to the mountain of contact, and burning of fire, and storm and darkness, 19 the sound of horns, the voice of words, which those who heard pleaded that they be spoken to no more. 20 For they could not endure that which was commanded: if but a dumb animal were to touch were to touch the mountain, it should be stoned (or pierced with an arrow). 21 And indeed, terrible was the sight which appeared. Moses said, I greatly fear and quake. 22 But you have come to the mountain Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to a countless host of angels, 23 and to the community of the firstborn, which have been written in heaven, and to God the judge of all things, and to the spirit of the perfected righteous, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of the new testament, and to the blood of sprinkling, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. 25 See that you not spurn the one who will speak; for if you are turned away from the one who is from heaven, 26 whose voice so shakes the earth...but now he has proclaimed, saying, Once more I shall move not only the earth, but heaven as well. 27 But this, which says, Once more, signifies the transference of those things which shall be shaken, as those things which shall have been made, that those things which cannot so be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, we should be thankful, by which means we may serve God, that we may please him, with fear and reverence, 29 for indeed our God is a devouring fire.

13

May brotherly love abide. 2 Be not forgetful of hospitality; by this some, unknowing, have provided hospice to angels. 3 Be mindful of those in chains, as though one with them in chains; those who suffer, as being yourselves in their body.

4 It is honorable among all people to become married, and the wedding bed is unblemished; but as for fornicators and adulterers, God will judge them.

5 May your communications be alien to greed, content with what you have; as he has said, I will not desert you nor derelict you, 6 that we may say with faith,

The Lord is my helper;
I shall not fear what a person may do to me.

7 Be mindful of those who stand over you, who have spoken the word of God to you; imitate their faith, considering the departure of their actions.

8 Jesus Christ, yesterday and today, and is also the same forever. 9 Do not take in various and foreign teachings. For it is better that the heart be made stable with grace, not food which has been of no profit to those who walk therein.

10 We have an altar, from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 For as to the animals whose blood is brought into the holy place for sins by the high priest, their bodies are cremated outside the camp site. 12 Thusly, Jesus also, so that he might be made holy for the people by his own blood, suffered outside the gates. 13 Therefore we depart with him, outside the camp, bearing his reproach. 14 For we do not have here an abiding city; but we seek one that shall come. 15 By him, therefore, we shall offer the sacrifice of praise always to God, that is to say, the fruit of our lips, confessing his name.

16 But to do well, and to communicate, do not be forgetful; for with such sacrifice God shall be pleased. 17 Obey those who are with you, and submit; for they are watchful over your souls, as if a report is required of them, that they may do this joyfully, and not sorrowfully; for that is useless to you.

18 Pray for us; for we confide that we have a good conscience among all desiring to behave honestly. 19 But all the greater we beseech you, so that you may do it, that I may be restored to you sooner. 20 And may the God of peace, who has brought down from death that great shepherd of the sheep in the blood of the eternal testament, our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 render you perfect in every good deed, to the doing of his will, working so that what you may do may be accepted in his sight by Jesus Christ, to whom is glory for an age of ages. Amen.

22 I beseech you, brothers, bear the word of exhortation, for I have written but little to you. 23 You know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom (if he shall come quickly) I shall see you. 24 Greet all who stand over you, and all the holy people. Those of Italy greet you. 25 May grace be with all of you. Amen.

To the Hebrews. Written from Italy by Timothy.