Hebrews 1:5-2:18

Contemporary English Version

God's Son Is Greater than Angels

⁵^(A) God has never said
    to any of the angels,
“You are my Son, because today
    I have become your Father!”
Neither has God said
    to any of them,
“I will be his Father,
    and he will be my Son!”

⁶^(B) When God brings his first-born Son^[a] into the world, he commands all of his angels to worship him.

⁷^(C) And when God speaks about the angels, he says,

“I change my angels into wind
and my servants
into flaming fire.”

⁸^(D) But God says about his Son,

“You are God,
and you will rule
    as King forever!
Your^[b] royal power
    brings about justice.
⁹You loved justice
    and hated evil,
and so I, your God,
    have chosen you.
I appointed you
and made you happier
    than any of your friends.”

¹⁰^(E) The Scriptures also say,

“In the beginning, Lord,
    you were the one
who laid the foundation
of the earth
    and created the heavens.
¹¹They will all disappear
and wear out like clothes,
    but you will last forever.
¹²You will roll them up
    like a robe
and change them
    like a garment.
But you are always the same,
    and you will live forever.”

¹³^(F) God never said to any
of the angels,
“Sit at my right side
until I make your enemies
into a footstool for you!”

¹⁴^(G) Angels are merely spirits sent to serve people who are going to be saved.

This Great Way of Being Saved

2 We must give our full attention to what we were told, so we won't drift away. ²The message spoken by angels proved to be true, and all who disobeyed or rejected it were punished as they deserved. ³So if we refuse this great way of being saved, how can we hope to escape? The Lord himself was the first to tell about it, and people who heard the message proved to us that it was true. ⁴God himself showed that his message was true by working all kinds of powerful miracles and wonders. He also gave his Holy Spirit to anyone he chose to.

The One Who Leads Us To Be Saved

⁵We know that God did not put the future world under the power of angels. ⁶^(H) Somewhere in the Scriptures someone says to God,

“What makes you care
    about us humans?
Why are you concerned
    for weaklings such as we?
⁷You made us lower
than the angels
    for a while.
Yet you have crowned us
    with glory and honor.^[c]
⁸And you have put everything
    under our power!”

God has put everything under our power and has not left anything out of our power. But we still don't see it all under our control. ⁹What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels. Because of God's gift of undeserved grace, Jesus died for everyone. And now that Jesus has suffered and died, he is crowned with glory and honor!

¹⁰Everything belongs to God, and all things were created by his power. So God did the right thing when he made Jesus perfect by suffering, as Jesus led many of God's children to be saved and to share in his glory. ¹¹Jesus and the people he makes holy all belong to the same family. This is why he isn't ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. ¹²^(I) He even said to God,

“I will tell them your name
and sing your praises
when they come together
to worship.”

¹³^(J) He also said,

“I will trust God.”

Then he said,

“Here I am with the children
God has given me.”

¹⁴We are people of flesh and blood. This is why Jesus became one of us. He died to destroy the devil, who had power over death. ¹⁵But he also died to rescue all of us who live each day in fear of dying. ¹⁶^(K) Jesus clearly did not come to help angels, but he did come to help Abraham's descendants. ¹⁷He had to be one of us, so he could serve God as our merciful and faithful high priest and sacrifice himself for the forgiveness of our sins. ¹⁸And now that Jesus has suffered and was tempted, he can help anyone else who is tempted.

Footnotes

1.6 first-born Son: The first son born into a family had certain privileges that the other children did not have. In 12.23 (see note) “first-born” refers to God's special people.
1.8 Your: Some manuscripts have “His.”
2.7 and honor: Some manuscripts add “and you have placed us in charge of all you created.”