¹⁶ “Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.^{(A) 17} You must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees and his statutes that he has commanded you.^{(B) 18} Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may go well with you and so that you may go in and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to your ancestors,^{(C) 19} thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.

²⁰ “When your children ask you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?’^{(D) 21} then you shall say to your children, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²² The Lord displayed before our eyes great and awesome signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household. ²³ He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors. ²⁴ Then the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our lasting good, so as to keep us alive, as is now the case.^{(E) 25} If we diligently observe this entire commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, we will be in the right.’^(F)

Warning to Pay Attention

2 Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. ² For if the message declared through angels proved valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty,^{(A) 3} how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was confirmed for us by those who heard him,^{(B) 4} while God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will.^(C)

Exaltation through Abasement

⁵ Now God^[a] did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels.^{(D) 6} But someone has testified somewhere,

Now in subjecting all things to them, God^[f] left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them,^{(F) 9} but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower^[g] than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God^[h] he might taste death for everyone.^(G)

¹⁰ It was fitting that God,^[i] for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.^(H)

The Testimony of John the Baptist

¹⁹ This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ He confessed and did not deny it, but he confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”^{[a](A) 21} And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.”^{(B) 22} Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said,

as the prophet Isaiah said.^(C)

²⁴ Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, “Why, then, are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah,^[b] nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, ²⁷ the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal.” ²⁸ This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.