1 Long ago God spoke in many different ways to our fathers through the prophets, in visions, dreams, and even face to face,^[a] telling them little by little about his plans.

² But now in these days he has spoken to us through his Son to whom he has given everything and through whom he made the world and everything there is.

³ God’s Son shines out with God’s glory, and all that God’s Son is and does marks him as God. He regulates the universe by the mighty power of his command. He is the one who died to cleanse us and clear our record of all sin, and then sat down in highest honor beside the great God of heaven.

⁴ Thus he became far greater than the angels, as proved by the fact that his name “Son of God,” which was passed on to him from his Father, is far greater than the names and titles of the angels. ^5-6 For God never said to any angel, “You are my Son, and today I have given you the honor that goes with that name.”^[b] But God said it about Jesus. Another time he said, “I am his Father and he is my Son.” And still another time—when his firstborn Son came to earth—God said, “Let all the angels of God worship him.”

⁷ God speaks of his angels as messengers swift as the wind and as servants made of flaming fire; ⁸ but of his Son he says, “Your Kingdom, O God, will last forever and ever; its commands are always just and right. ⁹ You love right and hate wrong; so God, even your God, has poured out more gladness upon you than on anyone else.”

¹⁰ God also called him “Lord” when he said, “Lord, in the beginning you made the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. ¹¹ They will disappear into nothingness, but you will remain forever. They will become worn out like old clothes, ¹² and some day you will fold them up and replace them. But you yourself will never change, and your years will never end.”

¹³ And did God ever say to an angel, as he does to his Son, “Sit here beside me in honor until I crush all your enemies beneath your feet”?

¹⁴ No, for the angels are only spirit-messengers sent out to help and care for those who are to receive his salvation.

2 So we must listen very carefully to the truths we have heard, or we may drift away from them. ² For since the messages from angels have always proved true and people have always been punished for disobeying them, ³ what makes us think that we can escape if we are indifferent to this great salvation announced by the Lord Jesus himself and passed on to us by those who heard him speak?

⁴ God always has shown us that these messages are true by signs and wonders and various miracles and by giving certain special abilities from the Holy Spirit to those who believe; yes, God has assigned such gifts to each of us.

⁵ And the future world we are talking about will not be controlled by angels. ⁶ No, for in the book of Psalms David says to God, “What is mere man that you are so concerned about him? And who is this Son of Man you honor so highly? ⁷ For though you made him lower than the angels for a little while, now you have crowned him with glory and honor. ⁸ And you have put him in complete charge of everything there is. Nothing is left out.”

We have not yet seen all of this take place, ⁹ but we do see Jesus—who for a while was a little lower than the angels—crowned now by God with glory and honor because he suffered death for us. Yes, because of God’s great kindness, Jesus tasted death for everyone in all the world.

¹⁰ And it was right and proper that God, who made everything for his own glory, should allow Jesus to suffer, for in doing this he was bringing vast multitudes of God’s people to heaven; for his suffering made Jesus a perfect Leader, one fit to bring them into their salvation.

¹¹ We who have been made holy by Jesus, now have the same Father he has. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call us his brothers. ¹² For he says in the book of Psalms, “I will talk to my brothers about God my Father, and together we will sing his praises.” ¹³ At another time he said, “I will put my trust in God along with my brothers.” And at still another time, “See, here am I and the children God gave me.”

¹⁴ Since we, God’s children, are human beings—made of flesh and blood—he became flesh and blood too by being born in human form; for only as a human being could he die and in dying break the power of the devil who had the power of death. ¹⁵ Only in that way could he deliver those who through fear of death have been living all their lives as slaves to constant dread.

¹⁶ We all know he did not come as an angel but as a human being—yes, a Jew. ¹⁷ And it was necessary for Jesus to be like us, his brothers, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God, a Priest who would be both merciful to us and faithful to God in dealing with the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For since he himself has now been through suffering and temptation, he knows what it is like when we suffer and are tempted, and he is wonderfully able to help us.