Benediction and Final Greetings

²⁰ Now may the God of peace,^(A) who through the blood of the eternal covenant^(B) brought back from the dead^(C) our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,^(D)

Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle

9 Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary.^(A)

²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it,^(A) in hope ²¹ that^[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay^(B) and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.^(C)

²⁵ He will speak against the Most High^(A) and oppress his holy people^(B) and try to change the set times^(C) and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time.^[a](D)

³³ “‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land,^(A) and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. ³⁴ Do not defile the land^(B) where you live and where I dwell,^(C) for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites.’”

⁶ Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.^(A)

A Rebellious Nation

¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’^(A)