³⁰ Yeshua replied, “A man went from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way robbers stripped him, beat him, and left him for dead.

³¹ “By chance, a priest was traveling along that road. When he saw the man, he went around him and continued on his way. ³² Then a Levite came to that place. When he saw the man, he, too, went around him and continued on his way.

³³ “But a Samaritan, as he was traveling along, came across the man. When the Samaritan saw him, he felt sorry for the man, ³⁴ went to him, and cleaned and bandaged his wounds. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day the Samaritan took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. He told the innkeeper, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than that, I’ll pay you on my return trip.’

³⁶ “Of these three men, who do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers?”

³⁷ The expert said, “The one who was kind enough to help him.”

Yeshua told him, “Go and imitate his example!”

¹⁵ Because Christ offered himself to God, he is able to bring a new promise from God. Through his death he paid the price to set people free from the sins they committed under the first promise. He did this so that those who are called can be guaranteed an inheritance that will last forever.

¹⁶ In order for a will to take effect, it must be shown that the one who made it has died. ¹⁷ A will is used only after a person is dead because it goes into effect only when a person dies.

¹⁸ That is why even the first promise was made with blood. ¹⁹ As Scripture tells us, Moses told all the people every commandment. Then he took the blood of calves and goats together with some water, red yarn, and hyssop and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. ²⁰ He said, “Here is the blood that seals the promise God has made to you.” ²¹ In the same way, Moses sprinkled blood on the tent and on everything used in worship. ²² As Moses’ Teachings tell us, blood was used to cleanse almost everything, because if no blood is shed, no sins can be forgiven.

²⁸ If two or three witnesses accused someone of rejecting Moses’ Teachings, that person was shown no mercy as he was executed. ²⁹ What do you think a person who shows no respect for the Son of God deserves? That person looks at the blood of the promise (the blood that made him holy) as no different from other people’s blood, and he insults the Spirit that God gave us out of his kindness.^[a] He deserves a much worse punishment. ³⁰ We know the God who said,

God also said,

³¹ Falling into the hands of the living God is a terrifying thing.

³² Remember the past, when you first learned the truth. You endured a lot of hardship and pain. ³³ At times you were publicly insulted and mistreated. At times you associated with people who were treated this way. ³⁴ You suffered with prisoners. You were cheerful even though your possessions were stolen, since you know that you have a better and more permanent possession.^[b]

³⁵ So don’t lose your confidence. It will bring you a great reward. ³⁶ You need endurance so that after you have done what God wants you to do, you can receive what he has promised.

³⁹ We don’t belong with those who turn back and are destroyed. Instead, we belong with those who have faith and are saved.