And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, And the heavens are the works of Your hands;

“You have made him for a little while lower [in status] than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands;

Where your fathers tried Me by testing [My forbearance and tolerance], And saw My works for forty years [And found I stood their test].

For we who believe [that is, we who personally trust and confidently rely on God] enter that rest [so we have His inner peace now because we are confident in our salvation, and assured of His power], just as He has said, “As I swore [an oath] in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest,” [this He said] although His works were completed from the foundation of the world [waiting for all who would believe].

For somewhere [in Scripture] He has said this about the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”;

The Peril of Falling Away

Therefore let us get past the elementary stage in the teachings about the Christ, advancing on to maturity and perfection and spiritual completeness, [doing this] without laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal [Holy] Spirit willingly offered Himself unblemished [that is, without moral or spiritual imperfection as a sacrifice] to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the ever living God?