Beginning

1 ¶ God, having spoken many times and in many ways in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

² has in these last times spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the ages;

³ who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his substance and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

⁴ ¶ being made so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

⁵ For unto which of the angels did he say at any time, Thou art my Son, this day I have begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

⁶ And again, when he brought in the firstbegotten into the world, he said, And let all the angels of God worship him.

⁷ And of the angels he said, Who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire.

⁸ But unto the Son he said, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a rod of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

⁹ Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore, God, even thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

¹⁰ And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:

¹¹ they shall perish; but thou dost remain; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;

¹² and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall never fail.

¹³ But to which of the angels did he say at any time, Sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

¹⁴ Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth in service for the love of those who are the heirs of saving health?

2 ¶ Therefore, it is necessary that we with more diligence keep the things which we have heard, so that we do not fall.

² For if the word spoken by the ministry of angels was steadfast and every rebellion and disobedience received a just recompense of reward,

³ how shall we escape, if we belittle such great saving health? Which, having begun to be published by the Lord, has been confirmed unto us by those that heard him,

⁴ God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and with diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributing them according to his own will.

⁵ ¶ For unto the angels he has not subjected the world to come, of which we speak.

⁶ But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou dost visit him?

⁷ Thou didst make him a little lower than the angels; thou didst crown him with glory and honour and didst set him over the works of thy hands.

⁸ Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not see yet that all things are put under him.

⁹ But we see this same Jesus, crowned with glory and honour, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

¹⁰ ¶ For it was expedient that he, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, preparing to bring forth many sons in his glory, should perfect the author of their saving health through sufferings.

¹¹ For both he that sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

¹² saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren; in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee.

¹³ And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God has given me.

¹⁴ ¶ Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the empire of death, that is, the devil,

¹⁵ and deliver those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to slavery.

¹⁶ For verily he did not take the angels, but he took the seed of Abraham.

¹⁷ Therefore in all things he should be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.

¹⁸ For in that he himself has suffered and was tempted, he is also powerful to help those that are tempted.

3 ¶ Therefore, brethren, saints, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus,

² who was faithful to him that appointed him over all his house, as also Moses was faithful.

³ For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who has built the house has more honour than the house.

⁴ For every house is built by someone, but he that created all things is God.

⁵ And Moses verily was faithful over all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after,

⁶ but Christ as a son over his own house, which house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and the glorious hope firmly until the end.

⁷ ¶ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit saith, Today if ye will hear his voice,

⁸ harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

⁹ Where your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.

¹⁰ Therefore, I was indignant with that generation and said, They do always err from their heart, and they have not known my ways.

¹¹ So I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.

¹² Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unfaithfulness, to depart from the living God.

¹³ But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

¹⁴ For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end;

¹⁵ while it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

¹⁶ For some of those that came out of Egypt with Moses, when they had heard, did provoke; howbeit not all.

¹⁷ But with whom was he indignant forty years? Was it not with those that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness?

¹⁸ And to whom he swore that they should not enter into his rest, but to those that disobeyed?

¹⁹ So we see that they could not enter in because of their unbelief.

4 ¶ Let us, therefore, fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

² For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them, but it did not profit those that heard the word without mixing it with faith.

³ (For we who have believed do enter into the rest) as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

⁴ For he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day like this, And God rested the seventh day from all his works.

⁵ And in this place again, They shall not enter into my rest.

⁶ Seeing, therefore, it remains that some must enter therein, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter in because of disobedience;

⁷ Again, he determines a certain day, saying, Today, by David so long a time afterward; as it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, then he would not afterward have spoken of another day.

⁹ There remains therefore a rest {Gr. Sabbatismos} for the people of God.

¹⁰ For he that is entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

¹¹ ¶ Let us therefore make haste to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience.

¹² For the word of God is alive and efficient and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

¹³ Neither is there any created thing that is not manifested in his presence, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him of whom we speak.

¹⁴ Having, therefore, a great high priest who penetrated the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast this profession of our hope.

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

¹⁶ Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of his grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

5 ¶ For every high priest is taken from among men, constituted on behalf of men in things relating to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins,

² who can have compassion on the ignorant and on those that are in error; for he himself is also compassed with weakness.

³ And by reason of this he ought, as for the people so also for himself, to offer for sins.

⁴ And no one takes this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.

⁵ So also the Christ did not glorify himself to make himself high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son; today have I begotten thee.

⁶ As he said also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

⁷ Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, was heard because of his reverent fear;

⁸ although he was the Son of God, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered;

⁹ and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal saving health unto all those that hearken unto him,

¹⁰ ¶ named by God high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

¹¹ Of whom we have many things to say and difficult to declare, seeing ye are hard of hearing.

¹² For you should now be teaching others, if we look at the time, yet you need to be taught again which are the first elements of the oracles of God and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong food.

¹³ For any one that uses milk is not qualified in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

¹⁴ But strong food belongs to those that are perfect, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

6 ¶ Therefore, leaving now the word of the beginning of the establishment of the Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from works of death, and of faith in God,

² of the doctrine of the baptisms, and of the laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

³ And this we will indeed do, if God permits.

⁴ For it is impossible that those who once received the light and tasted of that heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit

⁵ and likewise have tasted the good word of God and the virtue of the age to come,

⁶ and have backslidden, be renewed again by repentance, crucifying again for themselves the Son of God and putting him to an open shame.

⁷ For the earth which drinks in the rain that comes often upon it and brings forth herbs in season for those by whom it is dressed receives blessing from God;

⁸ but that which bears thorns and briers is rejected and is near unto cursing, whose end shall be by fire.

⁹ ¶ But, beloved, we expect better things than these of you, things near unto saving health, though we thus speak.

¹⁰ For God is not unjust to forget your work and labour of charity which ye have showed in his name, having helped the saints and helping them.

¹¹ But we desire that each one of you show the same diligence until the end for the fulfillment of your hope,

¹² that ye not become slothful, but imitators of those who by faith and patience inherit the promises.

¹³ For when God promised unto Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself,

¹⁴ saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee.

¹⁵ And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

¹⁶ For men verily swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all controversy.

¹⁷ In which God, desiring to show more abundantly unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath,

¹⁸ that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us,

¹⁹ which we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters even into that which is within the veil,

²⁰ where our precursor, Jesus, has entered for us and is made high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.