HEBREWS

 

1:1

God, who in the past spoke to us at different times and in different ways by the prophets, has in these final days spoken to us by a son, whom he has made the inheritor of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who, since he is the radiance of God’s splendour and the imprint of his very being, upholding all things by his dynamic word, when he had  made a means of cleansing from sins,  took his seat at the right hand of the majesty above, as superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is of greater distinction than theirs.

For to which of the angels did God ever say, You are my son; today I have fathered you? And again, I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me? And again, when he brings the first-born into the inhabited world, he says, All God’s angels must worship him. About the angels he says, He makes his messengers into winds and his servants into flames of fire, but of the son he says, Your reign, God, is forever and ever. And a sceptre of justice is the sceptre of your kingdom. For you have loved justice and hated wrong, so God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of his favour above your rivals And, Lord, you laid the earth’s foundation in the beginning, and the heavens are your handiwork. They will waste away, but you will endure; they will all wear out like clothing. You will roll them up like a cloak and like clothing they will be changed; but you are the same and your years will have no end. And to which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

Surely the angels are all attendant spirits, sent out to give service for those who are going to inherit God’s rescue.

 2

So, we must focus our attention all the more on what we have heard, in case we drift away from it; for if the Law announced through angels turned out to be valid, and every sidestep or refusal got its due reward, how shall we escape if we are careless with such a great deliverance? Words spoken by the Lord were its origin, and it was attested to us by those who heard them, with God adding his evidence by signs wonders and various miracles, along with distributions of the Holy Spirit, as he desired.

For it was not the angels to whom he subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. As Someone Somewhere has testified,

“What is humanity that you remember it

Or a human child that you look after him?

You have made him a little lower than the angels

You have crowned him with splendour and honour,

You have put everything under his feet.”

Now although in subordinating everything to us, he has left nothing outside our control, we do not now see everything subordinated to us; but we do see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels, crowned with splendour and honour because he suffered death, so that apart from God he might taste death for all people.

And it was appropriate that the One, for whom and through whom all things exist, when he was bringing many children into splendour, should make the pioneer of their rescue perfect through suffering. For the one who makes holy and those who are made holy are all of the one stock, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying,

I will announce your name to my brothers and sisters.

In the midst of the Assembly, I will sing hymns to you.

and also

I will put my trust in him.

And

Here I am, and the children God has given me.

Now since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself shared equally in them, so that by means of death he might destroy the one who holds the power of death, namely the devil; and set free those who through fear of death had been kept in slavery all their lives.

Certainly, it’s not the angels, but the descendants of Abraham that he takes to himself.

Accordingly, he had to become in every respect like his brothers and sisters, so that he might be a kindly and faithful high priest for them before God, making expiation for the sins of the people.

In fact, because he himself suffered when he was put to the test, he is able to come to the help of those who are being harshly tested.

3

So., holy brothers and sisters, partners in a heavenly calling, fix your minds on Jesus, the envoy and high priest of our shared conviction, who was faithful to the one who commissioned him, just as Moses was faithful, as scripture says, in all his house.But he deserves more glory than Moses since the builder of a house has more honour than the house itself. Every house is built by somebody, but God is the builder of all things. Moses was faithful in God’s household as a servant, as a witness to things that were to be revealed, but Messiah was faithful as a son over his own household; and we are that household if we maintain the boldness and the hope which is our boast.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

Today, if you hear his voice,

Do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation;

In the day of testing in the desert

When your fathers put me to the test

And saw my answers for forty years.

 I was disgusted with that generation,

And I said, ‘They are always being deceived in their hearts,

And they do not know my paths.

As I swore in my rage,

‘They shall not enter into my rest.’

Look out brothers and sisters, in case there is in any of you a bad and faithless heart, leading you to turn your back on the living God. Rather encourage each other every day, as long as it can be called today, so that none of you are hardened by deceitful sin. For we have become partners in Messiah as long as we keep our original undertaking firm to the end. As it is said,

Today, if you hear his voice,

Do not harden your hearts as in the provocation.

For who were those who provoked God when they heard him, if not all those who came out of Egypt through Moses? By whom was he grieved for forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the desert? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, if not those who were recalcitrant? So, we see that they were unable to enter it because of faithlessness.

4

Now since the promise of entering still stands, let’s be on our guard that none of you imagines he has missed it. For a joyful message came to us just as to them – but the word they heard with their ears did not benefit them, because they were not united in faith with those who truly listened. So, we who have faith will enter that rest of which he has spoken in the words, As I swore in my rage, they shall not enter my rest. And yet his days of work were completed in the foundation of the universe. For Somewhere he has said this about the seventh day, And God took his rest on the seventh day from all his works, and then in the scripture already mentioned he says, they shall not enter my rest. So, since it remains for some people to enter it, and since those who formerly received the joyful message did not enter through their recalcitrance, God once more sets a certain day, “Today” saying through David much later, in the words already quoted, Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.

Now if Joshua, by securing the promised land, had given them rest God would not have spoken later on of another day. Therefore, there still remains a sabbath rest for God’s people. And whoever enters into God’s rest, rests from his own works as God did from his. So, let’s exert ourselves to enter that rest so that no one may fail through the same pattern of recalcitrance.

Indeed, the word of God is alive and at work, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to where soul and spirit, joints and marrow, divide; and capable of judging the devices and intentions of the heart. No creature is veiled from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we are accountable.

Since therefore we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the son of God, we should keep a good grip of our shared conviction. For we do not have a high priest unable to sympathise with our weaknesses but one tested in all the ways that we are, only without sin. So let us approach the throne of kindness, in the assurance of free speech, to receive mercy and find goodwill to help in time of need.

5

Every high priest is taken from amongst human beings and appointed to the sphere of things concerning God, offering gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to be patient with thoughtless and wayward people, because he himself is beset with frailty; and for this reason, must offer sacrifice as much for his own sins as for the people’s. No one takes this honour upon himself but only if called by God, as Aaron was. Likewise, Messiah did not seek his own glory in becoming a high priest, but that of the one who said to him, You are my son; today I have fathered you and as he says elsewhere, You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. In the days of his human body, he made prayers and entreaties, with strong cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his fear. Son as he was, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And when he was perfected, he became the cause of everlasting rescue for all who obey him, the one openly declared by God as a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

We have a lot to say about this, but it may be hard to understand for you have become lazy listeners. Although you ought by this time to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic truths of God’s sayings – you need milk and not solid food. All those who live on milk have little experience of the discourse of justice, since they are children. But solid food is for adults who have their senses made fit by constant exercise, to discern good and evil.

6

So right! Let’s ditch the elementary teaching about Messiah and advance into adulthood without laying the foundation over again: turning away from dead duties and trust in God; instructions about dippings in water and the placing of hands on people; being raised from death and the judgement of the Age. And we shall do this, God-permitting.

Indeed, it’s impossible that those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become sharers of the Holy Spirit, relished the goodness of God’s word and the powers of the Age to Come, then have fallen away, it’s impossible to bring them to a fresh change of heart, since they are nailing the son of God to the stake again and bringing him into public contempt.

Ground that has drunk the rain that frequently falls on it and produces a crop that is useful to the owners for whom it was grown, gets a blessing from God. But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed; it ends up being burned.

Although I speak in this way, my dear ones, in your case I trust in better results including God’s Rescue of you. For God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love you have shown for his name, by having served and continuing to serve your fellow saints. We want each one of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfilment of your hope until the end, so that you may not become lazy but rather imitate those who through faith and longsuffering are inheriting God’s promises.

Since God had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself when he made the promise to Abraham, saying, I will bless you with my blessing and I will multiply you with my fruitfulness. In this way, through patient endurance, he obtained what was promised. Human beings swear by something greater than themselves; and in all their disputes an oath is a final confirmation. So, when God wanted to show more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, he stepped in with an oath; so that by two unchangeable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge in him, would have strong encouragement to grasp the hope set before us. This we have as an anchor of the soul, safe and immovable, which enters into the inner place behind the veil, where Jesus has gone as our forerunner, becoming a high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

7

This Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the most high God met Abraham on his return from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. Then Abraham dealt out to him a tenth of everything he’d gained. He is firstly, by interpretation of his name, king of justice, and he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. Fatherless, motherless, without ancestors, beginning of days or end of life, in these respects a facsimile of the Son of God, he remains a priest forever. See how great he is, to whom Abraham the Patriarch gave a tenth of the first fruits of battle! The sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment from the Law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, although they themselves have also come from the genitals of Abraham. But one who had no line of descent from them, received tithes from Abraham and blessed the possessor of the promises! There’s no question but that the lesser gets a blessing from the greater. In the one instance mortal men receive tithes, in the other they are received by one of whom there is testimony that he will always be alive. You could even say that Levi himself, the receiver of taxes, paid taxes through Abraham, since he was still in his father’s genitals when Melchizedek encountered him.

Now if perfection had been through the Levitical priesthood, under which the people received the Law, what need would there have been for another priest to appear in the order of Melchizedek rather than one reckoned in the order of Aaron?

A change of priesthood necessarily brings with it a change of Law. Now the one of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which nobody has ever done altar-service. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe that is not mentioned by Mosaic Law as including priests. This matter becomes even clearer when the ‘other priest’, who appears in the likeness of Melchizedek, has become so, not by the legal requirement of physical descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For about him there is an attestation:

You are a priest forever,

In the order of Melchizedek.

So, the former commandment is set aside because it is weak and useless – for the Law makes nothing perfect- but something better is introduced, the hope by which we come close to God. And to the degree that this did not take place without the swearing of an oath – the others became priests without the swearing of an oath but Jesus with an oath by the one who said to him,  The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, You are a priest forever –to that same degree, Jesus has become the surety of a better Agreement. Those priests were many in number because death hindered them from remaining in office; but he has an unchangeable priesthood because he himself continues for ever. So, he is always able to rescue those who come to God through him, since he lives forever to intercede for them with God.

For it was truly fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, raised up high above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer daily sacrifices for his own sins, then for those of the people, since he did that once for all time, by offering up himself. The Law appoints as high priests mortal men in their weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law,hi appoints a son, who has been made perfect forever.

8

The point of what I’ve been saying is that we have a priest with a difference, who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of heavenly majesty, serving in the sanctuary of the True Tent, which was pitched by God, not human beings.

Since every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices, there’s necessity for this one also to have something to offer. If he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, for there are others who offer gifts as required by the Law. They worship in a shadowy model of the heavenly sanctuary, as Moses was instructed by God when he was about to set up the Holy Tent, saying, “See that you do everything following the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

 As it is, he has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is the mediator of a better Agreement, founded on better promises. If that first Agreement had been faultless there would have been no room sought for a second. But God does find fault with it and says,

Look now, the days are coming, says the Lord

When I will complete a new Agreement with the house of Israel and the house of Judah

Not like the one I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand

To lead them out from the land of Egypt,

Because they did not abide in my Agreement

And I had no regard for them, says the Lord.

But this is the Agreement I will arrange with the house of Israel,

After those days, says the Lord.

I will put my Laws in their minds,

And I will write them upon their hearts;

And I will be God for them,

And they shall be a people for me.

They shall by no means teach

Each one his fellow citizen and each one his brother,

Saying “Know the Lord,” for all of them shall know me,

From the least of them to the greatest,

For I will be merciful to their wrongdoing

And I will remember their sins no more.

In speaking of a new one he declares the first one old; and what has become old and is getting older is ready to disappear.

9

Even the first Agreement had regulations for worship and for a worldly sanctuary. A Tent was fashioned, the Outer one, in which were the Lamp-stand, the Table, and the Loaves of Offering; this is called the Holy Place. Behind the second veil was the Tent called the Holy of Holies, in which were the golden altar of incense, the Agreement Box covered completely with gold in which were the golden jar containing the manna, the budding staff of Aaron and the tablets of the Agreement. Above it were the splendid winged creatures overshadowing the place where sacrificial blood was sprinkled. Now is not the time to speak of these in detail. When these arrangements are made, the priests go into the Outer Tent repeatedly to carry out their ritual duties; but the high priest goes into the Inner Tent once a year, not without blood, that he offers for his own and the people’s sins of ignorance. In this manner the Holy Spirit shows that the way into the holiest things was not made visible as long as the Outer Tent still stood. This is a parable of the present time in which gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshipper perfect in his conscience, but only in food and drink and ritual dippings-rules for the body, imposed until the time when things are put right.

But now Messiah has appeared as the high priest of the good things that were to come, passing through the Greater and more Perfect Tent not made by human hands – in other words, not of this creation-  and entering  once and for all into the holiest place, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, to obtain liberation for all Ages.  

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with a red heifer’s ashes can sanctify them, so that their flesh is made clean, how much more will the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal spirit offered his sinless self to God, clean our consciences from dead observances., to worship the living God.

This makes him the mediator of a New Agreement, so that the people who are called by God may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred which frees them from wrongdoings under the First Agreement.

If we think of this New Agreement as a Will, then the death of the testator must be established. For a will is effective only at death, it has no power while the testator is alive. Even the First Agreement was not initiated without blood. When every commandment had been declared by Moses to the people according to the Law, he took the blood of calves along with water and crimson wool and hyssop and sprinkled the book of the Agreement itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the Agreement which God has made with you.” And in the same way he sprinkled with blood the Tent and all the vessels of worship. Indeed, according to the Law, almost everything is purified with blood, and without blood-shedding there is no forgiveness. It was necessary therefore that the copies of the heavenly things should be made clean by these rituals, while the heavenly things themselves should be made clean by better sacrifices than these. For Messiah did not enter a holy place made by human hands, a copy of the true one, but entered heaven itself, so that he might appear before God’s face on our behalf. This was not so that he might offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest goes into the holiest place annually with blood that is not his own. If that were so he would had to have suffered repeatedly since the founding of the cosmos! But now once for all, at the end of the Ages, he has appeared to remove sins by the sacrifice of himself.

Just as it is laid up for human beings to die once, and after this the judgement, so too Messiah, who was offered once to take away the sins of many peoples, will appear a second time, quite apart from sins, to rescue those who are eagerly awaiting him.

10

Since the Law contains only a shadow of the good things to come, and no true image of their reality, it can never make perfect those who draw near, by the same sacrifices that are offered regularly each year. Otherwise, surely, they would stopped offering them, since the worshippers, once they had been made fully clean, would no longer have had any consciousness of sin. In fact, in these sacrifices there is an annual reminder of sin, since it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. That is why, when Messiah came into the cosmos, he said,

You did not want sacrifices and offerings,

But you prepared a body for me,

You had no pleasure in burnt offerings and sin offerings.

Then I said, Here I am, I have come to do your will O God

As is written about me in the scroll of the book.

So, when firstly he says, ‘You neither wanted nor took pleasure in sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings or sin offerings’- which are offered according to Law- and then says, Here I am, I have come to do your will,’ he gets rid of the first to establish the second. And in that “will” we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Messiah, once and for all.

Every priest stands daily at his ministry repeatedly offering those same sacrifices which cannot clear away sins, but this one offered once for all time a single sacrifice, then took his seat at the right hand of God, waiting there until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet; for by a single  offering he has made those who are being consecrated, perfect forever.

The Holy Spirit adds testimony for us, for after saying,

This is the Agreement which I will make with them after these days, says the Lord,

I will put my laws in their hearts,

And write them on their minds.

Then he adds,

Their sins and their wrongdoing

I will remember no more.

Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no more any offering made for sins.

With that in mind, brothers and sisters, since we can confidently enter the most holy place in the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way, namely his flesh, through the veil, – and we have a great high priest over the household of God- let us draw near to God with hearts open in complete trust, sprinkled clean from any bad conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let’s look to one another to incite love and good actions, not neglecting our gatherings, as has become a custom with some, but encouraging each other – and all the more, as you see the Day approaching.

If we sin wilfully after receiving knowledge of the truth, there is no longer a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgement and an angry fire that will eat up its adversaries. Anyone who rejects the Law of Moses Is put to death without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. Don’t you think that a worse punishment is deserved by someone who has trampled underfoot the son of God, thinks the blood of the Agreement by which he was made holy, is a common thing, and has treated the spirit of kindness with contempt? We know the one who said,

Vengeance is mine, I will repay.

and again

The Lord will judge his people.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Remember the past days, after you had been enlightened, when you coped with a hard struggle that made you suffer; at times you were made a public spectacle by abuse and affliction; at other times you partnered those who were so treated. You shared the sufferings of those placed in custody, and accepted with joy the confiscation of your property, knowing that you had a better and lasting possession. Don’t throw out your fearlessness, which earns a big reward. You need endurance to do God’s will and to receive what is promised. For

After just a little while

The one-who-is- to-come will come,

No more delay

And

My just person shall live by faithfulness:

If he draws back, my soul will not delight in him.

We are not amongst those who draw back into destruction but amongst the faithful who will preserve their souls.

11

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen; for by it the people of old were held in honour.

By faith we understand that the universe was created by God’s word, so that what can be seen came into being through what cannot be seen.

By faith, Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he was honoured as a just man, honoured by God, indeed, for his gifts. That is why, although dead, he still speaks.

By faith Enoch was removed by God so that he would not see death. And he was found no more because God had removed him. Before his removal he was known to have pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him since whoever would draw close to God must believe that he exists and rewards those who seek him.

By faith Noah, warned by God about something as yet unseen, was sensibly cautious and constructed an ark for the safety of his household. In this way he condemned the cosmos and inherited the rightness that comes through faith.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he would afterwards receive as an inheritance; and he went out not knowing where he was going.

By faith he became a resident alien in the promised land, as in a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise, for he was looking forward to the city which has foundations whose architect and artisan is God.

By faith Sarah herself received power to accept seed, although she was past the age of childbearing, because she reckoned the one who made the promise was faithful. So, from this one man, and him as good as dead, there sprang descendants as many as the assemblage of stars in the sky, and like the sand which is on the sea-shore,  innumerable.

These all died in faith, without having received what was promised but they saw it and greeted it, as from a distance, agreeing that they were foreigners and exiles on the earth. Those who use such language, show that they are seeking a homeland. If they had in mind the country from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return; but now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has made ready a city for them.

By faith Abraham, when he was harshly tested, offered Isaac as a sacrifice- so the one who had received the promises was offering up his only son, of whom it was said, Through Isaac your offspring shall be given your name! He reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead; and he did (if you make a parable of it) get Isaac back from death.

By faith and looking towards the future, Isaac blessed both Jacob and Esau.

By faith, the dying Jacob blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and bowed in reverence, leaning on the head of his staff.

By faith, Joseph, at the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the children of Israel and gave instructions about his bones.

By faith Moses, when he was born, was concealed by his parents for three months because they saw he was a fine child, and they were not scared of the King’s edict.By faith Moses, when he became adult, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing to be mistreated along with God’s people, rather than enjoying the passing pleasures of sin. He thought the dishonour of the Messiah worth more than the treasures of Egypt. By faith he took leave of Egypt, with no fear of the king’s rage, holding firm to his purpose as if seeing the one who cannot be seen. By faith, he kept the Passover and the Sprinkling of Blood, so that the destroyer of the first-born child would not touch them. By faith, they crossed the Red Sea as if over dry land and when the Egyptians tried it, they drowned.

By faith, the walls of Jericho fell after being encircled for seven days.

By faith, Rehab the sex worker did not die with the disobedient, since she had welcomed the spies with peace.

What more can I say? For time is lacking to tell the stories of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, did justice, earned the promises of God, shut the mouths of lions. They quenched the force of fire, escaped the bite of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, turned back the battle lines of foreign invaders. Women got back their dead through resurrection; some were tortured on the wheel and would not accept release, so that they might be raised to a better life. Others were harshly tested by public derision and flogging; worse, by fetters and detention. They were stoned, sawn apart, murdered by the sword, they went about in sheep skins and goat skins, destitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, in caves and holes in the earth.

Yet all these, although honoured because of their faith, did not receive what had been promised, since God had foreseen something better for us, so that they, without us, should not be made perfect.

12

With all that in mind, since we are encircled by so great a cloud of witnesses, let’s rid ourselves of every encumbrance and the sin that so skilfully clings to us, and run the race that is laid out before us, in a disciplined way, turning our eyes towards Jesus, the starter and finisher of our faith. For the sake of the joy laid out ahead of him, he endured being nailed to the stake, thinking nothing of its disgrace, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God.

Think carefully about how he endured such opposition from sinful people, so that you don’t become tired and faint-hearted. In your own struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of blood. Maybe you’ve forgotten the encouraging word that addresses you as children?

Do not, my children, disdain the Lord’s training.

Or lose heart when criticised by him.

For the Lord loves every one he trains,

And he chastises every child he receives.

The endurance required of you is training; God is treating you as his children. Is there any child that is not trained by his father? If you are without training in which all of you share alike, then you are bastards and not children. Besides, we have our earthly fathers disciplining us and we respect them; so, shouldn’t we all the more submit to the father of spirits, and live? They trained us for a short time according to their lights, but he does it for our profit, so that we may have a share in his holiness. At the time all discipline seems more for pain than pleasure, but later, in those who have undergone it, it yields the peaceful fruit of justice.

Strengthen the tired hands and the trembling knees. Make straight paths for your feet so that an injured limb may not be dislocated but healed. Work hard for peace with all people, and for the holiness without which no one can see the Lord. Take care that no one is deprived of the kindness of God, in case some bitter root springs up and causes trouble, through which many people are contaminated. Take care that there is no one sexually immoral or worldly- minded like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit his father’s blessing, he was rejected, because he found no way to change the decision, although he pleaded for it with tears.

You have not come to something that can be known by the senses, like a blazing fire, gloom, utter blackness and storm, with the trumpet blast and the sound of a voice speaking words, such that those who heard it begged not to hear one word more, for they could not bear the command: if even a beast touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death. In fact, the spectacle was so terrible that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”

 But you have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem and myriads of messengers gathered for festival; to the assembly of the first-born children of God, enrolled in heaven and God the judge of all; to the spirits of just people made perfect and to Jesus the mediator of a new agreement, and the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than the blood of Abel.

See that you don’t refuse the one who is speaking. If they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we refuse the one who warns from heaven. Then his voice shook the earth but now he has made a promise, Once more I will shake not only earth but heaven also. The phrase ‘once more’ indicates the removal of the things that can be shaken, so that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Then we who are receiving the unshakeable kingdom should feel joy, in which we offer worship pleasing to God, with reverence and modesty. For our God is a consuming fire.

13

Continue to love one another.

Do not fail to show hospitality to strangers, for through it some have entertained angels unknowingly. Keep in mind those who are detained by the authorities as if you shared their detention, and of those brutally treated, for you too are in the body. Marriage should be honoured amongst all and the marriage bed kept unspoiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and the adulterers. Keep your habit of life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, since he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. And we can say, The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can human beings do to me?

Don’t forget your leaders who spoke God’s word to you; reflect on the outcome of their way of life and copy their faithfulness. Jesus Messiah is the same, yesterday, today and for all ages. Don’t be carried away by a variety of strange teachings. It’s good to have our inner selves strengthened by grace rather than foods which don’t benefit those who live by them.

We have an altar from which those who serve the Tent have no right to eat. The bodies of the animals whose blood the high priest brings into the holy place as a sin offering, are burnt outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the city gate, to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing the dishonour that he bore. For here we have no enduring city but seek the one that is to come. Through him let’s offer to God a continual sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that declare his name. Don’t forget to do good and to share possessions, for God is pleased by that kind of sacrifice.

Obey your leaders and yield to them – for they keep watch over your souls and will have to give an account of themselves- so that they can do their duty with joy and not sorrow, which would be no gain to you.

Pray for us, for we are sure that our conscience is clear and that we want to act well in all circumstances. I ask you to pray especially for me that I may be restored to you very soon.

Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the everlasting agreement, fit you out with all fine things needed to do his will, working in us all that is pleasing to him, through Jesus Messiah, to whom be glory forever, Amen.

I’m asking you, brothers and sisters, to put up with this message of encouragement, for I’ve written to you without elaborate courtesies.

I can tell you that our brother Timothy has been set free; if he arrives soon, I’ll see you with him. Greetings to all your leaders and to all the holy people! The Italians send their hugs,

Grace be with you all.