1 Long ago, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets in many different circumstances and in many different ways, 2 but in these last days he spoke to us through his son who he appointed to inherit everything. It was also through him that he made the different eras—3 through the son who radiates the father’s splendour and represents his reality. The son bears everything by the message of his power, and after having made a way to be purified from our sins, he sat down in heaven next to God in the seat of the second-in-command.

4 By having become so much better than God’s messengers, he inherited a greater reputation than them, 5 because which of the messengers was told even once by God:[ref]

‘You are my son;

I gave birth to you today.’

And again:

‘I will be a father to him,

And he will be a son to me.’

6 Then when God brings his firstborn son into the world he said:[ref]

‘Let all of God’s messengers bow down to him.’

7 On one hand he said to his messengers:[ref]

‘The one making his messengers winds,

and making his ministers a fiery flame.’

8 And on the other hand to his son he said:[ref]

‘God, your throne will last to the end of the ages;

The ruler of his kingdom is a ruler of justice.

9 You loved righteousness and hated lawlessness,

because of this, God, your God, honoured you

with gladness beyond what your companions received.’

10 He also said to his son:[ref]

‘Master, at the beginning you established the earth,

and you made the heavens with your hands.

11 They will perish but you will continue;

They will wear out like clothes do.

12 You will roll them up like a discarded dressing gown;

they’ll be changed like we change our clothes.

But you remain the same,

and you won’t get old and fragile.’

13 To which of his messengers did God say even once:[ref]

‘Sit in the seat of honour on my right,

until I can defeat your enemies

and use them as a stool for my feet’?

14 See, those messengers are just ministering spirits sent out to serve those people who will inherit salvation.

2 Because of that, it’s much more appropriate for us to listen carefully to the message so we don’t drift away. 2 Because if the message that was brought by the messengers is confirmed and so every transgression and act of disobedience received the appropriate penalty, 3 how will we escape punishment if we neglect such a great offer of salvation. This salvation was first heard when spoken about by the master and then others who heard confirmed it to us 4 and God testified it by means of sign and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the holy spirit whenever he wanted.

5 It’s not his messengers that God put in charge of the future world that we’re talking about, 6 but someone testified somewhere saying:[ref]

‘What is humankind that you think about him,

or humanity’s son that you notice him?

7 You made him a little less than your messengers.

You crowned him with splendour and honour.

8 You put everything under his authority.’

By putting everything under his authority, nothing is left that he doesn’t control, although right now we don’t see everything being under his authority yet. 9 But although he was made a little lower than God’s messengers, we see Yeshua have suffered death, now crowned with splendour and honour, so that by God’s grace, he experienced death for everyone. 10 It was appropriate for him, the one who everything was made for and who made everything, having brought many children to be with God and being the originator of their salvation, to become perfect through what he suffered.

11 Both the person who is making people holy and the ones being made holy are part of one family because he’s not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters 12 saying:[ref]

‘I will announce your name to my brothers,

I will sing praise songs to you from the middle of the assembly.’

13 And also:[ref]

‘I will trust myself to him.’

And:[ref]

‘Look, it’s me with the little children that God gave me.’

14 So because the ‘little children’ are all made of flesh and blood, he also became a man to be just like them, so that through his death, he could nullify the power of death (which comes from the devil) 15 and set free all those who in a lifetime ‘slavery’ controlled by the fear of death. 16 You can be certain that it’s not God’s messengers that he’s helped, but rather Abraham’s descendants.[ref] 17 That’s why he had to be just like his brothers and sisters, so that he could become the merciful and faithful chief priest representing God, in order to pay the price for the people’s sins. 18 Because he also suffered when he was tempted to sin, he’s able to help others who’re tempted.

3 Therefore, godly brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, consider Yeshua, who we acknowledge as our missionary and high priest, 2 how he was faithful to God who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in God’s house.[ref] 3 Yeshua was considered worthy of more honour than Moses, just like the builder of a house is honoured more than the house itself, 4 because every house is made by someone, but the one who made everything is God. 5 On one hand, Moses was faithful in all of his house, thus serving as a testimony for what was yet to be told, 6 and on the other hand, Messiah was the son over his house, which is us if we retain our confidence and the expectation of our hope.

7 Therefore the holy spirit says:[ref]

‘Today if you hear his voice,

8 don’t harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion,

in the time of testing in the wilderness

9 where your ancestors tested me through trials,

although they saw my actions 10 over forty years.

That’s why I was angry with that generation and I said:

‘They’re always straying in their hearts and they don’t really know my ways.’

11 As I decided in my severe anger:

‘They will never be entering into my peace.’

12 Brothers and sisters, watch out in case any of you has an evil heart with unbelief which leads you to withdraw from the living God. 13 Instead urge yourselves on throughout each day (while it’s still called ‘today’) so that some of you won’t become hardened by the sin’s seduction 14 because we are now partakers of the messiah if we can retain until the end the assurance that we had at the beginning. 15 As it’s been said:[ref]

‘Today if you all hear his voice,

don’t harden your hearts as you did when you rebelled.’

16 Did some people heard and yet rebel? Didn’t Moses lead all of the people out of Egypt?[ref] 17 Who was he angry with for forty years? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed God and who died there in the wilderness? 18 And who did God promise that they wouldn’t enter his rest, if it wasn’t the people who disbelieved? 19 So we can now see that they weren’t able to enter the promised land because of their unbelief.

4 That’s why we might be afraid: because although we had a promise to enter his rest, some of you might fail to achieve it, 2 because we’ve already had the good message preached to us just like them, but the message they heard didn’t benefit them because they weren’t united in faith with the others who listened. 3 So those of us who believed are entering that rest, as he said:[ref]

‘As I promised in my severe anger,

They will never enter into my rest.’

And yet he’s had it ready since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he’s spoken about the seventh day saying:[ref]

‘And on the seventh day God rested from all his works.’

5 And also:[ref]

‘They will never enter my rest.’

6 Therefore because it’s being retained for some people to still come into it, and those who previously had the good message preached to them didn’t come in because of their disbelief, 7 God designated a certain day saying:[ref]

‘Today if you all hear his voice,

Don’t harden your hearts.’

8 Because if Yoshua had given them rest,[ref] God wouldn’t be speaking afterwards about another day. 9 So then, a time of rest is being retained for God’s people, 10 because anyone having come into their rest, also rests from their works, just as God rested from his own works.[ref] 11 Therefore we should be earnest about entering that rest, in case someone else falls by following our example of disbelief, 12 because God’s message is living and active and sharper than any high-quality sword, even penetrating to divide the soul and spirit—like separating the bone from sinews—and able to judge a person’s inner thoughts and intentions. 13 There isn’t anything in all of creation that’s hidden from him, but everything is naked and exposed to his sight as he’s the one we have to give an account to.

14 So then, having Yeshua the son of God who came from and returned to the heavens as our high priest, we need to hold firmly to what we say we believe, 15 because we don’t have a high priest who’s not able to sympathise with our weakness, but rather who’s been tempted just like we are yet he didn’t sin. 16 Therefore we can boldly approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help us when we need it.

5 Every high priest is just a person who was selected from the people to work with godly things both by offering gifts to God and sacrificing because of our sins. 2 He’s able to be patient with those who don’t understand and stray from the truth because he also is subject to weakness 3 and because of that, he has to make offerings for his own sins as well as for the people.[ref]

4 No one takes that honour upon themself, but they’re called by God like just Aaron was.[ref] 5 Similarly the messiah didn’t take the honour of being chief priest upon himself, but the one who spoke to him said:[ref]

‘You’re my son;

today I have given birth to you.’

6 And in another place he said:[ref]

‘You are a priest of the order of Melchizedek.’

7 [ref]During the time when Yeshua lived in a human body, he offered up prayers and petitions with a mighty clamour and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learnt obedience from what he suffered 9 and once he became perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all those who submitted to him 10 as he’d been designated by God as the high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

11 We have a lot to say about that, but it’s hard to explain because you’ve all become lazy at listening. 12 Yes, because you all ought to be teachers by now, yet you still need to have someone teaching you the basics of God’s ways and you’ve become like those who need milk instead of solid food.[ref] 13 Everyone who drinks milk doesn’t really understand the message about righteousness, because they’re still infants, 14 but mature people have solid food meaning that their senses have been trained and they can distinguish good from evil.

6 So then, having left the basics of the messiah’s message, we should move on towards maturity—not repeating the foundations of repenting from useless religious actions and faith in God, 2 of teachings about immersion in water and prayerfully placing your hands on people, and the resurrection of the dead followed by eternal judgement. 3 And we’ll be moving on from all that if God permits.

4 It’s impossible for those who’ve understood this and who’ve tasted the heavenly gift and become partakers of the holy spirit 5 and who’ve tasted God’s message and the powers of the coming age 6 and who’ve fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. It’s like they themselves are executing God’s son again and publicly shaming him.

7 The land that soaks in the frequent rains and grows crops suitable for those who’re cultivating it, is receiving a blessing from God, 8 but if it’s producing thorns and thistles,[ref] then it’s useless and a liability and will end up being burned off.

9 But dear friends, even though we speak like this, we’ve been convinced to expect better things from you—things that accompany salvation. 10 Yes, God isn’t unjust such that he’d forget about your work and the love that you all displayed towards him, having ministered to other believers as you still do. 11 And our desire is for each of you to be displaying the same earnestness and the full assurance of hope until the end 12 so that you all won’t become sluggish, but become imitators of those who through their faith and patience will be inheriting what God has promised.

13 When God made promises to Abraham, because he didn’t have anyone more powerful to take an oath in front of, he did it in his own name 14 saying: ‘I will certainly bless you and will cause you to have many descendants.’[ref] 15 And then after being patient, Abraham received what was promised. 16 Yes, people make oaths in front of someone more powerful and then there’s no controversy, because the oath is the confirmation. 17 In order for God to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he guaranteed it with an oath 18 so that by two things that God can’t even change (his promise and his oath), we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. 19 That hope is an anchor for our souls, being both certain and confirmed, and it will bring us inside the temple curtain[ref] 20 where Yeshua went ahead of us according to the order of Melchizedek[ref]—becoming the high priest for this age.

7 This Melchizedek was the king of the city of Salem and a priest of God, the highest one.[ref] He met Abraham who was returning from slaughtering several kings and Melchizedek blessed him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of all the captured goods. The name Melchizedek means ‘king of righteousness’ and then king of Salem also means ‘king of peace’. 3 There’s no record of his father or mother, no genealogical background, and no record of his being born or dying, but he’s likened to God’s son in that he continually remains as a priest.

4 Notice how great this Melchizedek was, because the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the best of the captured goods. 5 On one hand, the tithing commandment from Moses’ law makes the people give a tenth to Levi’s descendants who inherit the priestly office, even though they’re their brothers as fellow descendants of Abraham.[ref] 6 On the other hand, Abraham tithed to Melchizedek who can’t be traced as one of them, and he blessed Abraham who had received God’s promises. 7 There’s no doubt that it’s the lessor person that gets blessed by someone greater. 8 So in the first case, the tenth is received by people who die, but in the second case by someone who it’s only testified that he lives. 9 You could even say that even Levi (whose descendants receive the tenths) gave a tenth to Melchizedek through Abraham 10 because Levi’s sperm was still part of his father’s body when Melchizedek met Abraham.

11 Indeed if perfection came from the priesthood from Levi’s tribe which was legislated to help the people, why would there have still been a need for another to rise up as a priest in the order of Melchizedek and not just from the order of Aaron? 12 Because if the priesthood is changed, then that law would also need to be changed. 13 The one that we’re talking about here is from another tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served as a priest at the altar.

14 So it’s quite evident that our master came from Judah’s tribe but Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe, 15 and it’s even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek rose up 16 who didn’t live by the physical law (of death) but according to the power of indestructible life! 17 Because it’s been testified:[ref]

‘You are priest to this age,

according to the order of Melchizedek.’

18 In the first case, the commandment is annulled because it’s weak and unprofitable 19 (because the law made nothing perfect), and in the second case we have the introduction of a better hope by means of which we can approach God.

20 And it wasn’t done without an oath, because although men become priests without an oath, 21 but Yeshua became a priest by an oath from the one that said:[ref]

‘The master made an oath

and won’t rescind it.

You are priest for this age.’

22 Because of that oath, Yeshua became the guarantor of a better agreement.

23 in the first case, there have been many of those priests because death doesn’t allow them to continue on, 24 but in the second case, because Yeshua stays alive for all the age, he can hold the office of priest permanently 25 and thus he’s able to save those who approach God through him—save them to the full extent because he always lives to intercede of their behalf.

26 Such a high priest exactly meets our needs: one who is godly, innocent, pure, set apart from sinners, and honoured above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, it’s not necessary for him to first make a sacrifice for his own sins before doing it for the sins of the people,[ref] because he offered himself—once for everyone. 28 The law appoints those with weaknesses as high priests, but the message from the oath which followed after the law, appointed the son who has been perfected for the age.

8 So here’s the main point in what we’re saying: we have a high priest who sat down in the honoured seat beside the majesty’s throne in the heavens[ref] 2 and ministers in the holy places and in the true tent of worship which the master erected, not people. 3 Every high priest is appointed to be offering both gifts and sacrifices, and so it’s necessary for this one to also have something to offer. 4 If he was here on earth, he wouldn’t even be a priest because there are others offering gifts according to Moses’ law. 5 They serve a copy or shadow of the heavenly realms just as Moses was warned when he was about to start making the tent of worship:[ref]

‘Make everything according to the pattern that I showed you on the mountain.’

6 But on the contrary, Yeshua has obtained a more special ministry because he’s the mediator of a better agreement which has been legislated with better promises.

7 If the first agreement had been faultless, then there wouldn’t have been any need to find a second one to replace it, 8 but God blamed the people and said:[ref]

“Listen, the master declares that the time is coming when I will make a new agreement with Israel and Yudah,

9 not like the agreement that I master with their ancestors

when they held my hand for me to lead them out of Egypt,

because they didn’t stay inside my agreement

and so I didn’t take any notice of them, says the master.’

10 So this is the agreement that I make with Israel after those times, says the master,

putting my laws into their minds and writing them onto their hearts,

and I will be their God and they will be my people.

11 Then they certainly won’t teach each citizen and their neighbours,

saying ‘Know the master,’

because all of them from the smallest to the greatest will all know me.

12 Because I’ll be merciful to them when they disobey,

and certainly I won’t remember their sins any longer.”

13 In calling that ‘new’, he’s made the first agreement out-of-date, and what’s out-of-date and getting old is about to disappear.

9 The first agreement had sacred rites and a holy place here on earth, 2 because the tent of worship was set-up with a outer room called ‘the holy place’ where both the lampstand and the table were placed and the ‘bread of the presence’.[ref] 3 Then past the second curtain was a room called ‘the most holy place’[ref] 4 having the golden incense altar and the box of the agreement which was completely gold-plated and which contained a golden jar of manna and Aaron’s staff which had sprouted and the stone tablets inscribed with the commandments.[ref] 5 On the top of the box were the cherubs OF GLORY with their wings stretched out over the mercy seat which we won’t talk about right now.[ref]

6 And then with all of that having been prepared, the priests entered past everything in the first room of the tent to carry out their sacred services.[ref] 7 However, only the high priest enters the second room, and then only once a year. He can’t go with taking in blood which he offers for the sins of ignorance done by both himself and by the people.[ref] 8 By that, the holy spirit was making it clear that the way into that holy place was not yet open to the public as long as that first tent of worship was still standing. 9 This was an illustration intended for the present time when gifts and sacrifices are still being offered, but are not able to make the conscience of the one serving perfect—10 only just physical matters of food and drinks and ritual washings—until the reformed system is instigated.