The Supremacy of God's Son

¹Long ago, at many times and ain many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ²but bin these last days che has spoken to us by dhis Son, whom he appointed ethe heir of all things, fthrough whom also he created gthe world. ³He is the radiance of the glory of God and hthe exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. iAfter making purification for sins, jhe sat down kat the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴having become as much superior to angels as the name lhe has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

⁵For to which of the angels did God ever say,

m“You are my Son,

today I have begotten you”?

Or again,

n“I will be to him a father,

and he shall be to me a son”?

⁶And again, when he brings othe firstborn into the world, he says,

p“Let all God's angels worship him.”

⁷Of the angels he says,

q“He makes his angels winds,

and his ministers a flame of fire.”

⁸But of the Son he says,

r“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,

the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

⁹You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

therefore God, your God, shas anointed you

with tthe oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

¹⁰And,

u“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,

and the heavens are the work of your hands;

¹¹they will perish, but you remain;

they will all wear out like a garment,

¹²like a robe you will roll them up,

like a garment they will be changed.1

But you are vthe same,

and your years will have no end.”

¹³And to which of the angels has he ever said,

w“Sit at my right hand

xuntil I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

¹⁴Are they not all ministering spirits ysent out to serve for the sake of those who are to zinherit salvation?

Warning Against Neglecting Salvation

¹Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. ²For since athe message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and bevery transgression or disobedience received a just cretribution, ³dhow shall we escape if we eneglect such a great salvation? It was fdeclared at first by the Lord, and it was gattested to us hby those who heard, ⁴gwhile God also bore witness iby signs and wonders and various miracles and by jgifts of the Holy Spirit kdistributed according to his will.

The Founder of Salvation

⁵For it was not to angels that God subjected the world lto come, of which we are speaking. ⁶It has been testified somewhere,

m“What is man, that you are mindful of him,

or the son of man, that you care for him?

⁷You made him for a little while lower than the angels;

you have crowned him with glory and honor,1

⁸putting everything in subjection under his feet.”

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, nwe do not yet see everything in subjection to him. ⁹But we see him owho for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, pcrowned with glory and honor qbecause of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might rtaste death sfor everyone.

¹⁰For it twas fitting that he, ufor whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons vto glory, should make the wfounder of their salvation xperfect through suffering. ¹¹For yhe who sanctifies and zthose who are sanctified aall have one source.2 That is why he is not ashamed to call them bbrothers,3 ¹²saying,

c“I will tell of your name to my brothers;

in the midst of the dcongregation I will sing your praise.”

¹³And again,

e“I will put my trust in him.”

And again,

f“Behold, I and the children gGod has given me.”

¹⁴Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise hpartook of the same things, that ithrough death he might jdestroy kthe one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵and deliver all those who lthrough fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. ¹⁶For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he mhelps the offspring of Abraham. ¹⁷Therefore he had nto be made like his brothers in every respect, oso that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest pin the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸For because he himself has suffered qwhen tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Jesus Greater Than Moses

¹Therefore, holy brothers,1 you who share in ra heavenly calling, consider Jesus, sthe apostle and high priest of our confession, ²who was faithful to him who appointed him, tjust as Moses also was faithful in all God's2 house. ³For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. ⁴(For every house is built by someone, but uthe builder of all things is God.) ⁵vNow Moses was faithful in all God's house was a servant, xto testify to the things that were to be spoken later, ⁶but Christ is faithful over God's house as ya son. And zwe are his house, if indeed we ahold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.3

A Rest for the People of God

⁷Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

b“Today, if you hear his voice,

⁸do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

on the day of testing in the wilderness,

⁹where your fathers put me to the test

and saw my works for cforty years.

¹⁰Therefore I was provoked with that generation,

and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;

they have not known my ways.’

¹¹dAs I swore in my wrath,

‘They shall not enter my rest.’”

¹²Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from ethe living God. ¹³But fexhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by gthe deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴For we have come to share in Christ, hif indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. ¹⁵As it is said,

b“Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

¹⁶For iwho were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not jall those who left Egypt led by Moses? ¹⁷And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, kwhose bodies fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸And to whom did he swear that lthey would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? ¹⁹So we see that mthey were unable to enter because of unbelief.

¹Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem nto have failed to reach it. ²For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because othey were not united by faith with those who listened.1 ³For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

p“As I swore in my wrath,

‘They shall not enter my rest,’”

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: q“And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” ⁵And again in this passage he said,

r“They shall not enter my rest.”

⁶Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news sfailed to enter because of disobedience, ⁷again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

t“Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts.”

⁸For if Joshua had given them rest, God2 would not have spoken of another day later on. ⁹So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, ¹⁰for whoever has entered God's rest has also urested from his works as God did from his.

¹¹Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so vthat no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. ¹²For wthe word of God is living and xactive, ysharper than any ztwo-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and adiscerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³And bno creature is hidden from his sight, but all are cnaked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

¹⁴Since then we have da great high priest ewho has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, flet us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest gwho is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been dtempted as we are, hyet without sin. ¹⁶iLet us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

¹For every high priest chosen from among men jis appointed to act on behalf of men kin relation to God, lto offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. ²mHe can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself nis beset with weakness. ³Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins ojust as he does for those of the people. ⁴And pno one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, qjust as Aaron was.

⁵So also Christ rdid not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,

s“You are my Son,

today I have begotten you”;

⁶as he says also in another place,

t“You are a priest forever,

after the order of Melchizedek.”

⁷In the days of his flesh, uJesus1 offered up prayers and supplications, vwith loud cries and tears, to him wwho was able to save him from death, and xhe was heard because of his reverence. ⁸Although yhe was a son, zhe learned obedience through what he suffered. ⁹And abeing made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, ¹⁰being designated by God a high priest bafter the order of Melchizedek.

Warning Against Apostasy

¹¹About this we have much to say, and it is chard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. ¹²For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again dthe basic principles of the oracles of God. You need emilk, not solid food, ¹³for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is fa child. ¹⁴But solid food is for gthe mature, for those who have their powers hof discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.