The New Covenant Surpasses the Old

1. The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. 2. Yahweh’s word came to him in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. 4. Now Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 5. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6. Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, I don’t know how to speak; for I am a child.” 7. But Yahweh said to me, “Don’t say, ‘I am a child;’ for you must go to whomever I send you, and you must say whatever I command you. 8. Don’t be afraid because of them, for I am with you to rescue you,” says Yahweh. 9. Then Yahweh stretched out his hand, and touched my mouth. Then Yahweh said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10. Behold, I have today set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” 11. Moreover Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” 12. Then Yahweh said to me, “You have seen well; for I watch over my word to perform it.” 13. Yahweh’s word came to me the second time, saying, “What do you see?” I said, “I see a boiling cauldron; and it is tipping away from the north.” 14. Then Yahweh said to me, “Out of the north, evil will break out on all the inhabitants of the land. 15. For, behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” says Yahweh. “They will come, and they will each set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Judah. 16. I will utter my judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands. 17. “You therefore put your belt on your waist, arise, and say to them all that I command you. Don’t be dismayed at them, lest I dismay you before them. 18. For, behold, I have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. 19. They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you”, says Yahweh, “to rescue you.” 1. Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 2. “Go, and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your weddings; how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. 3. Israel was holiness to Yahweh, the first fruits of his increase. All who devour him will be held guilty. Evil will come on them,”’ says Yahweh.” 4. Hear Yahweh’s word, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel! 5. Yahweh says, “What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after worthless vanity, and have become worthless? 6. They didn’t say, ‘Where is Yahweh who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that no one passed through, and where no man lived?’ 7. I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat its fruit and its goodness; but when you entered, you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. 8. The priests didn’t say, ‘Where is Yahweh?’ and those who handle the law didn’t know me. The rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and followed things that do not profit. 9. “Therefore I will yet contend with you,” says Yahweh, “and I will contend with your children’s children. 10. For pass over to the islands of Kittim, and see; and send to Kedar, and consider diligently; and see if there has been such a thing. 11. Has a nation changed its gods, which really are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. 12. “Be astonished, you heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid. Be very desolate,” says Yahweh. 13. “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. 14. Is Israel a slave? Is he born into slavery? Why has he become a captive? 15. The young lions have roared at him, and yelled. They have made his land waste. His cities are burned up, without inhabitant. 16. The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head. 17. “Haven’t you brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, when he led you by the way? 18. Now what do you gain by going to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? Or why do you to go on the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River? 19. “Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backsliding will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing, that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, and that my fear is not in you,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies. 20. “For long ago I broke off your yoke, and burst your bonds. You said, ‘I will not serve;’ for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself, playing the prostitute. 21. Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a pure and faithful seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me? 22. For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me,” says the Lord Yahweh. 23. “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled. I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways; 24. a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that sniffs the wind in her craving. When she is in heat, who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month, they will find her. 25. “Keep your feet from being bare, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘It is in vain. No, for I have loved strangers, and I will go after them.’ 26. As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets; 27. who tell wood, ‘You are my father;’ and a stone, ‘You have given birth to me:’ for they have turned their back to me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise, and save us.’ 28. “But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble: for you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah. 29. “Why will you contend with me? You all have transgressed against me,” says Yahweh. 30. “I have struck your children in vain. They received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion. 31. Generation, consider Yahweh’s word. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? Or a land of thick darkness? Why do my people say, ‘We have broken loose. We will come to you no more?’ 32. “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number. 33. How well you prepare your way to seek love! Therefore you have even taught the wicked women your ways. 34. Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts. You did not find them breaking in; but it is because of all these things. 35. “Yet you said, ‘I am innocent. Surely his anger has turned away from me.’ “Behold, I will judge you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ 36. Why do you go about so much to change your ways? You will be ashamed of Egypt also, as you were ashamed of Assyria. 37. You will also leave that place with your hands on your head; for Yahweh has rejected those in whom you trust, and you won’t prosper with them. 1. “They say, ‘If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man’s, should he return to her again?’ Wouldn’t that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me,” says Yahweh. 2. “Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? You have sat waiting for them by the road, as an Arabian in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness. 3. Therefore the showers have been withheld and there has been no latter rain; yet you have had a prostitute’s forehead and you refused to be ashamed. 4. Will you not from this time cry to me, ‘My Father, you are the guide of my youth?’ 5. “‘Will he retain his anger forever? Will he keep it to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken and have done evil things, and have had your way.” 6. Moreover, Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has played the prostitute there. 7. I said after she had done all these things, ‘She will return to me;’ but she didn’t return; and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8. I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, had no fear; but she also went and played the prostitute. 9. Because she took her prostitution lightly, the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with wood. 10. Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense,” says Yahweh. 11. Yahweh said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, you backsliding Israel,’ says Yahweh; ‘I will not look in anger on you; for I am merciful,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will not keep anger forever. 13. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against Yahweh your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,’ says Yahweh.” 14. “Return, backsliding children,” says Yahweh; “for I am a husband to you. I will take one of you from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. 15. I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16. It will come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days,” says Yahweh, “they will no longer say, ‘the ark of Yahweh’s covenant!’ It will not come to mind. They won’t remember it. They won’t miss it, nor will another be made. 17. At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘Yahweh’s Throne;’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Yahweh’s name, to Jerusalem. They will no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18. In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance to your fathers. 19. “But I said, ‘How I desire to put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!’ and I said, ‘You shall call me “My Father”, and shall not turn away from following me.’ 20. “Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with me, house of Israel,” says Yahweh. 21. A voice is heard on the bare heights, the weeping and the petitions of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Yahweh their God. 22. Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding. “Behold, we have come to you; for you are Yahweh our God. 23. Truly in vain is help from the hills, the tumult on the mountains. Truly the salvation of Israel is in Yahweh our God. 24. But the shameful thing has devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25. Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against Yahweh our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. We have not obeyed Yahweh our God’s voice.”

1. Now in the things which we are saying, the main point is this. We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2. a servant of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. 3. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. 4. For if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5. who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses was warned by God when he was about to make the tabernacle, for he said, “See, you shall make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.” 6. But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which on better promises has been given as law. 7. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8. For finding fault with them, he said, “Behold, the days come”, says the Lord, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; 9. not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they didn’t continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them,” says the Lord. 10. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days,” says the Lord; “I will put my laws into their mind, I will also write them on their heart. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11. They will not teach every man his fellow citizen, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all will know me, from their least to their greatest. 12. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more.” 13. In that he says, “A new covenant”, he has made the first old. But that which is becoming old and grows aged is near to vanishing away. 1. Now indeed even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service, and an earthly sanctuary. 2. For a tabernacle was prepared. In the first part were the lamp stand, the table, and the show bread; which is called the Holy Place. 3. After the second veil was the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, 4. having a golden altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which was a golden pot holding the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; 5. and above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, of which things we can’t speak now in detail. 6. Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests go in continually into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the services, 7. but into the second the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood, which he offers for himself, and for the errors of the people. 8. The Holy Spirit is indicating this, that the way into the Holy Place wasn’t yet revealed while the first tabernacle was still standing; 9. which is a symbol of the present age, where gifts and sacrifices are offered that are incapable, concerning the conscience, of making the worshiper perfect; 10. being only (with meats and drinks and various washings) fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation. 11. But Christ having come as a high priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, 12. nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption. 13. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh: 14. how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15. For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, that those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16. For where a last will and testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him who made it. 17. For a will is in force where there has been death, for it is never in force while he who made it lives. 18. Therefore even the first covenant has not been dedicated without blood. 19. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20. saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” 21. Moreover he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry in the same way with the blood. 22. According to the law, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission. 23. It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24. For Christ hasn’t entered into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25. nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year with blood not his own, 26. or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27. Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment, 28. so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation. 1. For the law, having a shadow of the good to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near. 2. Or else wouldn’t they have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins? 3. But in those sacrifices there is a yearly reminder of sins. 4. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. 5. Therefore when he comes into the world, he says, “Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire, but you prepared a body for me. 6. You had no pleasure in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. 7. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O God.’” 8. Previously saying, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you didn’t desire, neither had pleasure in them” (those which are offered according to the law), 9. then he has said, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He takes away the first, that he may establish the second, 10. by which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11. Every priest indeed stands day by day serving and often offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins, 12. but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13. from that time waiting until his enemies are made the footstool of his feet. 14. For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. 15. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, 16. “This is the covenant that I will make with them: ‘After those days,’ says the Lord, ‘I will put my laws on their heart, I will also write them on their mind;’” then he says, 17. “I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more.” 18. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. 19. Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20. by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21. and having a great priest over God’s house, 22. let’s draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed with pure water, 23. let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for he who promised is faithful. 24. Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, 25. not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching. 26. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, 27. but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries. 28. A man who disregards Moses’ law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. 29. How much worse punishment do you think he will be judged worthy of who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30. For we know him who said, “Vengeance belongs to me,” says the Lord, “I will repay.” Again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 32. But remember the former days, in which, after you were enlightened, you endured a great struggle with sufferings; 33. partly, being exposed to both reproaches and oppressions; and partly, becoming partakers with those who were treated so. 34. For you both had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an enduring one in the heavens. 35. Therefore don’t throw away your boldness, which has a great reward. 36. For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise. 37. “In a very little while, he who comes will come, and will not wait. 38. But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” 39. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul. 1. Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen. 2. For by this, the elders obtained testimony. 3. By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible. 4. By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had testimony given to him that he was righteous, God testifying with respect to his gifts; and through it he, being dead, still speaks. 5. By faith, Enoch was taken away, so that he wouldn’t see death, and he was not found, because God translated him. For he has had testimony given to him that before his translation he had been well pleasing to God. 6. Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. 7. By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared a ship for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. 8. By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went. 9. By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. 10. For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11. By faith, even Sarah herself received power to conceive, and she bore a child when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised. 12. Therefore as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as innumerable as the sand which is by the sea shore, were fathered by one man, and him as good as dead. 13. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15. If indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return. 16. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 17. By faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his one and only son, 18. to whom it was said, “your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac”; 19. concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead. 20. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come. 21. By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. 22. By faith, Joseph, when his end was near, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel; and gave instructions concerning his bones. 23. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. 24. By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25. choosing rather to share ill treatment with God’s people, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time; 26. accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward. 27. By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 28. By faith, he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them. 29. By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do so, they were swallowed up. 30. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days. 31. By faith, Rahab the prostitute, didn’t perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace. 32. What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets; 33. who, through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34. quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee. 35. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36. Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment. 37. They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 38. (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth. 39. These all, having had testimony given to them through their faith, didn’t receive the promise, 40. God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect. 1. Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2. looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3. For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don’t grow weary, fainting in your souls. 4. You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin; 5. and you have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children, “My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him; 6. For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.” 7. It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline? 8. But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then are you illegitimate, and not children. 9. Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? 10. For they indeed, for a few days, punished us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. 11. All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been exercised thereby. 12. Therefore lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees, 13. and make straight paths for your feet, so what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. 14. Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord, 15. looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it; 16. lest there be any sexually immoral person, or profane person, like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal. 17. For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for a change of mind though he sought it diligently with tears. 18. For you have not come to a mountain that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and to blackness, darkness, storm, 19. the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which those who heard it begged that not one more word should be spoken to them, 20. for they could not stand that which was commanded, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned”; 21. and so fearful was the appearance that Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling.” 22. But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable multitudes of angels, 23. to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24. to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel. 25. See that you don’t refuse him who speaks. For if they didn’t escape when they refused him who warned on the earth, how much more will we not escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven, 26. whose voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.” 27. This phrase, “Yet once more”, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain. 28. Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can’t be shaken, let us have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, 29. for our God is a consuming fire. 1. Let brotherly love continue. 2. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3. Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you are also in the body. 4. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. 5. Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.” 6. So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?” 7. Remember your leaders, men who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith. 8. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9. Don’t be carried away by various and strange teachings, for it is good that the heart be established by grace, not by food, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. 10. We have an altar from which those who serve the holy tabernacle have no right to eat. 11. For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp. 12. Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate. 13. Let us therefore go out to him outside of the camp, bearing his reproach. 14. For we don’t have here an enduring city, but we seek that which is to come. 15. Through him, then, let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name. 16. But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 17. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you. 18. Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things. 19. I strongly urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you sooner. 20. Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, 21. make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. 22. But I exhort you, brothers, endure the word of exhortation; for I have written to you in few words. 23. Know that our brother Timothy has been freed, with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you. 24. Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. The Italians greet you. 25. Grace be with you all. Amen.

1. The king’s heart is in Yahweh’s hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires. 2. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but Yahweh weighs the hearts. 3. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice. 4. A high look, and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, is sin. 5. The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit; and everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty. 6. Getting treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor for those who seek death. 7. The violence of the wicked will drive them away, because they refuse to do what is right. 8. The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright. 9. It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than to share a house with a contentious woman. 10. The soul of the wicked desires evil; his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes. 11. When the mocker is punished, the simple gains wisdom. When the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge. 12. The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked, and brings the wicked to ruin. 13. Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard. 14. A gift in secret pacifies anger; and a bribe in the cloak, strong wrath. 15. It is joy to the righteous to do justice; but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity. 16. The man who wanders out of the way of understanding shall rest in the assembly of the departed spirits. 17. He who loves pleasure shall be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil shall not be rich. 18. The wicked is a ransom for the righteous; the treacherous for the upright. 19. It is better to dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and fretful woman. 20. There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man swallows it up. 21. He who follows after righteousness and kindness finds life, righteousness, and honor. 22. A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and brings down the strength of its confidence. 23. Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles. 24. The proud and haughty man, “scoffer” is his name; he works in the arrogance of pride. 25. The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. 26. There are those who covet greedily all day long; but the righteous give and don’t withhold. 27. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more, when he brings it with a wicked mind! 28. A false witness will perish, and a man who listens speaks to eternity. 29. A wicked man hardens his face; but as for the upright, he establishes his ways. 30. There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against Yahweh. 31. The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with Yahweh.