1 F or since the Law has merely a rude outline (foreshadowing) of the good things to come—instead of fully expressing those things—it can never by offering the same sacrifices continually year after year make perfect those who approach.

¶ For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never make perfect those who come by the same sacrifices which they offer year by year continually.

2 F or if it were otherwise, would not have stopped being offered? Since the worshipers had once for all been cleansed, they would no longer have any guilt or consciousness of sin.

Otherwise, they would cease to offer them, because those that sacrifice, once purged, would have no more conscience of sin.

3 B ut these sacrifices annually bring a fresh remembrance of sins,

But in these sacrifices each year the same remembrance of sins is made.

4 B ecause the blood of bulls and goats is powerless to take sins away.

For the blood of bulls and of goats cannot take away sins.

5 H ence, when He entered into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired, but instead You have made ready a body for Me;

Therefore when he came into the world, he said, Sacrifice and offering thou dost not desire, but a body hast thou prepared me;

6 I n burnt offerings and sin offerings You have taken no delight.

in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

7 T hen I said, Behold, here I am, coming to do Your will, O God— what is written of Me in the volume of the Book.

¶ Then said I, Behold, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God.

8 W hen He said just before, You have neither desired, nor have You taken delight in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings—all of which are offered according to the Law—

Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou dost not desire, neither hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law;

9 H e then went on to say, Behold, I am, coming to do Your will. Thus He does away with and annuls the first (former) order so that He might inaugurate and establish the second (latter) order.

then he said, Behold, I come to do thy will, O God. He took away the first, that he may establish the second.

10 A nd in accordance with this will, we have been made holy (consecrated and sanctified) through the offering made once for all of the body of Jesus Christ (the Anointed One).

In this will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus, the Christ, once for all.

11 F urthermore, every priest stands ministering daily, offering the same sacrifices over and over again, which never are able to strip the sins and take them away—

And so every priest stands daily ministering and offering many times the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins,

12 W hereas this One, after He had offered a single sacrifice for our sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,

but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, is seated at the right hand of God,

13 T hen to wait until His enemies should be made a stool beneath His feet.

waiting for that which follows, that is, until his enemies are made his footstool.

14 F or by a single offering He has forever completely cleansed and perfected those who are consecrated and made holy.

For by one offering he has perfected for ever those that are sanctified.

15 A nd also the Holy Spirit adds His testimony to us. For having said,

Likewise the Holy Spirit gives us the same witness, who afterwards said,

16 T his is the agreement (testament, covenant) that I will set up and conclude with them after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their hearts, and I will inscribe them on their minds (on their inmost thoughts and understanding),

This is the testament that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will give my laws in their hearts, and in their souls will I write them;

17 H e then goes on to say, And their sins and their lawbreaking I will remember no more.

and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

18 N ow where there is absolute remission (forgiveness and cancellation of the penalty) of these, there is no longer any offering made to atone for sin.

Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

19 T herefore, brethren, since we have full freedom and confidence to enter into the Holies in the blood of Jesus,

¶ Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus,

20 B y this fresh (new) and living way which He initiated and dedicated and opened for us through the separating curtain (veil of the Holy of Holies), that is, through His flesh,

by a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

21 A nd since we have a great and wonderful and noble Priest over the house of God,

and having that great priest over the house of God,

22 L et us all come forward and draw near with true (honest and sincere) hearts in unqualified assurance and absolute conviction engendered by faith (by that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness), having our hearts sprinkled and purified from a guilty (evil) conscience and our bodies cleansed with pure water.

let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts purified from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water;

23 S o let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word.

let us hold fast the profession of our hope without wavering (for he is faithful that promised).

24 A nd let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities,

And let us consider one another to provoke unto charity and unto good works,

25 N ot forsaking or neglecting to assemble together, as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching.

not forsaking our gathering together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more, when ye see that day approaching.

26 F or if we go on deliberately and willingly sinning after once acquiring the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for sins.

For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,

27 b ut a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition.

but a certain fearful hope of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

28 A ny person who has violated and rejected and set at naught the Law of Moses is put to death without pity or mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

He that despised the law of Moses died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

29 H ow much worse (sterner and heavier) punishment do you suppose he will be judged to deserve who has spurned and trampled underfoot the Son of God, and who has considered the covenant blood by which he was consecrated common and unhallowed, thus profaning it and insulting and outraging the Spirit grace (the unmerited favor and blessing of God)?

Of how much greater punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden underfoot the Son of God and has counted the blood of the covenant, with which he was sanctified, an unholy thing and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

30 F or we know Him Who said, Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord. And again, The Lord will judge and determine and solve and settle the cause and the cases of His people.

For we know who he is that has said, Vengeance belongs to me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

31 I t is a fearful (formidable and terrible) thing to incur the divine penalties and be cast into the hands of the living God!

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

32 B ut be ever mindful of the days gone by in which, after you were first spiritually enlightened, you endured a great and painful struggle,

But bring to memory the former days, in which, after ye received the light, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;

33 S ometimes being yourselves a gazingstock, publicly exposed to insults and abuse and distress, and sometimes claiming fellowship and making common cause with others who were so treated.

on the one hand ye were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and on the other ye became companions of those that were so used.

34 F or you did sympathize and suffer along with those who were imprisoned, and you bore cheerfully the plundering of your belongings and the confiscation of your property, in the knowledge and consciousness that you yourselves had a better and lasting possession.

For ye had compassion of me in my bonds and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing that in yourselves ye have a better substance in the heavens, and that abides.

35 D o not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward.

Do not lose, therefore, this your confidence, which has great recompense of reward;

36 F or you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away what is promised.

for patience is necessary, so that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

37 F or still a little while (a very little while), and the Coming One will come and He will not delay.

For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and will not tarry.

38 B ut the just shall live by faith '> by his conviction respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, and holy fervor born of faith and conjoined with it]; and if he draws back and shrinks in fear, My soul has no delight or pleasure in him.

Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

39 B ut our way is not that of those who draw back to eternal misery (perdition) and are utterly destroyed, but we are of those who believe and by faith preserve the soul.

But we are not of those who draw back unto perdition, but faithful unto the saving of the soul.