001:001 God, who in ancient days spoke to our forefathers in many
distinct messages and by various methods through the Prophets,
001:002 has at the end of these days spoken to us through a Son,
who is the pre-destined Lord of the universe, and through whom
He made the Ages.
001:003 He brightly reflects God's glory and is the exact representation
of His being, and upholds the universe by His all-powerful word.
After securing man's purification from sin He took His seat
at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
001:004 having become as far superior to the angels as the Name He
possesses by inheritance is more excellent than theirs.
001:005 For to which of the angels did God ever say, "My Son
art Thou: I have this day become Thy Father;" and again,
"I will be a Father to Him, and He shall be My Son"?
001:006 But speaking of the time when He once more brings His Firstborn
into the world, He says, "And let all God's angels worship Him."
001:007 Moreover of the angels He says, "He changes His angels into winds,
and His ministering servants into a flame of fire."
001:008 But of His Son, He says, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever
and for ever, and the sceptre of Thy Kingdom is a sceptre
of absolute justice.
001:009 Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;
therefore God, Thy God, has anointed Thee with the oil
of gladness beyond Thy companions."
001:010 It is also of His Son that God says, "Thou, O Lord,
in the beginning didst lay the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of Thy hands.
001:011 The heavens will perish, but Thou remainest; and they will
all grow old like a garment,
001:012 and, as though they were a mantle Thou wilt roll them up;
yes, like a garment, and they will undergo change.
But Thou art the same, and Thy years will never come to an end."
001:013 To which of the angels has He ever said, "Sit at My right hand
till I make Thy foes a footstool for Thy feet"?
001:014 Are not all angels spirits that serve Him--whom He sends out
to render service for the benefit of those who, before long,
will inherit salvation?
002:001 For this reason we ought to pay the more earnest heed
to the things which we have heard, for fear we should drift
away from them.
002:002 For if the message delivered through angels proved to be true,
and every transgression and act of disobedience met
with just retribution,
002:003 how shall *we* escape if we are indifferent to a salvation
as great as that now offered to us? This, after having first
of all been announced by the Lord Himself, had its truth made
sure to us by those who heard Him,
002:004 while God corroborated their testimony by signs and marvels
and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit
distributed in accordance with His own will.
002:005 It is not to angels that God has assigned the sovereignty
of that coming world, of which we speak.
002:006 But, as we know, a writer has solemnly said, "How poor a creature
is man, and yet Thou dost remember him, and a son of man,
and yet Thou dost come to him!
002:007 Thou hast made him only a little inferior to the angels;
with glory and honour Thou hast crowned him, and hast set
him to govern the works of Thy hands.
002:008 Thou hast put everything in subjection under his feet."
For this subjecting of the universe to man implies the leaving
nothing not subject to him. But we do not as yet see
the universe subject to him.
002:009 But Jesus--who was made a little inferior to the angels in order
that through God's grace He might taste death for every
human being--we already see wearing a crown of glory and honour
because of His having suffered death.
002:010 For it was fitting that He for whom, and through whom,
all things exist, after He had brought many sons to glory,
should perfect by suffering the Prince Leader who had saved them.
002:011 For both He who sanctifies and those whom He is sanctifying
have all one Father; and for this reason He is not ashamed
to speak of them as His brothers;
002:012 as when He says: "I will proclaim Thy name to My brothers:
in the midst of the congregation I will hymn Thy praises;"
002:013 and again, "As for Me, I will be one whose trust reposes in God;"
and again, "Here am I, and here are the children God
has given Me."
002:014 Since then the children referred to are all alike sharers
in perishable human nature, He Himself also, in the same way,
took on Him a share of it, in order that through death He
might render powerless him who had authority over death,
that is, the Devil,
002:015 and might set at liberty all those who through fear of death
had been subject to lifelong slavery.
002:016 For assuredly it is not to angels that He is continually reaching
a helping hand, but it is to the descendants of Abraham.
002:017 And for this purpose it was necessary that in all respects He
should be made to resemble His brothers, so that He might become
a compassionate and faithful High Priest in things relating
to God, in order to atone for the sins of the people.
002:018 For inasmuch as He has Himself felt the pain of temptation
and trial, He is also able instantly to help those who are
tempted and tried.
003:001 Therefore, holy brethren, sharers with others in a
heavenly invitation, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the Apostle
and High Priest whose followers we profess to be.
003:002 How faithful He was to Him who appointed Him, just as Moses
also was faithful in all God's house!
003:003 For Jesus has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses,
in so far as he who has built a house has higher honour
than the house itself.
003:004 For every house has had a builder, and the builder of all
things is God.
003:005 Moreover, Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant
in delivering the message given him to speak;
003:006 but Christ was faithful as a Son having authority over God's house,
and we are that house, if we hold firm to the End the boldness
and the hope which we boast of as ours.
003:007 For this reason--as the Holy Spirit warns us, "To-day, if you
hear His voice,
003:008 do not harden your hearts as your forefathers did in the time
of the provocation on the day of the temptation in the Desert,
003:009 where your forefathers so sorely tried My patience and saw
all that I did during forty years.
003:010 Therefore I was greatly grieved with that generation, and I said,
`They are ever going astray in heart, and have not learnt
to know My paths.'