New Living Translation (NLT)

Jesus Christ Is God’s Son

1 Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets.

2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe.

3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.

4 This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.

The Son Is Greater Than the Angels

5 For God never said to any angel what he said to Jesus:

“You are my Son.

Today I have become your Father.”

God also said,

“I will be his Father,

and he will be my Son.”

6 And when he brought his supremeSon into the world, God said,

“Let all of God’s angels worship him.”

7 Regarding the angels, he says,

“He sends his angels like the winds,

his servants like flames of fire.”

8 But to the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.

You rule with a scepter of justice.

9 You love justice and hate evil.

Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you,

pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.”

10 He also says to the Son,

“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth

and made the heavens with your hands.

11 They will perish, but you remain forever.

They will wear out like old clothing.

12 You will fold them up like a cloak

and discard them like old clothing.

But you are always the same;

you will live forever.”

13 And God never said to any of the angels,

“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand

until I humble your enemies,

making them a footstool under your feet.”

14 Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/6/32k/HEB/1-06b721dee9d8c6a56c1ed3dabbdfe8f7.mp3?version_id=116—

A Warning against Drifting Away

1 So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.

2 For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished.

3 So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak?

4 And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.

Jesus, the Man

5 And furthermore, it is not angels who will control the future world we are talking about.

6 For in one place the Scriptures say,

“What are mere mortals that you should think about them,

or a son of manthat you should care for him?

7 Yet for a little while you made them a little lower than the angels

and crowned them with glory and honor.

8 You gave them authority over all things.”

Now when it says “all things,” it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all things put under their authority.

9 What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone.

10 God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.

11 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.

12 For he said to God,

“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.

I will praise you among your assembled people.”

13 He also said,

“I will put my trust in him,”

that is, “I and the children God has given me.”

14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who hadthe power of death.

15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham.

17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters,so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.

18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/6/32k/HEB/2-3be7167e6cd90071b801c583a90bd022.mp3?version_id=116—

Jesus Is Greater Than Moses

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God andare partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s messengerand High Priest.

2 For he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God’s entirehouse.

3 But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself.

4 For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God.

5 Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later.

6 But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.

7 That is why the Holy Spirit says,

“Today when you hear his voice,

8 don’t harden your hearts

as Israel did when they rebelled,

when they tested me in the wilderness.

9 There your ancestors tested and tried my patience,

even though they saw my miracles for forty years.

10 So I was angry with them, and I said,

‘Their hearts always turn away from me.

They refuse to do what I tell them.’

11 So in my anger I took an oath:

‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”

12 Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters.Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.

13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.

14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.

15 Remember what it says:

“Today when you hear his voice,

don’t harden your hearts

as Israel did when they rebelled.”

16 And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn’t it the people Moses led out of Egypt?

17 And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness?

18 And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him?

19 So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/6/32k/HEB/3-02c9bf0a8b0b49585d412630a7703290.mp3?version_id=116—

Promised Rest for God’s People

1 God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it.

2 For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God.

3 For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said,

“In my anger I took an oath:

‘They will never enter my place of rest,’”

even though this rest has been ready since he made the world.

4 We know it is ready because of the place in the Scriptures where it mentions the seventh day: “On the seventh day God rested from all his work.”

5 But in the other passage God said, “They will never enter my place of rest.”

6 So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God.

7 So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted:

“Today when you hear his voice,

don’t harden your hearts.”

8 Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come.

9 So there is a special reststill waiting for the people of God.

10 For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.

11 So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.

12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

Christ Is Our High Priest

14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.

15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.

16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/6/32k/HEB/4-9bbb916bda924f0b01639f066de53358.mp3?version_id=116—

1 Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins.

2 And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses.

3 That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs.

4 And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was.

5 That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him,

“You are my Son.

Today I have become your Father.”

6 And in another passage God said to him,

“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

7 While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.

8 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.

9 In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him.

10 And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

A Call to Spiritual Growth

11 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.

12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word.You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.

13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right.

14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/6/32k/HEB/5-6f06849a30ec911145d69f22a9154c24.mp3?version_id=116—

1 So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deedsand placing our faith in God.

2 You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

3 And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.

4 For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit,

5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—

6 and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.

7 When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing.

8 But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it.

9 Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation.

10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers,as you still do.

11 Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true.

12 Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.

God’s Promises Bring Hope

13 For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:

14 “I will certainly bless you,

and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.”

15 Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.

16 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding.

17 God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind.

18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.

19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.

20 Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/6/32k/HEB/6-cc48b0ccbe89b0f6f1f4a6cef1dc606f.mp3?version_id=116—

Melchizedek Is Greater Than Abraham

1 This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him.

2 Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.”

3 There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.

4 Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle.

5 Now the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi, must collect a tithe from the rest of the people of Israel,who are also descendants of Abraham.

6 But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God.

7 And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed.

8 The priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on.

9 In addition, we might even say that these Levites—the ones who collect the tithe—paid a tithe to Melchizedek when their ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to him.

10 For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.

11 So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?

12 And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it.

13 For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests.

14 What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.

Jesus Is like Melchizedek

15 This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared.

16 Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.

17 And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied,

“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

18 Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless.

19 For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

20 This new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron’s descendants became priests without such an oath,

21 but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him,

“TheLordhas taken an oath and will not break his vow:

‘You are a priest forever.’”

22 Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God.

23 There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office.

24 But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever.

25 Therefore he is able, once and forever, to savethose who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

26 He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven.

27 Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins.

28 The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/6/32k/HEB/7-d95d7b17b9d2835fdd2cbc6630adfef3.mp3?version_id=116—