I The law, possessing the shadow of the good things to come, not the actual form of the things, cannot, by the same sacrifices which they offer, continually year by year, ever bring to perfection those who come to God. Otherwise, would not these have ceased to be offered? Since, once absolved, the worshippers would no longer have any consciousness of sin. But in these sacrifices is the yearly remembrance of sins, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take sins away.
So, coming into the world, Christ says: You did not want sacrifice and offering, but you prepared a body for me. in whole burnt offerings even for sin, you took no delight. Then I said: Behold, I come; in the scroU of a book it is written concerning me; to do, О God, your will. And, while he said above that you did not want sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings even for sin, which are offered according to the law, nor take delight in them, then he said: Behold, I come to do your will. He takes away the first so that the second may stand. By which will we are sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all.
And every priest stands day by day performing services and again and again offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But he, after offering for sins one sacrifice for all time, sat downwn on the right hand of God, waiting henceforth for his enemies to be made a footstool for his feet; for with one offering he has made those who are consecrated perfect for all time. And our witness to this is the Holy Spirit; for after saying: This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, giving them my laws for their hearts, and I will inscribe them upon their understanding. And I shaU no longer remember their sins and their transgressions. But where there is remission of these, there is no longer any offering for sins.
Having therefore confidence, brothers, for entrance into the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way he has made for us through the curtain, that is, his flesh, and having a great priest set over the house of God, let us approach with true heart in abundance of faith, our hearts purged of bad conscience, our bodies washed in pure water. Let us hold fast to our belief in the hope, for he who gave us the promise is to be trusted. And let us study each other to stimulate love and good works, not failing to attend our own meetings, as is the way of some, but encouraging each other, all the more so inasmuch as you see the Day coming nearer.
For when we willingly sin after having received perception of the truth, there is no longer left any sacrifice for sin, only the terrible expectation of judgment, and of fire eager to devour its opponents. If one has broken the law of Moses he dies without pity on the word of two or three witnesses; how much worse do you suppose will be the punishment accorded to one who has trampled down the son of God, and called unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the spirit of grace? We know who it was who said: Mine is the vengeance, I will repay. And again: The Lord will judge his people. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Remember the days that have been, when you, the enlightened ones, underwent a hard struggle with sufferings, both when you were publicly exposed to revile- ments and afflictions, and when you shared them with those who were so treated; for you suffered along with those who were imprisoned, and you accepted the seizure of your property with joy, knowing that you have a greater possession and one that endures. Do not lose your courage, which brings a great reward, for you have need of endurance in order to do the will of God and win the promise. For (it is written): In a very little time he who is coming will come, and he will not delay; the one who is righteous will live by faith and if anyone falters, my soul is not well pleased with him. We do not belong to faltering, for destruction, but to faith, for the saving of the soul.
11 Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the proof of things unseen; for by it our forebears were attested. By faith we understand that the ages were formed by the word of God, so that what is seen did not come from things that appear. By faith Abel brought to God a better offering than Cain, and by this he was proved righteous, with God himself be^ang witness to his gifts; and by faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up aloft, so as not to look on death, and he was never found because God had taken him; since it is attested that before his taking up he was pleasing to God, and without faith it is impossible to please him; for one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he is the rewarder of those who seek him out. By faith Noah, divinely w^ed of things not yet apparent, took careful thought and built the ark for the salvation of his household; and by this he refuted the world, and became heir to that righteousness that comes through faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go forth into that region which he was to receive as his ^taeri- tance, and he went forth not knowing where he was going. By faith he moved to the land of the promise as to a foreign land, living in tents as did also Isaac and Jacob, who shared with him the ^^eritance of the same promise; for he was waiting for the city with foundations, of which the architect and designer is God. By faith also Sarah herself found strength to give birth, though past her time of life, since she thought the giver of the promise was to be believed; so that from one man, even from one far gone, there came a number like the stars in the sky, or like the innumerable sands at the edge of the sea.
All of these died in faith without winning the promise,
but seeing it from far off and hailing it, and confessing that they were strangers and visitors on earth. They who say such things make it clear that they are searching for their own country. If they had been remembering the country from which they came, they would have had occasion to tum back; but as it is they long for a better one, that is, the one in heaven. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has made ready a city for them.
By faith Abraham offered up Isaac when he was put to the test, and accepting the promise, offered up his only son, the one of whom it had been said: Your seed shall be called after Isaac; reasoning that God can even raise men from the dead; therefore symbolically he did recover him. By faith even in things to come Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and prayed for them over the end of his staff. By faith Joseph, dying, remembered the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions concerning his bones. By faith when Moses was born he was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the baby was a fine one, and they were not frightened by the edict of the King. By faith Moses, grown big, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing to suffer with the people of God rather than have the temporary enjoyment of sinfulness, considering the despised estate of the Christ a richer thing than the treasures of Egypt, since he looked forward to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the anger of the King, for he endured as if he saw him who cannot be seen. By faith he established the Passover and the sprinkling of blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not strike them. By faith they walked across the Red Sea as if on dry land, which the Egyptians tried to do and were engulfed. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down when they were circled for seven days. By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish with the unbelievers, because she had received the spies in peace.