Dual Panel1THE Law possessed only a dim outline of the benefits Christ would bring and did not actually reproduce them. Consequently it was incapable of perfecting the souls of those who offered their regular annual sacrifices.
2For if it had, surely the sacrifices would have been discontinuedon the grounds that the worshippers, having been really cleansed, would have had no further consciousness of sin.
3In practice, however, the sacrifices amounted to an annual reminder of sins;
4for the blood of bulls and goats cannot really remove the guilt of sin.
5Therefore, when Christ enters the world, he says: Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, But a body didst thou prepare for me;
6In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure:
7Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God.
8After saying that God has "no pleasure in sacrifice, offering and burntoffering" (which am made according to the Law),
9Christ then says, "Lo, I am come to do thy will." That means that he is dispensing with the old order of sacrifices, and establishing a new order of obedience to the will of God,
10and in that will we have been made holy by the single unique offering of the body of Jesus Christ.
11Every human priest stands day by day performing his religious duties and offering time after time the same sacrificeswhich can never actually remove sins.
12But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, took his seat at God's right hand,
13from that time offering no more sacrifice, but waiting until "his enemies be made his footstool".
14For by virtue of that one offering he has perfected for all time every one whom he makes holy.
15The Spirit Holy Spirit himself endorses this truth for us, when he says,
16This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws on their heart, And upon their mind also will I write them. And then, he adds:
17And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
18Where God grants remission of sin there can be no question of making further atonement.
19So, by virtue of the blood of Jesus, you and I, my brothers, may now have confidence to enter the holy place
20by a fresh and living way which he has opened up for us by himself passing through the curtain, that is, his own human nature.
21Further, since we have a great High Priest set over the household of God,
22let us draw near with true hearts and fullest confidence, knowing that our inmost souls have been purified by the sprinkling of his blood Just as our bodies are cleansed by the washing of clean water.
23In this confidence let us hold on to the hope that we profess without the slightest hesitationfor he is utterly dependableand
24let us think of one another and how we can encourage each other to love and do good deeds.
25And let us not hold aloof from our church meetings, as some do. Let us do all we can to help one another's faith, and this the more earnestly as we see the final day drawing.
26Now if we sin deliberately after we have known and accepted the truth, there can be no further sacrifice for sin for us
27but only a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fire of God's indignation, which will consume all that sets himself against him.
28The man who showed contempt for Moses' Law died without hope of appeal on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
29How much more dreadful a punishment will he be thought to deserve who has poured scorn on the Son of God, treated like dirt the blood of the agreement which had once made him holy, and insulted the very Spirit of grace?
30For we know the one who said: Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense. And, again: The Lord shall judge his people.
31Truly it is a terrible thing for a man who has done this to fall into the hands of the living God!
32You must never forget those past days when you had received the light and endured such a great and painful struggle.
33It was partly because everyone's eye was on you as you suffered harsh words and hard experiences, partly because you threw in your lot with those who suffered much the same.
34You sympathized with those who were put in prison and you were cheerful when your own goods were confiscated, for you knew that you had a much more solid and lasting treasure.
35Don't throw away your trust nowit carries with it a rich reward.
36Patient endurance is what you need if, after doing God's will, you are to receive what be has promised.
37For yet a very little while, He that cometh shall come, and shall not tarry.
38But my righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him.
39Surely we are not going to be men who cower back and are lost, but men who maintain their faith for the salvation of their souls!