and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

They served only for matters of food and drink and various washings; they are external regulations imposed until the new order came.

For a will takes effect only at death, since it carries no force while the one who made it is alive.

Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell after the people marched around them for seven days.

Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God,

But showing its fault, God says to them, “Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

“This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws on their hearts and I will inscribe them on their minds,”

Yet the one these things are spoken about belongs to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever officiated at the altar.

Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law.

But now Jesus has obtained a superior ministry, since the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted on better promises.

After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets,

You made him lower than the angels for a little while. You crowned him with glory and honor.

Again he says, “I will be confident in him,” and again, “Here I am, with the children God has given me.”

Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We have such a high priest, one who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,

for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice.

By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff.

(the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth.

For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness.

But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. We are of his house, if in fact we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope we take pride in.