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

Now the first covenant, in fact, had regulations for worship and its earthly sanctuary.

Greetings to all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy send you greetings.

Remember your leaders, who spoke God’s message to you; reflect on the outcome of their lives and imitate their faith.

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

Do not be carried away by all sorts of strange teachings. For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not ritual meals, which have never benefited those who participated in them.

Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions,

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. Let them do this with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you.

For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food.

For when Moses had spoken every command to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,