So if perfection had in fact been possible through the Levitical priesthood – for on that basis ¹  the people received the law – what further need would there have been for another priest to arise, said to be in the order of Melchizedek and not in Aaron’s order?

so that we who have found refuge in him ¹  may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.

and he entered once for all into the most holy place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured ¹  eternal redemption.

For in fact you shared the sufferings of those in prison, ¹  and you accepted the confiscation of your belongings with joy, because you knew that you certainly ²  had a better and lasting possession.

keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ¹ 

Therefore he had ¹  to be made like his brothers and sisters ²  in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement ³  for the sins of the people.

But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end,

“And there will be no need at all ¹  for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. ² 

For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin.

For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, ¹  you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. ²  You have gone back to needing ³  milk, not ⁴  solid food.

Your conduct must be free from the love of money and you must be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.” ¹ 

For to which of the angels did God ¹  ever say, “You are my son! Today I have fathered you”? ²  And in another place ³  he says, ⁴  “I will be his father and he will be my son.” ⁵ 

For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in ¹  with those who heard it in faith. ² 

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God.

By faith, when Moses was born, his parents hid him ¹  for three months, because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” ¹  And yet God’s works ²  were accomplished from the foundation of the world.

For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship. ¹ 

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,

Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven?

You put all things under his control.” ¹  For when he put all things under his control, he left nothing outside of his control. At present we do not yet see all things under his control, ²