Month: December 2019

Introduction

The Letter to the Hebrews

was written to a group of Christians who, faced with increasing opposition, were in danger of abandoning the Christian faith. The writer encourages them in their faith primarily by showing that Jesus Christ is the true and final revelation of God. In doing this he emphasizes three truths: (1) Jesus is the eternal Son of God, who learned true obedience to the Father through the suffering that he endured. As the Son of God, Jesus is superior to the prophets of the Old Testament, to the angels, and to Moses himself. (2) Jesus has been declared by God to be an eternal priest, superior to the priests of the Old Testament. (3) Through Jesus the believer is saved from sin, fear, and death; and Jesus, as High Priest, provides the true salvation, which was only foreshadowed by the rituals and animal sacrifices of the Hebrew religion.

By citing the example of the faith of some famous persons in Israel’s history (chapter 11), the writer appeals to his readers to remain faithful, and in chapter 12 he urges his readers to continue faithful to the end, with eyes fixed on Jesus, and to endure whatever suffering and persecution may come to them. The book closes with words of advice and warning.

Outline of Contents

Introduction: Christ the complete revelation of God (1.1-3)

Christ’s superiority over the angels (1.4—2.18)

Christ’s superiority over Moses and Joshua (3.1—4.13)

The superiority of Christ’s priesthood (4.14—7.28)

The superiority of Christ’s covenant (8.1—9.22)

The superiority of Christ’s sacrifice (9.23—10.39)

The primacy of faith (11.1—12.29)

Pleasing God (13.1-19)

Closing prayer (13.20-21)

Final words (13.22-25)

God’s Word through His Son

1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors many times and in many ways through the prophets,

2 but in these last days he has spoken to us through his Son. He is the one through whom God created the universe, the one whom God has chosen to possess all things at the end.

3 He reflects the brightness of God’s glory and is the exact likeness of God’s own being, sustaining the universe with his powerful word. After achieving forgiveness for the sins of all human beings, he sat down in heaven at the right side of God, the Supreme Power.

The Greatness of God’s Son

4 The Son was made greater than the angels, just as the name that God gave him is greater than theirs.

5 For God never said to any of his angels,

“You are my Son;

today I have become your Father.”

Nor did God say about any angel,

“I will be his Father,

and he will be my Son.”

6 But when God was about to send his first-born Son into the world, he said,

“All of God’s angels must worship him.”

7 But about the angels God said,

“God makes his angels winds,

and his servants flames of fire.”

8 About the Son, however, God said:

“Your kingdom, O God, will lastforever and ever!

You rule over yourpeople with justice.

9 You love what is right and hate what is wrong.

That is why God, your God, has chosen you

and has given you the joy of an honor far greater

than he gave to your companions.”

10 He also said,

“You, Lord, in the beginning created the earth,

and with your own hands you made the heavens.

11 They will disappear, but you will remain;

they will all wear out like clothes.

12 You will fold them up like a coat,

and they will be changed like clothes.

But you are always the same,

and your life never ends.”

13 God never said to any of his angels:

“Sit here at my right side

until I put your enemies

as a footstool under your feet.”

14 What are the angels, then? They are spirits who serve God and are sent by him to help those who are to receive salvation.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/HEB/1-7e308c531be57cd4201e2eacc379dd40.mp3?version_id=68—

The Great Salvation

1 That is why we must hold on all the more firmly to the truths we have heard, so that we will not be carried away.

2 The message given to our ancestors by the angels was shown to be true, and those who did not follow it or obey it received the punishment they deserved.

3 How, then, shall we escape if we pay no attention to such a great salvation? The Lord himself first announced this salvation, and those who heard him proved to us that it is true.

4 At the same time God added his witness to theirs by performing all kinds of miracles and wonders and by distributing the gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his will.

The One Who Leads Us to Salvation

5 God has not placed the angels as rulers over the new world to come—the world of which we speak.

6 Instead, as it is said somewhere in the Scriptures:

“What are human beings, O God, that you should think of them;

mere human beings, that you should care for them?

7 You made them for a little while lower than the angels;

you crowned them with glory and honor,

8 and made them rulers over all things.”

It says that God made them “rulers over all things”; this clearly includes everything. We do not, however, see human beings ruling over all things now.

9 But we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, so that through God’s grace he should die for everyone. We see him now crowned with glory and honor because of the death he suffered.

10 It was only right that God, who creates and preserves all things, should make Jesus perfect through suffering, in order to bring many children to share his glory. For Jesus is the one who leads them to salvation.

11 He purifies people from their sins, and both he and those who are made pure all have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his family.

12 He says to God,

“I will tell my people what you have done;

I will praise you in their meeting.”

13 He also says, “I will put my trust in God.” And he also says, “Here I am with the children that God has given me.”

14 Since the children, as he calls them, are people of flesh and blood, Jesus himself became like them and shared their human nature. He did this so that through his death he might destroy the Devil, who has the power over death,

15 and in this way set free those who were slaves all their lives because of their fear of death.

16 For it is clear that it is not the angels that he helps. Instead, he helps the descendants of Abraham.

17 This means that he had to become like his people in every way, in order to be their faithful and merciful High Priest in his service to God, so that the people’s sins would be forgiven.

18 And now he can help those who are tempted, because he himself was tempted and suffered.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/HEB/2-9a3aad1dd9dc322a7220a43108d4bc30.mp3?version_id=68—

Jesus Is Greater than Moses

1 My Christian friends, who also have been called by God! Think of Jesus, whom God sent to be the High Priest of the faith we profess.

2 He was faithful to God, who chose him to do this work, just as Moses was faithful in his work in God’s house.

3 A man who builds a house receives more honor than the house itself. In the same way Jesus is worthy of much greater honor than Moses.

4 Every house, of course, is built by someone—and God is the one who has built all things.

5 Moses was faithful in God’s house as a servant, and he spoke of the things that God would say in the future.

6 But Christ is faithful as the Son in charge of God’s house. We are his house if we keep up our courage and our confidence in what we hope for.

A Rest for God’s People

7 So then, as the Holy Spirit says,

“If you hear God’s voice today,

8 do not be stubborn, as your ancestors were when they rebelled against God,

as they were that day in the desert when they put him to the test.

9 There they put me to the test and tried me, says God,

although they had seen what I did for forty years.

10 And so I was angry with those people and said,

‘They are always disloyal

and refuse to obey my commands.’

11 I was angry and made a solemn promise:

‘They will never enter the land where I would have given them rest!’”

12 My friends, be careful that none of you have a heart so evil and unbelieving that you will turn away from the living God.

13 Instead, in order that none of you be deceived by sin and become stubborn, you must help one another every day, as long as the word “Today” in the scripture applies to us.

14 For we are all partners with Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at the beginning.

15 This is what the scripture says:

“If you hear God’s voice today,

do not be stubborn, as your ancestors were

when they rebelled against God.”

16 Who were the people who heard God’s voice and rebelled against him? All those who were led out of Egypt by Moses.

17 With whom was God angry for forty years? With the people who sinned, who fell down dead in the desert.

18 When God made his solemn promise, “They will never enter the land where I would have given them rest”—of whom was he speaking? Of those who rebelled.

19 We see, then, that they were not able to enter the land, because they did not believe.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/HEB/3-af337778f45475fce2e47c36d2b7459d.mp3?version_id=68—

1 Now, God has offered us the promise that we may receive that rest he spoke about. Let us take care, then, that none of you will be found to have failed to receive that promised rest.

2 For we have heard the Good News, just as they did. They heard the message, but it did them no good, because when they heard it, they did not accept it with faith.

3 We who believe, then, do receive that rest which God promised. It is just as he said,

“I was angry and made a solemn promise:

‘They will never enter the land where I would have given them rest!’”

He said this even though his work had been finished from the time he created the world.

4 For somewhere in the Scriptures this is said about the seventh day: “God rested on the seventh day from all his work.”

5 This same matter is spoken of again: “They will never enter that land where I would have given them rest.”

6 Those who first heard the Good News did not receive that rest, because they did not believe. There are, then, others who are allowed to receive it.

7 This is shown by the fact that God sets another day, which is called “Today.” Many years later he spoke of it through David in the scripture already quoted:

“If you hear God’s voice today,

do not be stubborn.”

8 If Joshua had given the people the rest that God had promised, God would not have spoken later about another day.

9 As it is, however, there still remains for God’s people a rest like God’s resting on the seventh day.

10 For those who receive that rest which God promised will rest from their own work, just as God rested from his.

11 Let us, then, do our best to receive that rest, so that no one of us will fail as they did because of their lack of faith.

12 The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart.

13 There is nothing that can be hid from God; everything in all creation is exposed and lies open before his eyes. And it is to him that we must all give an account of ourselves.

Jesus the Great High Priest

14 Let us, then, hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we have a great High Priest who has gone into the very presence of God—Jesus, the Son of God.

15 Our High Priest is not one who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin.

16 Let us have confidence, then, and approach God’s throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/HEB/4-bf3946f616f3708a92325673b1a4748a.mp3?version_id=68—

1 Every high priest is chosen from his fellow-men and appointed to serve God on their behalf, to offer sacrifices and offerings for sins.

2 Since he himself is weak in many ways, he is able to be gentle with those who are ignorant and make mistakes.

3 And because he is himself weak, he must offer sacrifices not only for the sins of the people but also for his own sins.

4 No one chooses for himself the honor of being a high priest. It is only by God’s call that a man is made a high priest—just as Aaron was.

5 In the same way, Christ did not take upon himself the honor of being a high priest. Instead, God said to him,

“You are my Son;

today I have become your Father.”

6 He also said in another place,

“You will be a priest forever,

in the priestly order of Melchizedek.”

7 In his life on earth Jesus made his prayers and requests with loud cries and tears to God, who could save him from death. Because he was humble and devoted, God heard him.

8 But even though he was God’s Son, he learned through his sufferings to be obedient.

9 When he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him,

10 and God declared him to be high priest, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.

Warning against Abandoning the Faith

11 There is much we have to say about this matter, but it is hard to explain to you, because you are so slow to understand.

12 There has been enough time for you to be teachers—yet you still need someone to teach you the first lessons of God’s message. Instead of eating solid food, you still have to drink milk.

13 Anyone who has to drink milk is still a child, without any experience in the matter of right and wrong.

14 Solid food, on the other hand, is for adults, who through practice are able to distinguish between good and evil.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/HEB/5-877880015183109640cfd5665af4e0ee.mp3?version_id=68—

1 Let us go forward, then, to mature teaching and leave behind us the first lessons of the Christian message. We should not lay again the foundation of turning away from useless works and believing in God;

2 of the teaching about baptismsand the laying on of hands; of the resurrection of the dead and the eternal judgment.

3 Let us go forward! And this is what we will do, if God allows.

4 For how can those who abandon their faith be brought back to repent again? They were once in God’s light; they tasted heaven’s gift and received their share of the Holy Spirit;

5 they knew from experience that God’s word is good, and they had felt the powers of the coming age.

6 And then they abandoned their faith! It is impossible to bring them back to repent again, because they are again crucifying the Son of God and exposing him to public shame.

7 God blesses the soil which drinks in the rain that often falls on it and which grows plants that are useful to those for whom it is cultivated.

8 But if it grows thorns and weeds, it is worth nothing; it is in danger of being cursed by God and will be destroyed by fire.

9 But even if we speak like this, dear friends, we feel sure about you. We know that you have the better blessings that belong to your salvation.

10 God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to other Christians.

11 Our great desire is that each of you keep up your eagerness to the end, so that the things you hope for will come true.

12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to be like those who believe and are patient, and so receive what God has promised.

God’s Sure Promise

13 When God made his promise to Abraham, he made a vow to do what he had promised. Since there was no one greater than himself, he used his own name when he made his vow.

14 He said, “I promise you that I will bless you and give you many descendants.”

15 Abraham was patient, and so he received what God had promised.

16 When we make a vow, we use the name of someone greater than ourselves, and the vow settles all arguments.

17 To those who were to receive what he promised, God wanted to make it very clear that he would never change his purpose; so he added his vow to the promise.

18 There are these two things, then, that cannot change and about which God cannot lie. So we who have found safety with him are greatly encouraged to hold firmly to the hope placed before us.

19 We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure, and goes through the curtain of the heavenly temple into the inner sanctuary.

20 On our behalf Jesus has gone in there before us and has become a high priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/HEB/6-d8515264655fd2469e0f7d46abeca2f6.mp3?version_id=68—

The Priest Melchizedek

1 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and a priest of the Most High God. As Abraham was coming back from the battle in which he defeated the four kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him,

2 and Abraham gave him one tenth of all he had taken. (The first meaning of Melchizedek’s name is “King of Righteousness”; and because he was king of Salem, his name also means “King of Peace.”)

3 There is no record of Melchizedek’s father or mother or of any of his ancestors; no record of his birth or of his death. He is like the Son of God; he remains a priest forever.

4 You see, then, how great he was. Abraham, our famous ancestor, gave him one tenth of all he got in the battle.

5 And those descendants of Levi who are priests are commanded by the Law to collect one tenth from the people of Israel, that is, from their own people, even though they are also descendants of Abraham.

6 Melchizedek was not descended from Levi, but he collected one tenth from Abraham and blessed him, the man who received God’s promises.

7 There is no doubt that the one who blesses is greater than the one who is blessed.

8 In the case of the priests the tenth is collected by men who die; but as for Melchizedek the tenth was collected by one who lives, as the scripture says.

9 And, so to speak, when Abraham paid the tenth, Levi (whose descendants collect the tenth) also paid it.

10 For Levi had not yet been born, but was, so to speak, in the body of his ancestor Abraham when Melchizedek met him.

11 It was on the basis of the levitical priesthood that the Law was given to the people of Israel. Now, if the work of the levitical priests had been perfect, there would have been no need for a different kind of priest to appear, one who is in the priestly order of Melchizedek,not of Aaron.

12 For when the priesthood is changed, there also has to be a change in the law.

13 And our Lord, of whom these things are said, belonged to a different tribe, and no member of his tribe ever served as a priest.

14 It is well known that he was born a member of the tribe of Judah; and Moses did not mention this tribe when he spoke of priests.

Another Priest, like Melchizedek

15 The matter becomes even plainer; a different priest has appeared, who is like Melchizedek.

16 He was made a priest, not by human rules and regulations, but through the power of a life which has no end.

17 For the scripture says, “You will be a priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.”

18 The old rule, then, is set aside, because it was weak and useless.

19 For the Law of Moses could not make anything perfect. And now a better hope has been provided through which we come near to God.

20 In addition, there is also God’s vow. There was no such vow when the others were made priests.

21 But Jesus became a priest by means of a vow when God said to him,

“The Lord has made a solemn promise

and will not take it back:

‘You will be a priest forever.’”

22 This difference, then, also makes Jesus the guarantee of a better covenant.

23 There is another difference: there were many of those other priests, because they died and could not continue their work.

24 But Jesus lives on forever, and his work as priest does not pass on to someone else.

25 And so he is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through him, because he lives forever to plead with God for them.

26 Jesus, then, is the High Priest that meets our needs. He is holy; he has no fault or sin in him; he has been set apart from sinners and raised above the heavens.

27 He is not like other high priests; he does not need to offer sacrifices every day for his own sins first and then for the sins of the people. He offered one sacrifice, once and for all, when he offered himself.

28 The Law of Moses appoints men who are imperfect to be high priests; but God’s promise made with the vow, which came later than the Law, appoints the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/HEB/7-2097cb06f6c51c10dbcbf8a5487aad7d.mp3?version_id=68—

Jesus Our High Priest

1 The whole point of what we are saying is that we have such a High Priest, who sits at the right of the throne of the Divine Majesty in heaven.

2 He serves as high priest in the Most Holy Place, that is, in the real tent which was put up by the Lord, not by human hands.

3 Every high priest is appointed to present offerings and animal sacrifices to God, and so our High Priest must also have something to offer.

4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer the gifts required by the Jewish Law.

5 The work they do as priests is really only a copy and a shadow of what is in heaven. It is the same as it was with Moses. When he was about to build the Sacred Tent, God told him, “Be sure to make everything according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain.”

6 But now, Jesus has been given priestly work which is superior to theirs, just as the covenant which he arranged between God and his people is a better one, because it is based on promises of better things.

7 If there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, there would have been no need for a second one.

8 But God finds fault with his people when he says,

“The days are coming, says the Lord,

when I will draw up a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.

9 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors

on the day I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt.

They were not faithful to the covenant I made with them,

and so I paid no attention to them.

10 Now, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel

in the days to come, says the Lord:

I will put my laws in their minds

and write them on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

11 None of them will have to teach their friends

or tell their neighbors,

‘Know the Lord.’

For they will all know me,

from the least to the greatest.

12 I will forgive their sins

and will no longer remember their wrongs.”

13 By speaking of a new covenant, God has made the first one old; and anything that becomes old and worn out will soon disappear.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/HEB/8-021c7e3e1d3a07109450141443b81f81.mp3?version_id=68—

Earthly and Heavenly Worship

1 The first covenant had rules for worship and a place made for worship as well.

2 A tent was put up, the outer one, which was called the Holy Place. In it were the lampstand and the table with the bread offered to God.

3 Behind the second curtain was the tent called the Most Holy Place.

4 In it were the gold altar for the burning of incense and the Covenant Box all covered with gold and containing the gold jar with the manna in it, Aaron’s stick that had sprouted leaves, and the two stone tablets with the commandments written on them.

5 Above the Box were the winged creatures representing God’s presence, with their wings spread over the place where sins were forgiven. But now is not the time to explain everything in detail.

6 This is how those things have been arranged. The priests go into the outer tent every day to perform their duties,

7 but only the high priest goes into the inner tent, and he does so only once a year. He takes with him blood which he offers to God on behalf of himself and for the sins which the people have committed without knowing they were sinning.

8 The Holy Spirit clearly teaches from all these arrangements that the way into the Most Holy Place has not yet been opened as long as the outer tent still stands.

9 This is a symbol which points to the present time. It means that the offerings and animal sacrifices presented to God cannot make the worshiper’s heart perfect,

10 since they have to do only with food, drink, and various purification ceremonies. These are all outward rules, which apply only until the time when God will establish the new order.

11 But Christ has already come as the High Priest of the good things that are already here.The tent in which he serves is greater and more perfect; it is not a tent made by human hands, that is, it is not a part of this created world.

12 When Christ went through the tent and entered once and for all into the Most Holy Place, he did not take the blood of goats and bulls to offer as a sacrifice; rather, he took his own blood and obtained eternal salvation for us.

13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a burnt calf are sprinkled on the people who are ritually unclean, and this purifies them by taking away their ritual impurity.

14 Since this is true, how much more is accomplished by the blood of Christ! Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will purify our consciences from useless rituals, so that we may serve the living God.

15 For this reason Christ is the one who arranges a new covenant, so that those who have been called by God may receive the eternal blessings that God has promised. This can be done because there has been a death which sets people free from the wrongs they did while the first covenant was in effect.

16 In the case of a will it is necessary to prove that the person who made it has died,

17 for a will means nothing while the person who made it is alive; it goes into effect only after his death.

18 That is why even the first covenantwent into effect only with the use of blood.

19 First, Moses proclaimed to the people all the commandments as set forth in the Law. Then he took the blood of bulls and goats, mixed it with water, and sprinkled it on the book of the Law and all the people, using a sprig of hyssop and some red wool.

20 He said, “This is the blood which seals the covenant that God has commanded you to obey.”

21 In the same way Moses also sprinkled the blood on the Sacred Tent and over all the things used in worship.

22 Indeed, according to the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and sins are forgiven only if blood is poured out.

Christ’s Sacrifice Takes Away Sins

23 Those things, which are copies of the heavenly originals, had to be purified in that way. But the heavenly things themselves require much better sacrifices.

24 For Christ did not go into a Holy Place made by human hands, which was a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself, where he now appears on our behalf in the presence of God.

25 The Jewish high priest goes into the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of an animal. But Christ did not go in to offer himself many times,

26 for then he would have had to suffer many times ever since the creation of the world. Instead, now when all ages of time are nearing the end, he has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself.

27 Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God.

28 In the same manner Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for him.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/HEB/9-8ed70ea0fbf6512d442deacdb894a993.mp3?version_id=68—