Month: February 2020

A Heavenly Priesthood

1 Now the main point of what is being said is this: We have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

2 a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man.

3 For every high priest is appointed to offer giftsand sacrifices; therefore it was necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.

4 Now if He were on earth, He wouldn’t be a priest, since there are thoseoffering the gifts prescribed by the law.

5 These serve as a copy and shadowof the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For God said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.

6 But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree He is the mediatorof a better covenant,which has been legally enacted on better promises.

A Superior Covenant

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one.

8 But finding fault with His people,He says:

Look, the days are coming, says the Lord,

when I will make a new covenant

with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah —

9 not like the covenant

that I made with their ancestors

on the day I took them by their hands

to lead them out of the land of Egypt.

I disregarded them, says the Lord,

because they did not continue in My covenant.

10 But this is the covenant

that I will make with the house of Israel

after those days, says the Lord:

I will put My laws into their minds

and write them on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be My people.

11 And each person will not teach his fellow citizen,

and each his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,”

because they will all know Me,

from the least to the greatest of them.

12 For I will be merciful to their wrongdoing,

and I will never again remember their sins.

13 By saying, a new covenant, He has declared that the first is old. And what is old and aging is about to disappear.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/HEB/8-a5946a1e5939e4b342eecff52114d642.mp3?version_id=72—

Old Covenant Ministry

1 Now the first covenant also had regulations for ministry and an earthly sanctuary.

2 For a tabernacle was set up, and in the first room, which is called the holy place, were the lampstand, the table, and the presentation loaves.

3 Behind the second curtain, the tabernacle was called the most holy place.

4 It contained the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant, covered with gold on all sides, in which there was a gold jar containing the manna, Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.

5 The cherubim of glory were above it overshadowing the mercy seat. It is not possible to speak about these things in detail right now.

6 With these things set up this way, the priests enter the first room repeatedly, performing their ministry.

7 But the high priest alone enters the second room, and he does that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

8 The Holy Spirit was making it clear that the way into the most holy place had not yet been disclosed while the first tabernacle was still standing.

9 This is a symbol for the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the worshiper’s conscience.

10 They are physical regulations and only deal with food, drink, and various washings imposed until the time of restoration.

New Covenant Ministry

11 But the Messiah has appeared, high priest of the good things that have come.In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation),

12 He entered the most holy place once for all, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.

13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,

14 how much more will the blood of the Messiah, who through the eternal Spiritoffered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse ourconsciences from dead works to serve the living God?

15 Therefore, He is the mediatorof a new covenant,so that those who are called might receive the promiseof the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

16 Where a will exists, the death of the one who made it must be established.

17 For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in force while the one who made it is living.

18 That is why even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood.

19 For when every command had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll itself and all the people,

20 saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for you.

21 In the same way, he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the articles of worship with blood.

22 According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

23 Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves to be purified with better sacrifices than these.

24 For the Messiah did not enter a sanctuary made with hands (only a modelof the true one) but into heaven itself, so that He might now appear in the presence of God for us.

25 He did not do this to offer Himself many times, as the high priest enters the sanctuary yearly with the blood of another.

26 Otherwise, He would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared one time, at the end of the ages,for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

27 And just as it is appointed for people to die once — and after this, judgment—

28 so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many,will appear a second time,not to bear sin, butto bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/HEB/9-204350a09eccffe5b0b3c5430a9da425.mp3?version_id=72—

The Perfect Sacrifice

1 Since the law has only a shadow of the good thingsto come, and not the actual form of those realities, it can never perfect the worshipers by the same sacrifices they continually offer year after year.

2 Otherwise, wouldn’t they have stopped being offered, since the worshipers, once purified, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?

3 But in the sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.

4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Therefore, as He was coming into the world, He said:

You did not want sacrifice and offering,

but You prepared a body for Me.

6 You did not delight

in whole burnt offerings and sin offerings.

7 Then I said, “See —

it is written about Me

in the volume of the scroll —

I have come to do Your will, God! ”

8 After He says above, You did not want or delight in sacrifices and offerings, whole burnt offerings and sin offerings (which are offered according to the law),

9 He then says, See, I have come to do Your will.He takes away the first to establish the second.

10 By this will of God, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all.

11 Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins.

12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.

13 He is now waiting until His enemies are made His footstool.

14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.

15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after He says:

16 This is the covenant I will make with them

after those days, says the Lord:

I will put My laws on their hearts

and write them on their minds,

17 He adds:

I will never again remember

their sins and their lawless acts.

18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

Exhortations to Godliness

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus,

20 by a new and living way He has opened for us through the curtain (that is, His flesh),

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

22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.

23 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

24 And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works,

25 not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other,and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Warning against Deliberate Sin

26 For if we deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries.

28 If anyone disregards Moses’ law, he dies without mercy, based on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

29 How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, regarded as profanethe blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

30 For we know the One who has said, Vengeance belongs to Me, I will repay,and again, The Lord will judge His people.

31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

32 Remember the earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings.

33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to taunts and afflictions, and at other times you were companions of those who were treated that way.

34 For you sympathized with the prisonersand accepted with joy the confiscation of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves have a better and enduring possession.

35 So don’t throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

36 For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised.

37 For yet in a very little while,

the Coming One will come and not delay.

38 But My righteous onewill live by faith;

and if he draws back,

I have no pleasure in him.

39 But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and obtain life.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/HEB/10-e66013d6229149c515a18224af7c1b85.mp3?version_id=72—

Heroes of Faith

1 Now faith is the realityof what is hoped for, the proofof what is not seen.

2 For our ancestors won God’s approval by it.

3 By faith we understand that the universe wascreated by God’s command,so that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith.

5 By faith Enoch was taken away so he did not experience death, and he was not to be found because God took him away.For prior to his removal he was approved, since he had pleased God.

6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him.

7 By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going.

9 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise.

10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

11 By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since sheconsidered that the One who had promised was faithful.

12 Therefore from one man — in fact, from one as good as dead — came offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as innumerable as the grains of sand by the seashore.

13 These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance,greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth.

14 Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

15 If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return.

16 But they now desire a better place — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac.He received the promises and he was offering his unique son,

18 the one it had been said about, Your seed will be tracedthrough Isaac.

19 He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead,and as an illustration,he received him back.

20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esauconcerning things to come.

21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and he worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

22 By faith Joseph, as he was nearing the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions concerning his bones.

23 By faith, after Moses was born, he was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict.

24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter

25 and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the short-lived pleasure of sin.

26 For he considered the reproach because of the Messiah to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since his attention was on the reward.

27 By faith he left Egypt behind, not being afraid of the king’s anger, for Moses persevered as one who sees Him who is invisible.

28 By faith he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch the Israelites.

29 By faith they crossed the Red Sea as though they were on dry land. When the Egyptians attempted to do this, they were drowned.

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after being encircled by the Israelites for seven days.

31 By faith Rahab the prostitute received the spies in peace and didn’t perish with those who disobeyed.

32 And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,David, Samuel, and the prophets,

33 who by faith conquered kingdoms,administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,

34 quenched the raging of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength after being weak, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.

35 Women received their dead — they were raised to life again. Some men were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection,

36 and others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment.

37 They were stoned,they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins,destitute, afflicted, and mistreated.

38 The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.

39 All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised,

40 since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/HEB/11-5529064ed120179bf2b2070427ea794c.mp3?version_id=72—

The Call to Endurance

1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnessessurrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurancethe race that lies before us,

2 keeping our eyes on Jesus,the source and perfecterof our faith, who for the joy that lay before Himendured a cross and despised the shameand has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.

Fatherly Discipline

3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you won’t grow weary and lose heart.

4 In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:

My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly

or faint when you are reproved by Him,

6 for the Lord disciplines the one He loves

and punishes every son He receives.

7 Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?

8 But if you are without discipline — which allreceive— then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

9 Furthermore, we had natural fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live?

10 For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but He does it for our benefit, so that we can share His holiness.

11 No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peaceand righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees,

13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocatedbut healed instead.

Warning against Rejecting God’s Grace

14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness— without it no one will see the Lord.

15 Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and by it, defiling many.

16 And make sure that there isn’t any immoral or irreverentperson like Esau, who sold his birthright in exchange for one meal.

17 For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected because he didn’t find any opportunity for repentance, though he sought it with tears.

18 For you have not come to what could be touched, to a blazing fire, to darkness, gloom, and storm,

19 to the blast of a trumpet, and the sound of words. (Those who heard it begged that not another word be spoken to them,

20 for they could not bear what was commanded: And if even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned!

21 The appearance was so terrifying that Moses said, I am terrified and trembling.)

22 Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels in festive gathering,

23 to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been writtenin heaven, to God who is the Judge of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect,

24 to Jesus (mediatorof a new covenant), and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel.

25 Make sure that you do not reject the One who speaks. For if they did not escape when they rejected Him who warned them on earth, even less will we if we turn away from Him who warns us from heaven.

26 His voice shook the earth at that time, but now He has promised, Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven.

27 This expression, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what can be shaken— that is, created things — so that what is not shaken might remain.

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us hold on to grace.By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe,

29 for our God is a consuming fire.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/HEB/12-e7c334da2f479e63c29301a823186814.mp3?version_id=72—

Final Exhortations

1 Let brotherly lovecontinue.

2 Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.

3 Remember the prisoners, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily.

4 Marriage must be respected by all, and the marriage bed kept undefiled, because God will judge immoral people and adulterers.

5 Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you.

6 Therefore, we may boldly say:

The Lord is my helper;

I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

7 Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s word to you. As you carefully observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith.

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

9 Don’t be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established by grace and not by foods, since those involved in them have not benefited.

10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle do not have a right to eat.

11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the most holy place by the high priestas a sin offering are burned outside the camp.

12 Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate,so that He might sanctifythe people by His own blood.

13 Let us then go to Him outside the camp, bearing His disgrace.

14 For we do not have an enduring city here; instead, we seek the one to come.

15 Therefore, through Him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess His name.

16 Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

17 Obey your leadersand submit to them, for they keep watchover your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

18 Pray for us; for we are convinced that we have a clear conscience, wanting to conduct ourselves honorably in everything.

19 And I especially urge you to praythat I may be restored to you very soon.

Benediction and Farewell

20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus — the great Shepherd of the sheep— with the blood of the everlasting covenant,

21 equipyou with all that is good to do His will, working in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ. Glory belongs to Him forever and ever.Amen.

22 Brothers, I urge you to receive this message of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.

23 Be aware that our brother Timothy has been released. If he comes soon enough, he will be with me when I see you.

24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who are from Italy greet you.

25 Grace be with all of you.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/HEB/13-959c9a309fbbf6856e18fd7faa7bfaec.mp3?version_id=72—