For the Law, since it has only a shadow
of the good things to come and not the very image of things,
they can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer
continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.
Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the
worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had
consciousness of sins? But in them there is a reminder of sins
year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats
to take away sins. Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,
“Sacrifice and offering You have
not desired,
But a body You have prepared for Me;
In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure.
“Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come
(In the scroll of the book it is written of Me)
To do Your will, O God.’”
But a body You have prepared for Me;
In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure.
“Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come
(In the scroll of the book it is written of Me)
To do Your will, O God.’”
After
saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings
and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken
pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), then He
has said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes
away the first in order to establish the second. By which will
we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all.
Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time
the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having
offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right
hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made
a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for
all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit
also testifies to us; for after saying,
“This
is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will write them,”
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will write them,”
He then says,
“And their sins and their lawless
deeds
I will remember no more.”
I will remember no more.”
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place
by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated
for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a
great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true
heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean
from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us
hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who
promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one
another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling
together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and
all the more as you see the day drawing near.
For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of
the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a
terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will
consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses
dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How
much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled
under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of
the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit
of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will
repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a
terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
But remember the former days in which, after being
enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by
being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations,
and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For
you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the
seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a
better possession and a lasting one. Therefore, do not throw away
your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of
endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may
receive the promise.
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