Hebrews 1–8

1ST CHAPTER

God Has Spoken to Us Through His Son

¹In the past God spoke to our ancestors at many different times and in many different ways through the prophets. ²In these last days he has spoken to us through his Son. God made his Son responsible for everything. His Son is the one through whom God made the universe. ³His Son is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact likeness of God’s being. He holds everything together through his powerful words. After he had cleansed people from their sins, he now holds the honored position—the one next to the majestic God [the Father] on the heavenly throne. 

God’s Son Is Superior to the Angels

⁴The Son has become greater than the angels since he has been given a name that is superior to theirs. ⁵God never said to any of his angels, 

“You are my Son. 

Today I have become your Father.” 

And God never said to any of his angels, 

“I will be his Father, 

and he will be my Son.” 

⁶When God was about to send his firstborn Son into the world, he said, 

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

⁷God said about the angels, 

“He makes his messengers winds. 

He makes his servants flames of fire.” 

⁸But God said about his Son, 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. 

The scepter in your kingdom is a scepter for justice. 

⁹You have loved what is right and hated what is wrong. 

That is why God, your God, 

anointed you, rather than your companions, with the oil of joy.” 

¹⁰God also said, 

“Lord, in the beginning you laid the foundation of the earth. 

With your own hands you made the heavens. 

¹¹They will come to an end, but you will live forever. 

They will all wear out like clothes. 

¹²They will be taken off like a coat. 

You will change them like clothes. 

But you remain the same, and your life will never end. 

¹³But God never said to any of the angels, 

“Take the honored position—the one next to me on the heavenly throne 

until I put your enemies under your control.” 

¹⁴What are all the angels? They are spirits sent to serve those who are going to receive salvation. 

2ND CHAPTER

Everything Is under Jesus’ Control

¹For this reason we must pay closer attention to what we have heard. Then we won’t drift away ⸤from the truth⸥. ²After all, the message that the angels brought was reliable, and every violation and act of disobedience was properly punished. ³So how will we escape punishment if we reject the important message, the message that God saved us? First, the Lord told this saving message. Then those who heard him confirmed that message. ⁴God verified what they said through miraculous signs, amazing things, other powerful acts, and with other gifts from the Holy Spirit as he wanted. 

⁵He didn’t put the world that will come (about which we are talking) under the angels’ control. ⁶Instead, someone has declared this somewhere in Scripture: 

“What is a mortal that you should remember him, 

or the Son of Man^athat you take care of him? 

⁷You made him a little lower than the angels. 

You crowned him with glory and honor. 

⁸You put everything under his control.” 

When God put everything under his Son’s control, nothing was left out. 

However, at the present time we still don’t see everything under his Son’s control. ⁹Jesus was made a little lower than the angels, but we see him crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death. Through God’s kindness^bhe died on behalf of everyone. ¹⁰God is the one for whom and through whom everything exists. Therefore, while God was bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was the right time to bring Jesus, the source of their salvation, to the end of his work through suffering. 

Jesus Became One of Us to Help Us

¹¹Jesus, who makes people holy, and all those who are made holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus isn’t ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. ¹²He says, 

“I will tell my people about your name. 

I will praise you within the congregation.” 

¹³In addition, Jesus says, 

“I will trust him.” 

And Jesus says, 

“I am here with the sons and daughters God has given me.” 

¹⁴Since all of these sons and daughters have flesh and blood, Jesus took on flesh and blood to be like them. He did this so that by dying he would destroy the one who had power over death (that is, the devil). ¹⁵In this way he would free those who were slaves all their lives because they were afraid of dying. ¹⁶So Jesus helps Abraham’s descendants rather than helping angels. ¹⁷Therefore, he had to become like his brothers and sisters so that he could be merciful. He became like them so that he could serve as a faithful chief priest in God’s presence and make peace with God for their sins. ¹⁸Because Jesus experienced temptation when he suffered, he is able to help others when they are tempted. 

3RD CHAPTER

Christ Is Superior to Moses

¹Brothers and sisters, you are holy partners in a heavenly calling. So look carefully at Jesus, the apostle and chief priest about whom we make our declaration of faith. ²Jesus is faithful to God, who appointed him, in the same way that Moses was faithful when he served in God’s house. ³Jesus deserves more praise than Moses in the same way that the builder of a house is praised more than the house. ⁴After all, every house has a builder, but the builder of everything is God. 

⁵Moses was a faithful servant in God’s household. He told ⸤the people⸥ what God would say in the future. ⁶But Christ is a faithful son in charge of God’s household. We are his household if we continue to have courage and to be proud of the confidence we have. 

⁷As the Holy Spirit says, 

“If you hear God speak today, don’t be stubborn. 

⁸Don’t be stubborn like those who rebelled 

and tested me in the desert. 

⁹That is where your ancestors tested me, 

¹⁰although they had seen what I had done for 40 years. 

That is why I was angry with those people. So I said, 

‘Their hearts continue to stray, 

and they have not learned my ways.’ 

¹¹So I angrily took a solemn oath 

that they would never enter my place of rest.” 

¹²Be careful, brothers and sisters, that none of you ever develop a wicked, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³Encourage each other every day while you have the opportunity. If you do this, none of you will be deceived by sin and become stubborn. ¹⁴After all, we will remain Christ’s partners only if we continue to hold on to our original confidence until the end. 

¹⁵Scripture says, 

“If you hear God speak today, don’t be stubborn. 

Don’t be stubborn like those who rebelled.” 

¹⁶Who heard God and rebelled? All those whom Moses led out of Egypt rebelled. ¹⁷With whom was God angry for 40 years? He was angry with those who sinned and died in the desert. ¹⁸Who did God swear would never enter his place of rest? He was talking about those who didn’t obey him. ¹⁹So we see that they couldn’t enter his place of rest because they didn’t believe. 

4TH CHAPTER

We Will Enter God’s Place of Rest

¹God’s promise that we may enter his place of rest still stands. We are afraid that some of you think you won’t enter his place of rest. ²We have heard the same Good News that your ancestors heard. But the message didn’t help those who heard it in the past because they didn’t believe. 

³We who believe are entering that place of rest. As God said, “So I angrily took a solemn oath that they would never enter my place of rest.” God said this even though he had finished his work when he created the world. ⁴Somewhere in Scripture God has said this about the seventh day: “On the seventh day God rested from all his work.” 

⁵God also said in the same passage, “They will never enter my place of rest.” ⁶However, some people enter that place of rest. Those who heard the Good News in the past did not enter God’s place of rest because they did not obey God. ⁷So God set another day. That day is today. Many years after ⸤your ancestors failed to enter that place of rest⸥ God spoke about it through David in the passage already quoted: “If you hear God speak today, don’t be stubborn.” ⁸If Joshua had given the people rest, God would not have spoken about another day. ⁹Therefore, a time of eternal rest exists for God’s people. ¹⁰Those who entered his place of rest also rest from their work as God did from his. 

¹¹So we must make every effort to enter that place of rest. Then no one will be lost by following the example of those who refused to obey. 

¹²God’s word is living and active. It is sharper than any two-edged sword and cuts as deep as the place where soul and spirit meet, the place where joints and marrow meet. God’s word judges a person’s thoughts and intentions. ¹³No creature can hide from God. Everything is uncovered and exposed for him to see. We must answer to him. 

Christ Is Superior to Other Chief Priests

¹⁴We need to hold on to our declaration of faith: We have a superior chief priest who has gone through the heavens. That person is Jesus, the Son of God. ¹⁵We have a chief priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. He was tempted in every way that we are, but he didn’t sin. ¹⁶So we can go confidently to the throne of God’s kindness^ato receive mercy and find kindness, which will help us at the right time. 

5TH CHAPTER

¹Every chief priest is chosen from humans to represent them in front of God, that is, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin. ²The chief priest can be gentle with people who are ignorant and easily deceived, because he also has weaknesses. ³Because he has weaknesses, he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins in the same way that he does for the sins of his people. 

⁴No one takes this honor for himself. Instead, God calls him as he called Aaron. ⁵So Christ did not take the glory of being a chief priest for himself. Instead, the glory was given to him by God, who said, 

“You are my Son. 

Today I have become your Father.” 

⁶In another place in Scripture, God said, 

“You are a priest forever, 

in the way Melchizedek was a priest.” 

⁷During his life on earth, Jesus prayed to God, who could save him from death. He prayed and pleaded with loud crying and tears, and…