1The law is just a shadow of the good that was to come, and not the actual reality. So it can never through the repeated sacrifices offered year after year make right those who come to worship God.

2Otherwise wouldn't the sacrifices have stopped being offered? If the worshipers had been made clean once and for all, they wouldn't have had guilty consciences any longer.

3But in fact those sacrifices remind people of sins year after year,

4because it's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to remove sins.

5That's why when Christ ⁴⁷came into the world he said, “You didn't want sacrifices or offerings, but you did prepare a body for me.

6Burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin gave you no pleasure.

7Then I said, ‘God, see I've come to do what you want me to do, just as it says about me in the book.’” ⁴⁸

8As mentioned above, “You didn't want sacrifices or offerings, and burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin gave you no pleasure,” (even though they are offered in accordance with the law's requirements).

9Then he said, “See, I've come to do what you want.” He gets rid of the first agreement so he can set up the second,

10through which we all are made holy through Jesus Christ offering his body once and for all time.

11Every priest officiates in the services day after day, again and again offering the same sacrifices that can never remove sins.

12But this Priest, after he had offered for sins a single sacrifice that lasts forever, sat down at God's right hand.

13Now he waits until all his enemies are conquered, becoming like a footstool for him.

14For by a single sacrifice he has set right forever those who are being made holy.

15As the Holy Spirit also tells us, for having said,

16“This is the agreement that I will make with them later on, says the Lord. I will put my laws inside them, and I will write them in their minds.” Then he adds,

17“I won't remember their sins and lawlessness anymore.” ⁴⁹

18Once free from such things, sin offerings are no longer needed.

19Now we have the confidence, brothers and sisters, to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus.

20Through his life and death, ⁵⁰he opened up a brand-new, living way through the veil to God.

21Since we have such a great priest placed in charge over the house of God,

22let us come close to God with sincere minds, totally trusting in him. Our minds have been sprinkled to purify them from our evil way of thinking, and our bodies have been washed clean by pure water.

23So let us hold onto the hope we're telling others about, never hesitating, for God who promised is trustworthy.

24Let's think about how we can motivate one another to love and to do what is good.

25We should not give up meeting together, as some have done. In fact we should be encouraging one another, especially as you see the End ⁵¹approaching.

26For if we deliberately go on sinning after we've understood the truth, there's no longer any sacrifice for sins.

27All that's left is fear, expecting the impending judgment and the terrible fire that destroys those who are hostile to God.

28Someone who rejects the law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

29How much worse do you think someone will deserve their punishment if they have trampled underfoot the Son of God, if they have disregarded the blood that sealed the agreement and makes us holy, treating it as ordinary and trivial, and have abused the Spirit of grace?

30We know God, and he said, “I will make sure that justice is done; I will give people what they deserve.” He also said, “The Lord will judge his people.” ⁵²

31It's terrifying to come under the power of the living God.

32Just remember the past when, after you understood the truth, ⁵³you experienced a great deal of suffering.

33Sometimes you were made a spectacle of, being insulted and attacked; at other times you stood in solidarity with those who were suffering.

34You showed your sympathy for those in prison, and took it cheerfully when your possessions were confiscated, knowing that you have something better coming that will truly last.

35So don't lose your confidence in God—it will be richly rewarded.

36You need to be patient so that having done what God wants, you'll receive what he has promised.

37“In just a little while he will come, as he said—he won't delay.

38Those who do what is right will live by trusting in God, and if they draw back from their commitment, I won't be pleased with them.” ⁵⁴

39But we're not the kind of people who draw back and end up being lost. We are those who trust in God to save us.