Christ's Sacrifice Once for All

1Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of those things, ³⁶the same sacrifices offered year after year can never perfect those who draw near to worship.

2Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once and for all, and would no longer have any consciousness of their sins?

3But year after year they are reminded of their sins by these sacrifices.

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

5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifice and offering yoʋ did not desire,
but a body yoʋ prepared for me;

6in whole burnt offerings and sin offerings
yoʋ took no pleasure.

7Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do yoʋr will, O God,
as it is written about me in the scroll of the book.’ ”

8In the passage above he says, “ ³⁷Sacrifice and offering, and whole burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor did you take pleasure in them” (although they are offered according to the law),

9Then he adds, “Behold, I have come to do yoʋr ³⁸will, O God.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second.

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

11Now every priest stands daily at service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins.

12But when Christ had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

13where he is now waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet.

14For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

15The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First 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.”

17Then he adds,
“Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

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

A Call to Persevere in the Faith

19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,

20by the new and living way he opened for us through the veil (that is, through his flesh),

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

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

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

24And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good works,

25not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

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

27but only a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume God's adversaries.

28Anyone who has rejected the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

29How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by someone who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

30For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will ³⁹repay, says the Lord.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32But remember the earlier days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle in the face of suffering.

33At times you were publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and at other times you were partners with those who were treated that way.

34For you sympathized with ⁴⁰me when I was in prison, and you accepted the plundering of your possessions with joy, knowing ⁴¹that you have for yourselves a better and lasting possession ⁴²in heaven.

35Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

36For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what was promised.

37“For in just a little while,
he who is coming will come and not delay.

38But ⁴³the righteous one will live by faith;
and if he shrinks back,
my soul will take no pleasure in him.”

39But we are not among those who shrink back and are destroyed, but among those who have faith and preserve their souls.