Who has done such mighty deeds,
summoning each new generation from the beginning of time?
It is I, the LORD,
the First and the Last.
I alone am he.
Don’t be afraid,
for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged,
for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
…The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
Look up into the heavens.
Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army,
one after another,
calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength,
not a single one is missing.
Under the old system,
the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer
could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity.
Just think how much more the blood of Christ
will purify our consciences from sinful deeds
so that we can worship the living God.
For by the power of the eternal Spirit,
Christ offered himself to God
as the perfect sacrifice for our sins.
So Christ has now become the High Priest
over all the good things that have come.
He has entered that greater,
more perfect Tabernacle in heaven,
which was not made by human hands
and is not part of this created world.
With his own blood—
not the blood of goats and calves—
he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time
and secured our redemption forever.
Jesus became a priest…
by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.
…because Jesus lives forever,
his priesthood lasts forever.
Therefore he is able,
once and forever,
to save those who come to God through him.
He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.
…it is impossible for God to lie.
Therefore,
we who have fled to him for refuge
can have great confidence
as we hold to the hope that lies before us.
This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.
It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.
Jesus has already gone in there for us…
While Jesus was here on earth,
he offered prayers and pleadings,
with a loud cry and tears,
to the one who could rescue him from death.
And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.
Even though Jesus was God’s Son,
he learned obedience from the things he suffered.
In this way,
God qualified him as a perfect High Priest,
and he became the source of eternal salvation
for all those who obey him.
For the word of God is alive and powerful.
It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword,
cutting between soul and spirit,
between joint and marrow.
It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God.
Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes,
and he is the one to whom we are accountable.
(Athens, Greece)
Because God’s children are human beings—
made of flesh and blood—
the Son also became flesh and blood.
For only as a human being could he die,
and only by dying could he break the power of the devil,
who had the power of death.
Only in this way could he set free
all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
