Umbram enim habens lex futurorum bonorum, non ipsam imaginem rerum: per singulos annos, eisdem ipsis hostiis quas offerunt indesinenter, numquam potest accedentes perfectos facere:

For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things; by the selfsame sacrifices which they offer continually every year, can never make the comers thereunto perfect:

What the law contains is only the shadow of those blessings which were still to come, not the full expression of their reality. The same sacrifices are offered year after year without intermission, and still the worshippers can never reach, through the law, their full growth.

alioquin cessassent offerri: ideo quod nullam haberent ultra conscientiam peccati, cultores semel mundati:

For then they would have ceased to be offered: because the worshippers once cleansed should have no conscience of sin any longer:

If they could, must not the offerings have ceased before now? There would be no guilt left to reproach the consciences of those who come to worship; they would have been cleansed once for all.

sed in ipsis commemoratio peccatorum per singulos annos fit.

But in them there is made a commemoration of sins every year.

No, what these offerings bring with them, year by year, is only the remembrance of sins;

Impossibile enim est sanguine taurorum et hircorum auferri peccata.

For it is impossible that with the blood of oxen and goats sin should be taken away.

that sins should be taken away by the blood of bulls and goats is impossible.

Ideo ingrediens mundum dicit: Hostiam et oblationem noluisti: corpus autem aptasti mihi:

Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith: Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldest not: but a body thou hast fitted to me:

As Christ comes into the world, he says, No sacrifice, no offering was thy demand; thou hast endowed me, instead, with a body.

holocautomata pro peccato non tibi placuerunt.

Holocausts for sin did not please thee.

Thou hast not found any pleasure in burnt-sacrifices, in sacrifices for sin.

Tunc dixi: Ecce venio: in capite libri scriptum est de me: Ut faciam, Deus, voluntatem tuam.

Then said I: Behold I come: in the head of the book it is written of me: that I should do thy will, O God.

See then, I said, I am coming to fulfil what is written of me, where the book lies unrolled; to do thy will, O my God.

Superius dicens: Quia hostias, et oblationes, et holocautomata pro peccato noluisti, nec placita sunt tibi, quæ secundum legem offeruntur,

In saying before, Sacrifices, and oblations, and holocausts for sin thou wouldest not, neither are they pleasing to thee, which are offered according to the law.

First he says, Thou didst not demand victim or offering, the burnt-sacrifice, the sacrifice for sin, nor hast thou found any pleasure in them; in anything, that is, which the law has to offer,

tunc dixi: Ecce venio, ut faciam, Deus, voluntatem tuam: aufert primum, ut sequens statuat.

Then said I: Behold, I come to do thy will, O God: he taketh away the first, that he may establish that which followeth.

and then:—I said, See, my God, I am coming to do thy will. He must clear the ground first, so as to build up afterwards.

In qua voluntate sanctificati sumus per oblationem corporis Jesu Christi semel.

In the which will, we are sanctified by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ once.

In accordance with this divine will we have been sanctified by an offering made once for all, the body of Jesus Christ.

Et omnis quidem sacerdos præsto est quotidie ministrans, et easdem sæpe offerens hostias, quæ numquam possunt auferre peccata:

And every priest indeed standeth daily ministering, and often offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

One high priest after another must stand there, day after day, offering again and again the same sacrifices, which can never take away our sins;

hic autem unam pro peccatis offerens hostiam, in sempiternum sedet in dextera Dei,

But this man offering one sacrifice for sins, for ever sitteth on the right hand of God,

whereas he sits for ever at the right hand of God, offering for our sins a sacrifice that is never repeated.

de cetero exspectans donec ponantur inimici ejus scabellum pedum ejus.

From henceforth expecting, until his enemies be made his footstool.

He only waits, until all his enemies are made a footstool under his feet;

Una enim oblatione, consummavit in sempiternum sanctificatos.

For by one oblation he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

by a single offering he has completed his work, for all time, in those whom he sanctifies.

Contestatur autem nos et Spiritus Sanctus. Postquam enim dixit:

And the Holy Ghost also doth testify this to us. For after that he said:

And here the Holy Spirit adds his testimony. He has been saying,

Hoc autem testamentum, quod testabor ad illos post dies illos, dicit Dominus, dando leges meas in cordibus eorum, et in mentibus eorum superscribam eas:

And this is the testament which I will make unto them after those days, saith the Lord. I will give my laws in their hearts, and on their minds will I write them:

This is the covenant I will grant them, the Lord says, when that time comes; I will implant my laws in their hearts, engrave them in their innermost thoughts. And what follows?

et peccatorum, et iniquitatum eorum jam non recordabor amplius.

And their sins and iniquities I will remember no more.

I will not remember their sins and their transgressions any more.

Ubi autem horum remissio: jam non est oblatio pro peccato.

Now where there is a remission of these, there is no more an oblation for sin.

Where they are so remitted, there is no longer any room for a sin-offering.

Habentes itaque, fratres, fiduciam in introitu sanctorum in sanguine Christi,

Having therefore, brethren, a confidence in the entering into the holies by the blood of Christ;

Why then, brethren, we can enter the sanctuary with confidence through the blood of Christ.

quam initiavit nobis viam novam, et viventem per velamen, id est, carnem suam,

A new and living way which he hath dedicated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh,

He has opened up for us a new, a living approach, by way of the veil, I mean, his mortality.

et sacerdotem magnum super domum Dei:

And a high priest over the house of God:

A great priest is ours, who has dominion over God’s house.

accedamus cum vero corde in plenitudine fidei, aspersi corda a conscientia mala, et abluti corpus aqua munda,

Let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with clean water.

Let us come forward with sincere hearts in the full assurance of the faith, our guilty consciences purified by sprinkling, our bodies washed clean in hallowed water.

teneamus spei nostræ confessionem indeclinabilem (fidelis enim est qui repromisit),

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering (for he is faithful that hath promised),

Do not let us waver in acknowledging the hope we cherish; we have a promise from one who is true to his word.

et consideremus invicem in provocationem caritatis, et bonorum operum:

And let us consider one another, to provoke unto charity and to good works:

Let us keep one another in mind, always ready with incitements to charity and to acts of piety,

non deserentes collectionem nostram, sicut consuetudinis est quibusdam, sed consolantes, et tanto magis quanto videritis appropinquantem diem.

Not forsaking our assembly, as some are accustomed; but comforting one anther, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

not abandoning, as some do, our common assembly, but encouraging one another; all the more, as you see the great day drawing nearer.

Voluntarie enim peccantibus nobis post acceptam notitiam veritatis, jam non relinquitur pro peccatis hostia,

For if we sin wilfully after having the knowledge of the truth, there is now left no sacrifice for sins,

If we go on sinning wilfully, when once the full knowledge of the truth has been granted to us, we have no further sacrifice for sin to look forward to;

terribilis autem quædam exspectatio judicii, et ignis æmulatio, quæ consumptura est adversarios.

But a certain dreadful expectation of judgment, and the rage of a fire which shall consume the adversaries.

nothing but a terrible expectation of judgement, a fire that will eagerly consume the rebellious.

Irritam quis faciens legem Moysi, sine ulla miseratione duobus vel tribus testibus moritur:

A man making void the law of Moses, dieth without any mercy under two or three witnesses:

Let a man be convicted by two or three witnesses of defying the law of Moses, and he dies, without hope of mercy.

quanto magis putatis deteriora mereri supplicia qui Filium Dei conculcaverit, et sanguinem testamenti pollutum duxerit, in quo sanctificatus est, et spiritui gratiæ contumeliam fecerit?

How much more, do you think he deserveth worse punishments, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath esteemed the blood of the testament unclean, by which he was sanctified, and hath offered an affront to the Spirit of grace?

What of the man who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has reckoned the blood of the covenant, that blood which sanctified him, as a thing unclean, mocked at the Spirit that brought him grace? Will not he incur a punishment much more severe?

Scimus enim qui dixit: Mihi vindicta, et ego retribuam. Et iterum: Quia judicabit Dominus populum suum.

For we know him that hath said: Vengeance belongeth to me, and I will repay. And again: The Lord shall judge his people.

It is one we know well, who has told us, Vengeance is for me, I will repay; and again, The Lord will judge his people.

Horrendum est incidere in manus Dei viventis.

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

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

Rememoramini autem pristinos dies, in quibus illuminati, magnum certamen sustinuistis passionum:

But call to mind the former days, wherein, being illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions.

Remember those early days, when the light first came to you, and the hard probation of suffering you went through.

et in altero quidem opprobriis et tribulationibus spectaculum facti: in altero autem socii taliter conversantium effecti.

And on the one hand indeed, by reproaches and tribulations, were made a gazingstock; and on the other, became companions of them that were used in such sort.

There were times when you yourselves were publicly exposed to calumny and persecution; there was a time when you took part with those who had the same path to tread.

Nam et vinctis compassi estis, et rapinam bonorum vestrorum cum gaudio suscepistis, cognoscentes vos habere meliorem et manentem substantiam.

For you both had compassion on them that were in bands, and took with joy the being stripped of your own goods, knowing that you have a better and a lasting substance.

You shewed your sympathy with those who were in bonds; and when you were robbed of your goods you took it cheerfully, as men who knew that a higher, a more lasting good was yours.

Nolite itaque amittere confidentiam vestram, quæ magnam habet remunerationem.

Do not therefore lose your confidence, which hath a great reward.

Do not throw away that confidence of yours, with its rich hope of reward;

Patientia enim vobis necessaria est: ut voluntatem Dei facientes, reportetis promissionem.

For patience is necessary for you; that, doing the will of God, you may receive the promise.

you still need endurance, if you are to attain the prize God has promised to those who do his will.

Adhuc enim modicum aliquantulum, qui venturus est, veniet, et non tardabit.

For yet a little and a very little while, and he that is to come, will come, and will not delay.

Only a brief moment, now, before he who is coming will be here; he will not linger on the way.

Justus autem meus ex fide vivit: quod si subtraxerit se, non placebit animæ meæ.

But my just man liveth by faith; but if he withdraw himself, he shall not please my soul.

It is faith that brings life to the man whom I accept as justified; if he shrinks back, he shall win no favour with me.

Nos autem non sumus subtractionis filii in perditionem, sed fidei in acquisitionem animæ.

But we are not the children of withdrawing unto perdition, but of faith to the saving of the soul.

Not for us to shrink away, and be lost; it is for us to have faith, and save our souls.