Warning Against Neglecting Salvation

[1] Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. [2] For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, [3] how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, [4] while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

The Founder of Salvation

[5] For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. [6] It has been testified somewhere,

“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
[7] You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor,
[8] putting everything in subjection under his feet.”

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. [9] But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

[10] For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. [11] For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, [12] saying,

“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

[13] And again,

“I will put my trust in him.”

And again,

“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

[14] Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, [15] and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. [16] For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. [17] Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. [18] For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. 

Laws About Vows

[1] The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [2] “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the valuation of persons, [3] then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. [4] If the person is a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels. [5] If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. [6] If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver. [7] And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. [8] And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; the priest shall value him according to what the vower can afford.

[9] “If the vow is an animal that may be offered as an offering to the LORD, all of it that he gives to the LORD is holy. [10] He shall not exchange it or make a substitute for it, good for bad, or bad for good; and if he does in fact substitute one animal for another, then both it and the substitute shall be holy. [11] And if it is any unclean animal that may not be offered as an offering to the LORD, then he shall stand the animal before the priest, [12] and the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall be. [13] But if he wishes to redeem it, he shall add a fifth to the valuation.

[14] “When a man dedicates his house as a holy gift to the LORD, the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand. [15] And if the donor wishes to redeem his house, he shall add a fifth to the valuation price, and it shall be his.

[16] “If a man dedicates to the LORD part of the land that is his possession, then the valuation shall be in proportion to its seed. A homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. [17] If he dedicates his field from the year of jubilee, the valuation shall stand, [18] but if he dedicates his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall calculate the price according to the years that remain until the year of jubilee, and a deduction shall be made from the valuation. [19] And if he who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, then he shall add a fifth to its valuation price, and it shall remain his. [20] But if he does not wish to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore. [21] But the field, when it is released in the jubilee, shall be a holy gift to the LORD, like a field that has been devoted. The priest shall be in possession of it. [22] If he dedicates to the LORD a field that he has bought, which is not a part of his possession, [23] then the priest shall calculate the amount of the valuation for it up to the year of jubilee, and the man shall give the valuation on that day as a holy gift to the LORD. [24] In the year of jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, to whom the land belongs as a possession. [25] Every valuation shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall make a shekel.

[26] “But a firstborn of animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the LORD, no man may dedicate; whether ox or sheep, it is the LORD’s. [27] And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back at the valuation, and add a fifth to it; or, if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at the valuation.

[28] “But no devoted thing that a man devotes to the LORD, of anything that he has, whether man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD. [29] No one devoted, who is to be devoted for destruction from mankind, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.

[30] “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD’s; it is holy to the LORD. [31] If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. [32] And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the LORD. [33] One shall not differentiate between good or bad, neither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.”

[34] These are the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai. 

I Love the LORD

[1] I love the LORD, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
[2] Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
[3] The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
[4] Then I called on the name of the LORD:
“O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”

[5] Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
[6] The LORD preserves the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
[7] Return, O my soul, to your rest;
for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.

[8] For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
[9] I will walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.

[10] I believed, even when I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted”;
[11] I said in my alarm,
“All mankind are liars.”

[12] What shall I render to the LORD
for all his benefits to me?
[13] I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD,
[14] I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.

[15] Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his saints.
[16] O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
You have loosed my bonds.
[17] I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the LORD.
[18] I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people,
[19] in the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD! 

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