Epistula ad Hebraeos, 10
1. Umbram enim habens lex bonorum futurorum, non ip sam imaginem rerum, per singulos annos iisdem ipsis hostiis, quas offerunt indesinenter, numquam potest accedentes perfectos facere.
1. For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near.
2. Alioquin nonne cessassent offerri, ideo quod nullam haberent ultra conscientiam peccatorum cultores semel mundati?
2. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered? If the worshipers had once been cleansed, they would no longer have any consciousness of sin.
3. Sed in ipsis commemoratio peccatorum per singulos annos fit.
3. But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year.
4. Impossibile enim est sanguinem taurorum et hircorum auferre peccata.
4. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.
5. Ideo ingrediens mundum dicit: “Hostiam et oblationem noluisti, corpus autem aptasti mihi;
5. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for me;
6. holocautomata et sacrificia pro peccato non tibi placuerunt.
6. in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast taken no pleasure.
7. Tunc dixi: Ecce venio, in capitulo libri scriptum est de me, ut faciam, Deus, voluntatem tuam”.
7. Then I said, `Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God,' as it is written of me in the roll of the book."
8. Superius dicens: “Hostias et oblationes et holocautomata et sacrificia pro peccato noluisti, nec placuerunt tibi”, quae secundum legem offeruntur,
8. When he said above, "Thou hast neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law),
9. tunc dixit: “Ecce venio, ut faciam voluntatem tuam”. Aufert primum, ut secundum statuat;
9. then he added, "Lo, I have come to do thy will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.
10. in qua voluntate sanctificati sumus per oblationem corporis Christi Iesu in semel.
10. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11. Et omnis quidem sacerdos stat cotidie ministrans et easdem saepe offerens hostias, quae numquam possunt auferre peccata.
11. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
12. Hic autem, una pro peccatis oblata hostia, in sempiternum consedit in dextera Dei,
12. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
13. de cetero exspectans, donec ponantur inimici eius scabellum pedum eius;
13. then to wait until his enemies should be made a stool for his feet.
14. una enim oblatione consummavit in sempiternum eos, qui sanctificantur.
14. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
15. Testificatur autem nobis et Spiritus Sanctus; postquam enim dixit:
15. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
16. “Hoc est testamentum, quod testabor ad illos post dies illos, dicit Dominus, dando leges meas in cordibus eorum, et in mente eorum superscribam eas;
16. "This is the covenant that 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,"
17. et peccatorum eorum et iniquitatum eorum iam non recordabor amplius”.
17. then he adds, "I will remember their sins and their misdeeds no more."
18. Ubi autem horum remissio, iam non oblatio pro peccato.
18. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
19. Habentes itaque, fratres, fiduciam in introitum Sanctorum in sanguine Iesu,
19. Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus,
20. quam initiavit nobis viam novam et viventem per velamen, id est carnem suam,
20. by the new and living way which he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,
21. et sacerdotem magnum super domum Dei,
21. and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
22. accedamus cum vero corde in plenitudine fidei, aspersi corda a conscientia mala et abluti corpus aqua munda;
22. let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23. teneamus spei confessionem indeclinabilem, fidelis enim est, qui repromisit;
23. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful;
24. et consideremus invicem in provocationem caritatis et bonorum operum,
24. and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
25. non deserentes congregationem nostram, sicut est consuetudinis quibusdam, sed exhortantes, et tanto magis quanto videtis appropinquantem diem.
25. not 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.
26. Voluntarie enim peccantibus nobis, post acceptam notitiam veritatis, iam non relinquitur pro peccatis hostia,
26. For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27. terribilis autem quaedam exspectatio iudicii, et ignis aemulatio, quae consumptura est adversarios.
27. but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries.
28. Irritam quis faciens legem Moysis, sine ulla miseratione duobus vel tribus testibus moritur;
28. A man who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy at the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29. quanto deteriora putatis merebitur supplicia, qui Filium Dei conculcaverit et sanguinem testamenti communem duxerit, in quo sanctificatus est, et Spiritui gratiae contumeliam fecerit?
29. How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?
30. Scimus enim eum, qui dixit: “Mihi vindicta, ego retribuam”; et iterum: “Iudicabit Dominus populum suum”.
30. For we know him who said, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people."
31. Horrendum est incidere in manus Dei viventis.
31. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32. Rememoramini autem pristinos dies, in quibus illuminati magnum certamen sustinuistis passionum,
32. But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,
33. in altero quidem opprobriis et tribulationibus spectaculum facti, in altero autem socii taliter conversantium effecti;
33. sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.
34. nam et vinctis compassi estis et rapinam bonorum vestrorum cum gaudio suscepistis, cognoscentes vos habere meliorem substantiam et manentem.
34. For you had compassion on the prisoners, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
35. Nolite itaque abicere confidentiam vestram, quae magnam habet remunerationem;
35. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
36. patientia enim vobis necessaria est, ut voluntatem Dei facientes reportetis promissionem.
36. For you have need of endurance, so that you may do the will of God and receive what is promised.
37. Adhuc enim modicum quantulum, qui venturus est, veniet et non tardabit.
37. "For yet a little while, and the coming one shall come and shall not tarry;
38. Iustus autem meus ex fide vivet; quod si subtraxerit se, non sibi complacet in eo anima mea.
38. but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him."
39. Nos autem non sumus subtractionis in perditionem, sed fidei in acquisitionem animae.
39. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and keep their souls.
