Ya’akov (Jas) 3

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, since you know that we will be judged more severely.

2 For we all stumble in many ways; if someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a mature man who can bridle his whole body.

3 If we put a bit into a horse’s mouth to make it obey us, we control its whole body as well.

4 And think of a ship — although it is huge and is driven by strong winds, yet the pilot can steer it wherever he wants with just a small rudder.

5 So too the tongue is a tiny part of the body, yet it boasts great things. See how a little fire sets a whole forest ablaze!

6 Yes, the tongue is a fire, a world of wickedness. The tongue is so placed in our body that it defiles every part of it, setting ablaze the whole of our life; and it is set on fire by Gei-Hinnom itself.

7 For people have tamed and continue to tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures;

8 but the tongue no one can tame — it is an unstable and evil thing, full of death-dealing poison!

9 With it we blessAdonai, the Father; and with it we curse people, who were made in the image of God.

10 Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing! Brothers, it isn’t right for things to be this way.

11 A spring doesn’t send both fresh and bitter water from the same opening, does it?

12 Can a fig tree yield olives, my brothers? or a grapevine, figs? Neither does salt water produce fresh.

13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him demonstrate it by his good way of life, by actions done in the humility that grows out of wisdom.

14 But if you harbor in your hearts bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, don’t boast and attack the truth with lies!

15 This wisdom is not the kind that comes down from above; on the contrary, it is worldly, unspiritual, demonic.

16 For where there are jealousy and selfish ambition, there will be disharmony and every foul practice.

17 But the wisdom from above is, first of all, pure, then peaceful, kind, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

18 And peacemakers who sow seed in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

Ya’akov (Jas) 4

1 What is causing all the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t it your desires battling inside you?

2 You desire things and don’t have them. You kill, and you are jealous, and you still can’t get them. So you fight and quarrel. The reason you don’t have is that you don’t pray!

3 Or you pray and don’t receive, because you pray with the wrong motive, that of wanting to indulge your own desires.

4 You unfaithful wives! Don’t you know that loving the world is hating God? Whoever chooses to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy!

5 Or do you suppose the Scripture speaks in vain when it says that there is a spirit in us which longs to envy?

6 But the grace he gives is greater, which is why it says,

“God opposes the arrogant,

but to the humble he gives grace.”

7 Therefore, submit to God. Moreover, take a stand against the Adversary, and he will flee from you.

8 Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Clean your hands, sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded people!

9 Wail, mourn, sob! Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into gloom!

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

11 Brothers, stop speaking against each other! Whoever speaks against a brother or judges a brother is speaking againstTorahand judgingTorah. And if you judgeTorah, you are not a doer of whatTorahsays, but a judge.

12 There is but one Giver ofTorah; he is also the Judge, with the power to deliver and to destroy. Who do you think you are, judging your fellow human being?

13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such-and-such a city, stay there a year trading and make a profit”!

14 You don’t even know if you will be alive tomorrow! For all you are is a mist that appears for a little while and then disappears.

15 Instead, you ought to say, “IfAdonaiwants it to happen, we will live” to do this or that.

16 But as it is, in your arrogance you boast. All such boasting is evil.

17 So then, anyone who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it is committing a sin.

Ya’akov (Jas) 5

1 Next, a word for the rich: weep and wail over the hardships coming upon you!

2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes have become moth-eaten;

3 your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat up your flesh like fire! This is theacharit-hayamim, and you have been storing up wealth!

4 Listen! The wages you have fraudulently withheld from the workers who mowed your fields are calling out against you, and the outcries of those who harvested have reached the ears ofAdonai-Tzva’ot.

5 You have led a life of luxury and self-indulgence here on earth — in a time of slaughter, you have gone on eating to your heart’s content.

6 You have condemned, you have murdered the innocent; they have not withstood you.

7 So, brothers, be patient until the Lord returns. See how the farmer waits for the precious “fruit of the earth” — he is patient over it until it receives the fall and spring rains.

8 You too, be patient; keep up your courage; for the Lord’s return is near.

9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers, so that you won’t come under condemnation — look! the Judge is standing at the door!

10 As an example of suffering mistreatment and being patient, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name ofAdonai.

11 Look, we regard those who persevered as blessed. You have heard of the perseverance of Iyov, and you know what the purpose ofAdonaiwas, thatAdonaiis very compassionate and merciful.

12 Above all, brothers, stop swearing oaths — not “By heaven,” not “By the earth,” and not by any other formula; rather, let your “Yes” be simply “Yes” and your “No” simply “No,” so that you won’t fall under condemnation.

13 Is someone among you in trouble? He should pray. Is someone feeling good? He should sing songs of praise.

14 Is someone among you ill? He should call for the elders of the congregation. They will pray for him and rub olive oil on him in the name of the Lord.

15 The prayer offered with trust will heal the one who is ill — the Lord will restore his health; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

16 Therefore, openly acknowledge your sins to one another, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

17 Eliyahu was only a human being like us; yet he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and no rain fell on the Land for three years and six months.

18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the Land produced its crops.

19 My brothers, if one of you wanders from the truth, and someone causes him to return,

20 you should know that whoever turns a sinner from his wandering path will save him from death and cover many sins.

Messianic Jews (Heb) 1

1 In days gone by, God spoke in many and varied ways to the Fathers through the prophets.

2 But now, in theacharit-hayamim, he has spoken to us through his Son, to whom he has given ownership of everything and through whom he created the universe.

3 This Son is the radiance of theSh’khinah, the very expression of God’s essence, upholding all that exists by his powerful word; and after he had, through himself, made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand ofHaG’dulah BaM’romim.

4 So he has become much better than angels, and the name God has given him is superior to theirs.

5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son;

today I have become your Father”?

Also, God never said of any angel,

“I will be his Father,

and he will be my Son.”

6 And again, when God brings his Firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

7 Indeed, when speaking of angels, he says,

“. . . who makes his angels winds

and his servants fiery flames”;

8 but to the Son, he says,

“Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever;

you rule your Kingdom with a scepter of equity;

9 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you

with the oil of joy in preference to your companions”;

10 and,

“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth;

heaven is the work of your hands.

11 They will vanish, but you will remain;

like clothing, they will all grow old;

12 and you will fold them up like a coat.

Yes, they will be changed like clothing,

but you remain the same,

your years will never end.”

13 Moreover, to which of the angels has he ever said,

“Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

14 Aren’t they all merely spirits who serve, sent out to help those whom God will deliver?

Messianic Jews (Heb) 2

1 Therefore, we must pay much more careful heed to the things we have heard, so that we will not drift away.

2 For if the word God spoke through angels became binding, so that every violation and act of disobedience received its just deserts in full measure,

3 then how will we escape if we ignore such a great deliverance? This deliverance, which was first declared by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him;

4 while God also bore witness to it with various signs, wonders and miracles, and with gifts of theRuach HaKodeshwhich he distributed as he chose.

5 For it was not to angels that God subjected the‘olam haba— which is what we are talking about.

6 And there is a place where someone has given this solemn testimony:

“What is mere man, that you concern yourself with him?

or the son of man, that you watch over him with such care?

7 You made him a little lower than the angels,

you crowned him with glory and honor,

8 you put everything in subjection under his feet.”

In subjecting everything to him, he left nothing unsubjected to him. However, at present, we don’t see everything subjected to him — at least, not yet.

9 But we do see Yeshua — who indeed was made for a little while lower than the angels — now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by God’s grace he might taste death for all humanity.

10 For in bringing many sons to glory, it was only fitting that God, the Creator and Preserver of everything, should bring the Initiator of their deliverance to the goal through sufferings.

11 For both Yeshua, who sets people apart for God, and the ones being set apart have a common origin — this is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers

12 when he says,

“I will proclaim your name to my brothers;

in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

13 Also,

“I will put my trust in him, . . .”

and then it goes on,

“Here I am, along with the children God has given me.”

14 Therefore, since the children share a common physical nature as human beings, he became like them and shared that same human nature; so that by his death he might render ineffective the one who had power over death (that is, the Adversary)

15 and thus set free those who had been in bondage all their lives because of their fear of death.

16 Indeed, it is obvious that he does not take hold of angels to help them; on the contrary,

“He takes hold of the seed of Avraham.”

17 This is why he had to become like his brothers in every respect — so that he might become a merciful and faithfulcohen gadolin the service of God, making akapparahfor the sins of the people.

18 For since he himself suffered death when he was put to the test, he is able to help those who are being tested now.

Messianic Jews (Heb) 3

1 Therefore, brothers whom God has set apart, who share in the call from heaven, think carefully about Yeshua, whom we acknowledge publicly as God’s emissary and ascohen gadol.

2 He was faithful to God, who appointed him; just as

“Moshe was faithful in all God’s house.”

3 But Yeshua deserves more honor than Moshe, just as the builder of the house deserves more honor than the house.

4 For every house is built by someone, but the one who built everything is God.

5 Also, Moshe was faithfulinall God’s house, as a servant giving witness to things God would divulge later.

6 But the Messiah, as Son, was faithfuloverGod’s house. And we are that house of his, provided we hold firmly to the courage and confidence inspired by what we hope for.

7 Therefore, as theRuach HaKodeshsays,

“Today, if you hear God’s voice,

8 don’t harden your hearts, as you did in the Bitter Quarrel

on that day in the Wilderness when you put God to the test.

9 Yes, your fathers put me to the test;

they challenged me, and they saw my work for forty years!

10 Therefore, I was disgusted with that generation —

I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,

they have not understood how I do things’;

11 in my anger, I swore

that they would not enter my rest.”

12 Watch out, brothers, so that there will not be in any one of you an evil heart lacking trust, which could lead you to apostatize from the living God!

13 Instead, keep exhorting each other every day, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you will become hardened by the deceit of sin.

14 For we have become sharers in the Messiah, provided, however, that we hold firmly to the conviction we began with, right through until the goal is reached.

15 Now where it says,

“Today, if you hear God’s voice,

don’t harden your hearts, as you did in the Bitter Quarrel,”

16 who were the people who, after they heard, quarreled so bitterly? All those whom Moshe brought out of Egypt.

17 And with whom was God disgusted for forty years? Those who sinned — yes, they fell dead in the Wilderness!

18 And to whom was it that he swore that they would not enter his rest? Those who were disobedient.

19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of lack of trust.

Messianic Jews (Heb) 4

1 Therefore, let us be terrified of the possibility that, even though the promise of entering his rest remains, any one of you might be judged to have fallen short of it;

2 for Good News has also been proclaimed to us, just as it was to them. But the message they heard didn’t do them any good, because those who heard it did not combine it with trust.

3 For it is we who have trusted who enter the rest.

It is just as he said,

“And in my anger, I swore

that they would not enter my rest.”

He swore this even though his works have been in existence since the founding of the universe.

4 For there is a place where it is said, concerning the seventh day,

“And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”

5 And once more, our present text says,

“They will not enter my rest.”

6 Therefore, since it still remains for some to enter it, and those who received the Good News earlier did not enter,

7 he again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David, so long afterwards, in the text already given,

“Today, if you hear God’s voice, don’t harden your hearts.”

8 For if Y’hoshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later of another “day.”

9 So there remains aShabbat-keeping for God’s people.

10 For the one who has entered God’s rest has also rested from his own works, as God did from his.

11 Therefore, let us do our best to enter that rest; so that no one will fall short because of the same kind of disobedience.

12 See, the Word of God is alive! It is at work and is sharper than any double-edged sword — it cuts right through to where soul meets spirit and joints meet marrow, and it is quick to judge the inner reflections and attitudes of the heart.

13 Before God, nothing created is hidden, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

14 Therefore, since we have a greatcohen gadolwho has passed through to the highest heaven, Yeshua, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we acknowledge as true.

15 For we do not have acohen gadolunable to empathize with our weaknesses; since in every respect he was tempted just as we are, the only difference being that he did not sin.

16 Therefore, let us confidently approach the throne from which God gives grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need.

Messianic Jews (Heb) 5

1 For everycohen gadoltaken from among men is appointed to act on people’s behalf with regard to things concerning God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and with those who go astray, since he too is subject to weakness.

3 Also, because of this weakness, he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as those of the people.

4 And no one takes this honor upon himself, rather, he is called by God, just as Aharon was.

5 So neither did the Messiah glorify himself to becomecohen gadol; rather, it was the One who said to him,

“You are my Son;

today I have become your Father.”

6 Also, as he says in another place,

“You are acohenforever,

to be compared with Malki-Tzedek.”

7 During Yeshua’s life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions, crying aloud and shedding tears, to the One who had the power to deliver him from death; and he was heard because of his godliness.

8 Even though he was the Son, he learned obedience through his sufferings.

9 And after he had been brought to the goal, he became the source of eternal deliverance to all who obey him,

10 since he had been proclaimed by God as acohengadolto be compared with Malki-Tzedek.

11 We have much to say about this subject, but it is hard to explain, because you have become sluggish in understanding.

12 For although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the very first principles of God’s Word all over again! You need milk, not solid food!

13 Anyone who has to drink milk is still a baby, without experience in applying the Word about righteousness.

14 But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by continuous exercise to distinguish good from evil.

Messianic Jews (Heb) 6

1 Therefore, leaving behind the initial lessons about the Messiah, let us go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of turning from works that lead to death, trusting God,

2 and instruction about washings,s’mikhah, the resurrection of the dead and eternal punishment.

3 And, God willing, this is what we will do.

4 For when people have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become sharers in theRuach HaKodesh,

5 and tasted the goodness of God’s Word and the powers of the‘olam haba—

6 and then have fallen away — it is impossible to renew them so that they turn from their sin, as long as for themselves they keep executing the Son of God on the stake all over again and keep holding him up to public contempt.

7 For the land that soaks up frequent rains and then brings forth a crop useful to its owners receives a blessing from God;

8 but if it keeps producing thorns and thistles, it fails the test and is close to being cursed; in the end, it will be burned.

9 Now even though we speak this way, dear friends, we are confident that you have the better things that come with being delivered.

10 For God is not so unfair as to forget your work and the love you showed for him in your past service to his people — and in your present service too.

11 However, we want each one of you to keep showing the same diligence right up to the end, when your hope will be realized;

12 so that you will not become sluggish, but will be imitators of those who by their trust and patience are receiving what has been promised.

13 For when God made his promise to Avraham, he swore an oath to do what he had promised; and since there was no one greater than himself for him to swear by, he swore by himself

14 and said,

“I will certainly bless you,

and I will certainly give you many descendants”;

15 and so, after waiting patiently, Avraham saw the promise fulfilled.

16 Now people swear oaths by someone greater than themselves, and confirmation by an oath puts an end to all dispute.

17 Therefore, when God wanted to demonstrate still more convincingly the unchangeable character of his intentions to those who were to receive what he had promised, he added an oath to the promise;

18 so that through two unchangeable things, in neither of which God could lie, we, who have fled to take a firm hold on the hope set before us, would be strongly encouraged.

19 We have this hope as a sure and safe anchor for ourselves, a hope that goes right on through to what is inside theparokhet,

20 where a forerunner has entered on our behalf, namely, Yeshua, who has become acohengadolforever, to be compared with Malki-Tzedek.

Messianic Jews (Heb) 7

1 This Malki-Tzedek, king of Shalem, acohenof GodHa‘Elyon, met Avraham on his way back from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him;

2 also Avraham gave him a tenth of everything.

Now first of all, by translation of his name, he is “king of righteousness”; and then he is also king of Shalem, which means “king of peace.”

3 There is no record of his father, mother, ancestry, birth or death; rather, like the Son of God, he continues as acohenfor all time.

4 Just think how great he was! Even the Patriarch Avraham gave him a tenth of the choicest spoils.

5 Now the descendants of Levi who becamecohanimhave a commandment in theTorahto take a tenth of the income of the people, that is, from their own brothers, despite the fact that they too are descended from Avraham.

6 But Malki-Tzedek, even though he was not descended from Levi, took a tenth from Avraham.

Also, he blessed Avraham, the man who received God’s promises;

7 and it is beyond all dispute that the one who blesses has higher status than the one who receives the blessing.

8 Moreover, in the case of thecohanim, the tenth is received by men who die; while in the case of Malki-Tzedek, it is received by someone who is testified to be still alive.

9 One might go even further and say that Levi, who himself receives tenths, paid a tenth through Avraham;

10 inasmuch as he was still in his ancestor Avraham’s body when Malki-Tzedek met him.

11 Therefore, if it had been possible to reach the goal through the system ofcohanimderived from Levi (since in connection with it, the people were given theTorah), what need would there have been for another, different kind ofcohen, the one spoken of as to be compared with Malki-Tzedek and not to be compared with Aharon?

12 For if the system ofcohanimis transformed, there must of necessity occur a transformation ofTorah.

13 The one about whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar;

14 for everyone knows that our Lord arose out of Y’hudah, and that Moshe said nothing about this tribe when he spoke aboutcohanim.

15 It becomes even clearer if a “different kind ofcohen,” one like Malki-Tzedek, arises,

16 one who became acohennot by virtue of a rule in theTorahconcerning physical descent, but by virtue of the power of an indestructible life.

17 For it is stated,

“You are acohenFOREVER,

to be compared with Malki-Tzedek.”

18 Thus, on the one hand, the earlier rule is set aside because of its weakness and inefficacy

19 (for theTorahdid not bring anything to the goal); and, on the other hand, a hope of something better is introduced, through which we are drawing near to God.

20 What is more, God swore an oath. For no oath was sworn in connection with those who becomecohanimnow;

21 but Yeshua became acohenby the oath which God swore when he said to him,

“Adonaihas sworn and will not change his mind,

‘You are acohenforever.’”

22 Also this shows how much better is the covenant of which Yeshua has become guarantor.

23 Moreover, the presentcohanimare many in number, because they are prevented by death from continuing in office.

24 But because he lives forever, his position ascohendoes not pass on to someone else;

25 and consequently, he is totally able to deliver those who approach God through him; since he is alive forever and thus forever able to intercede on their behalf.

26 This is the kind ofcohen gadolthat meets our need — holy, without evil, without stain, set apart from sinners and raised higher than the heavens;

27 one who does not have the daily necessity, like the othercohanim g’dolim, of offering up sacrifices first for their own sins and only then for those of the people; because he offered one sacrifice, once and for all, by offering up himself.

28 For theTorahappoints ascohanim g’dolimmen who have weakness; but the text which speaks about the swearing of the oath, a text written later than theTorah, appoints a Son who has been brought to the goal forever.