Letters to the Churches

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

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

This Son is the radiance of the Sh’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 of HaG’dulah BaM’romim.

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

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.”

And again, when God brings his Firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

Indeed, when speaking of angels, he says, “. . . who makes his angels winds and his servants fiery flames”;

but to the Son, he says, “Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever; you rule your Kingdom with a scepter of equity;

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”;

and, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth; heaven is the work of your hands.

They will vanish, but you will remain; like clothing, they will all grow old;

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.”

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”?

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

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

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,

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;

while God also bore witness to it with various signs, wonders and miracles, and with gifts of the Ruach HaKodesh which he distributed as he chose.

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

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?

You made him a little lower than the angels, you crowned him with glory and honor,

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.

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.

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.

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