Letters to the Churches

And if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me.

I, Sha’ul, write with my own hand. I will repay it. (I won’t mention, of course, that you owe me your very life.)

Yes, brother, please do me this favor in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Messiah.

Trusting that you will respond positively, I write knowing that you will indeed do more than I am asking.

One more thing: please get a room ready for me. For I hope that through the prayers of you all God will give me a chance to visit you.

Epaphras, my fellow-prisoner for the sake of the Messiah Yeshua, sends greetings to you,

as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow-workers.

The grace of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with your spirit.

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;