The New Priestly Service

8 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, ^(A)who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, ² a Minister of ^(B)the ^[a]sanctuary and of ^(C)the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

³ For ^(D)every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore ^(E)it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. ⁴ For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; ⁵ who serve ^(F)the copy and ^(G)shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, ^(H)“See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” ⁶ But now ^(I)He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a ^(J)better covenant, which was established on better promises.

A New Covenant^(K)

⁷ For if that ^(L)first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. ⁸ Because finding fault with them, He says: ^(M)“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— ⁹ not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. ¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the ^(N)Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and ^(O)I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ^11 (P)None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the ^(Q)Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. ¹² For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, ^(R)and their sins ^[b]and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

^13 (S)In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

The Earthly Sanctuary^(T)

9 Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and ^(U)the earthly sanctuary. ² For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the ^[c]sanctuary; ^3 (V)and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, ⁴ which had the ^(W)golden censer and ^(X)the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were ^(Y)the golden pot that had the manna, ^(Z)Aaron’s rod that budded, and ^(AA)the tablets of the covenant; ⁵ and ^(AB)above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

Limitations of the Earthly Service

⁶ Now when these things had been thus prepared, ^(AC)the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. ⁷ But into the second part the high priest went alone ^(AD)once a year, not without blood, which he offered for ^(AE)himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; ⁸ the Holy Spirit indicating this, that ^(AF)the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. ⁹ It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered ^(AG)which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— ¹⁰ concerned only with ^(AH)foods and drinks, ^(AI)various ^[d]washings, ^(AJ)and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.

The Heavenly Sanctuary

¹¹ But Christ came as High Priest of ^(AK)the good things ^[e]to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹² Not ^(AL)with the blood of goats and calves, but ^(AM)with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place ^(AN)once for all, ^(AO)having obtained eternal redemption. ¹³ For if ^(AP)the blood of bulls and goats and ^(AQ)the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, ^[f]sanctifies for the ^[g]purifying of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without ^[h]spot to God, ^(AR)cleanse your conscience from ^(AS)dead works ^(AT)to serve the living God? ¹⁵ And for this reason ^(AU)He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that ^(AV)those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

The Mediator’s Death Necessary

¹⁶ For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. ¹⁷ For ^(AW)a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. ^18 (AX)Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. ¹⁹ For when Moses had spoken every ^[i]precept to all the people according to the law, ^(AY)he took the blood of calves and goats, ^(AZ)with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying, ^(BA)“This is the ^(BB)blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” ²¹ Then likewise ^(BC)he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. ²² And according to the law almost all things are ^[j]purified with blood, and ^(BD)without shedding of blood there is no ^[k]remission.

Greatness of Christ’s Sacrifice

²³ Therefore it was necessary that ^(BE)the copies of the things in the heavens should be ^[l]purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For ^(BF)Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are ^[m]copies of ^(BG)the true, but into heaven itself, now ^(BH)to appear in the presence of God for us; ²⁵ not that He should offer Himself often, as ^(BI)the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— ²⁶ He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. ^27 (BJ)And as it is appointed for men to die once, ^(BK)but after this the judgment, ²⁸ so ^(BL)Christ was ^(BM)offered once to bear the sins ^(BN)of many. To those who ^(BO)eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.