Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle

9 Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary.q 2 A tabernacler was set up. In its first room were the lampstands and the tablet with its consecrated bread;u this was called the Holy Place.v 3 Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place,w 4 which had the golden altar of incensex and the gold-covered ark of the covenant.y This ark contained the gold jar of manna,z Aaron’s staff that had budded,a and the stone tablets of the covenant.b 5 Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory,c overshadowing the atonement cover.d But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

6 When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularlye into the outer room to carry on their ministry. 7 But only the high priest enteredf the inner room,g and that only once a year,h and never without blood,i which he offered for himselfj and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.k 8 The Holy Spirit was showingl by this that the waym into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. 9 This is an illustrationn for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offeredo were not able to clear the consciencep of the worshiper. 10 They are only a matter of foodq and drinkr and various ceremonial washingss—external regulationst applying until the time of the new order.

The Blood of Christ

11 But when Christ came as high priestu of the good things that are now already here,a v he went through the greater and more perfect tabernaclew that is not made with human hands,x that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves;y but he entered the Most Holy Placez once for alla by his own blood,b thus obtainingb eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bullsc and the ashes of a heiferd sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirite offered himselff unblemished to God, cleanse our consciencesg from acts that lead to death,c h so that we may serve the living God!i

15 For this reason Christ is the mediatorj of a new covenant,k that those who are calledl may receive the promisedm eternal inheritancen—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.o

16 In the case of a will,d it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.p 19 When Moses had proclaimedq every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves,r together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people.s 20 He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”e t 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood,u and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.v

23 It was necessary, then, for the copiesw of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one;x he entered heaven itself,y now to appear for us in God’s presence.z 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Placea every year with blood that is not his own.b 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world.c But he has appearedd once for alle at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.f 27 Just as people are destined to die once,g and after that to face judgment,h 28 so Christ was sacrificed oncei to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time,j not to bear sin,k but to bring salvationl to those who are waiting for him.m

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10 The law is only a shadown of the good thingso that are coming—not the realities themselves.p For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfectq those who draw near to worship.r 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.s 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.t 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goatsu to take away sins.v

5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world,w he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,

but a body you prepared for me;x

6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings

you were not pleased.

7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scrolly—

I have come to do your will, my God.’ ”a z

8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”a—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.”b He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holyc through the sacrifice of the bodyd of Jesus Christ once for all.e

11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices,f which can never take away sins.g 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins,h he sat down at the right hand of God,i 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.j 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfectk forever those who are being made holy.l

15 The Holy Spirit also testifiesm to us about this. First he says:

16 “This is the covenant I will make with them

after that time, says the Lord.

I will put my laws in their hearts,

and I will write them on their minds.”b n

17 Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts

I will remember no more.”c o

18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

A Call to Persevere in Faith

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidencep to enter the Most Holy Placeq by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living wayr opened for us through the curtain,s that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priestt over the house of God,u 22 let us draw near to Godv with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings,w having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty consciencex and having our bodies washed with pure water.y 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hopez we profess,a for he who promised is faithful.b 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,c 25 not giving up meeting together,d as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one anothere—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.f

26 If we deliberately keep on sinningg after we have received the knowledge of the truth,h no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging firei that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.j 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of Godk underfoot,l who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenantm that sanctified them,n and who has insulted the Spirito of grace?p 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”d q and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”e r 31 It is a dreadful things to fall into the handst of the living God.u

32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light,v when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering.w 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution;x at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.y 34 You suffered along with those in prisonz and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.a 35 So do not throw away your confidence;b it will be richly rewarded.

36 You need to perseverec so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.d 37 For,

“In just a little while,

he who is cominge will come

and will not delay.”f f

38 And,

“But my righteousg one will live by faith.g

And I take no pleasure

in the one who shrinks back.”h h

39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.