Hebrews 8–10

Jesus Our High Priest

8^*The whole point of what we are saying is that we have such a High Priest, who sits at the right of the throne of the Divine Majesty in heaven. ²He serves as High Priest in the Most Holy Place, that is, in the real tent which was put up by the Lord, not by human hands.

³Every High Priest is appointed to present offerings and animal sacrifices to God, and so our High Priest must also have something to offer. ⁴If he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer the gifts required by the Jewish Law. ^5*The work they do as priests is really only a copy and a shadow of what is in heaven. It is the same as it was with Moses. When he was about to build the Sacred Tent, God said to him, “Be sure to make everything according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain.” ⁶But now, Jesus has been given priestly work which is superior to theirs, just as the covenant which he arranged between God and his people is a better one, because it is based on promises of better things.

⁷If there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, there would have been no need for a second one. ^8*But God finds fault with his people when he says:

“The days are coming, says the Lord,

when I will draw up a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.

^9*It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors

on the day I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt.

They were not faithful to the covenant I made with them,

and so I paid no attention to them.

^10*Now, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel

in the days to come, says the Lord:

I will put my laws in their minds

and write them on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

^11*None of them will have to teach their fellow-citizens

or say to their fellow-citizens,

‘Know the Lord.’

For they will all know me,

from the least to the greatest.

^12*I will forgive their sins

and will no longer remember their wrongs.”

¹³By speaking of a new covenant, God has made the first one old; and anything that becomes old and worn out will soon disappear.

Earthly and Heavenly Worship

9The first covenant had rules for worship and an earthly place for worship as well. ^2*A Tent was put up, the outer one, which was called the Holy Place. In it were the lamp-stand and the table with the bread offered to God. ^3*Behind the second curtain was the Tent called the Most Holy Place. ^4*In it were the gold altar for the burning of incense and the Covenant Box all covered with gold and containing the gold jar with the manna in it, Aaron’s stick that had sprouted leaves, and the two stone tablets with the commandments written on them. ^5*Above the Box were the winged creatures representing God’s presence, with their wings spread over the place where sins were forgiven. But now is not the time to explain everything in detail.

^6*This is how those things have been arranged. The priests go into the outer Tent every day to perform their duties, ^7*but only the High Priest goes into the inner Tent, and he does so only once a year. He takes with him blood which he offers to God on behalf of himself and for the sins which the people have committed without knowing they were sinning. ⁸The Holy Spirit clearly teaches from all these arrangements that the way into the Most Holy Place has not yet been opened as long as the outer Tent still stands. ⁹This is an illustration which points to the present time. It means that the offerings and animal sacrifices presented to God cannot make the worshipper’s heart perfect, ¹⁰since they have to do only with food, drink, and various purification ceremonies. These are all outward rules, which apply only until the time when God will establish the new order.

¹¹But Christ has already come as the High Priest of the good things that are already here.^j The tent in which he serves is greater and more perfect; it is not a tent made by human hands, that is, it is not a part of this created world. ¹²When Christ went through the tent and entered once and for all into the Most Holy Place, he did not take the blood of goats and bulls to offer as a sacrifice; rather, he took his own blood and obtained eternal salvation for us. ^13*The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a burnt calf are sprinkled on the people who are ritually unclean, and this purifies them by taking away their ritual impurity. ¹⁴Since this is true, how much more is accomplished by the blood of Christ! Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will purify our consciences from useless rituals, so that we may serve the living God.

¹⁵For this reason Christ is the one who arranges a new covenant, so that those who have been called by God may receive the eternal blessings that God has promised. This can be done because there has been a death which sets people free from the wrongs they did while the first covenant was in force.

¹⁶In the case of a will it is necessary to prove that the person who made it has died, ¹⁷for a will means nothing while the person who made it is alive; it comes into effect only after his death. ¹⁸That is why even the first covenant^k came into effect only with the use of blood. ^19*First, Moses proclaimed to the people all the commandments as set forth in the Law. Then he took the blood of bulls and goats, mixed it with water, and sprinkled it on the book of the Law and all the people, using a sprig of hyssop and some red wool. ^20*He said, “This is the blood which seals the covenant that God has commanded you to obey.” ^21*In the same way Moses also sprinkled the blood on the Sacred Tent and over all the things used in worship. ^22*Indeed, according to the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and sins are forgiven only if blood is poured out.

Christ’s Sacrifice Takes Away Sins

²³Those things, which are copies of the heavenly originals, had to be purified in that way. But the heavenly things themselves require much better sacrifices. ²⁴For Christ did not go into a Holy Place made by human hands, which was a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself, where he now appears on our behalf in the presence of God. ²⁵The Jewish High Priest goes into the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of an animal. But Christ did not go in to offer himself many times, ²⁶for then he would have had to suffer many times ever since the creation of the world. Instead, now when all ages of time are nearing the end, he has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God. ^28*In the same manner Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for him.

10The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered for ever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God? ²If the people worshipping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop. ³As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. ⁴For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.

^5*For this reason, when Christ was about to come into the world, he said to God:

“You do not want sacrifices and offerings,

but you have prepared a body for me.

^6*You are not pleased with animals burnt whole on the altar

or with sacrifices to take away sins.

^7*Then I said, ‘Here I am,

to do your will, O God,

just as it is written of me in the book of the Law.’ ”

⁸First he said, “You neither want nor are you pleased with sacrifices and offerings or with animals burnt on the altar and the sacrifices to take away sins.” He said this even though all these sacrifices are offered according to the Law. ⁹Then he said, “Here I am, O God, to do your will.” So God does away with all the old sacrifices and puts the sacrifice of Christ in their place. ¹⁰Because Jesus Christ did what God wanted him to do, we are all purified from sin by the offering that he made of his own body once and for all.

^11*Every Jewish priest performs his services every day and offers the same sacrifices many times; but these sacrifices can never take away sins. ^12*Christ, however, offered one sacrifice for sins, an offering that is effective for ever, and then he sat down at the right-hand side of God. ^13*There he now waits until God puts his enemies as a footstool under his feet. ¹⁴With one sacrifice, then, he has made perfect for ever those who are purified from sin.

¹⁵And the Holy Spirit also gives us his witness. First he says:

^16*“This is the covenant that I will make with them

in the days to come, says the Lord:

I will put my laws in their hearts

and write them on their minds.”

^17*And then he says, “I will not remember their sins and evil deeds any longer.” ¹⁸So when these have been forgiven, an offering to take away sins is no longer needed.

Let Us Come Near to God

¹⁹We have, then, my brothers and sisters, complete freedom to go into the Most Holy Place by means of the death of Jesus. ²⁰He opened for us a new way, a living way, through the curtain—that is, through his own body. ²¹We have a great priest in charge of the house of God. ^22*So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water. ²³Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep his promise. ²⁴Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good. ²⁵Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer.

²⁶For there…