Hebrews 7–10

7For this ^aMelchisedec, king of ^bSalem, priest of ^cthe most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; ^2aTo whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of ^bSalem, which is, King of ^dpeace; ³Without father, without mother, ^†without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto ^ethe Son of God; abideth a priest ^fcontinually. ⁴Now consider how great this man was, ^aunto whom even ^gthe patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. ⁵And verily ^hthey that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though ⁱthey come out of the loins of Abraham: ⁶But he whose ^||descent is not counted from them ^areceived tithes of Abraham, and ^ablessed ^jhim that had the promises. ⁷And without all ^kcontradiction the less is blessed of the better. ⁸And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom ^lit is witnessed that ^mhe liveth. ⁹And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. ¹⁰For ⁱhe was yet in the loins of his father, ^awhen Melchisedec met him. ¹¹ⁿIf therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people ^oreceived the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise ^pafter the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? ¹²For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. ¹³For ^qhe of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. ¹⁴For it is evident that ^qrour Lord ^ssprang out of ^tJuda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. ¹⁵And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, ¹⁶Who is made, not after the law of ^tta carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. ¹⁷For ^uhe testifieth, ^vThou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. ¹⁸For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before ⁿfor ^wthe weakness and unprofitableness thereof. ¹⁹For ^nxthe law made nothing perfect, ^||but the bringing in of ^ya better ^zhope did; by the which ^awe draw nigh unto God. ²⁰And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest: ²¹(For those priests were made ^||without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, ^vThe Lord sware and will not ^brepent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:) ²²By so much was Jesus made ^ca surety of ^da ^ybetter ^etestament. ²³And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: ²⁴But this man, because he continueth ^fever, hath ^||an unchangeable priesthood. ²⁵Wherefore he is able also to save them ^||gto the uttermost ^ahthat come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth ⁱto make intercession for them.

²⁶For such ^jan high priest became us, who is ^kholy, ^lharmless, undefiled, ^mseparate from sinners, and made ⁿhigher than the heavens; ²⁷Who needeth not ⁿⁿdaily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, ^ofirst for his own sins, and ^othen for the people’s: for ^pthis he did ^qonce, when he offered up himself. ²⁸For the law maketh men high priests ^rwhich have infirmity; but the word of ^sthe oath, which was since the law, maketh ^tthe Son, who is ^†uconsecrated for evermore.

8Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such ^aan high priest, ^bwho is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty ^cin the heavens; ^2dA minister ^||of ^ethe sanctuary, and of ^fthe true tabernacle, which the Lord ^gpitched, and not man. ^3hFor every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have ⁱsomewhat also to offer. ⁴For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that ^||there are priests that offer ^hgifts according to the law: ⁵Who serve unto ^jthe example and ^kshadow of heavenly things, as Moses ^lwas admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, ^mSee, ⁿsaith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. ⁶But now hath he obtained a ^omore excellent ^pministry, by how much also he is ^qthe mediator of a ^rbetter ^||scovenant, which was ^testablished upon ^rbetter promises.

⁷For ^uif that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. ⁸For finding fault with them, ⁿhe saith, ^vBehold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new ^scovenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: ⁹Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I ^wtook them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. ¹⁰For ^xthis is ^sthe covenant that I will ^xxmake with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will ^†put my laws into their mind, and write them ^||in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: ¹¹And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. ¹²For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, ^yand their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. ¹³In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ^zready to vanish away.

9Then verily the first covenant had also ^||aordinances of ^bdivine service, and a ^cworldly ^dsanctuary. ²For there was ^ea tabernacle ^fmade; ^gthe first, ^hwherein was ⁱthe candlestick, and ^kthe table, and ^lthe shewbread; ^ewhich is called ^||mthe sanctuary. ³And ⁿafter the second veil, the tabernacle which is called ^cthe Holiest of all; ⁴Which had the golden ^ocenser, and ^pthe ark of ^qthe covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was ^rthe golden pot that had manna, and ^sAaron’s rod that budded, and ^tthe tables of ^qthe covenant; ⁵And ^uover it the cherubims of glory shadowing ^vthe mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. ⁶Now when these things were thus ^fordained, the priests went ^walways into ^gthe first tabernacle, accomplishing ^bthe service of God. ⁷But into ^xthe second went the high priest alone ^yonce every year, not without blood, ^zwhich he offered for himself, and for the ^aerrors of the people: ^8bThe Holy Ghost this signifying, that ^cthe way into ^dthe holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: ⁹Which was ^ea figure for the time then ^fpresent, in which ^gwere offered both gifts and sacrifices, ^hthat could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; ¹⁰Which stood only in ^ijmeats and ^jdrinks, and ^kdivers ^lwashings, and ^mcarnal ^||ordinances, ⁿimposed on them until the time of reformation. ¹¹But Christ being come ^oan high priest ^pof good things to come, by ^qa greater and more perfect tabernacle, not ^rmade with hands, that is to say, not of this building; ¹²Neither by ^sthe blood of goats and calves, but by ^this own blood ^uhe entered in ^vonce into ^wthe holy place, ^xhaving ^yobtained eternal ^zredemption for us. ¹³For if ^athe blood of bulls and of goats, and ^bthe ashes of an heifer sprinkling ^cthe unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: ¹⁴How much more ^dshall the blood of Christ, who ^ethrough the eternal Spirit ^foffered himself without ^||gspot to God, ^hpurge your conscience ⁱfrom dead works ^kto serve ^lthe living God?

¹⁵And for this cause he is ^mthe mediator of the ⁿnew ^otestament, ^pthat by means of death, ^ffor ^qthe redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, ^rthey which are called ^smight receive the ^stpromise of eternal ^uinheritance. ¹⁶For where a ^otestament is, there must also of necessity ^||be the death of the testator. ^17vFor ^oa testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. ¹⁸Whereupon neither the first ^vvtestament was ^||wdedicated without blood. ¹⁹For ^xwhen Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, ^yhe took the blood of ^zcalves and of goats, with ^awater, and ^||abscarlet wool, and ^achyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, ²⁰Saying, ^dThis is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. ²¹Moreover ^ehe sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of ^fthe ministry. ²²And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and ^gwithout shedding of blood is no remission. ²³It was therefore necessary that ^hthe patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴For ⁱChrist is not entered into ^jthe holy places ^kmade with hands, which are ^lthe figures of ^mthe true; but ⁿinto heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God ^ofor us: ²⁵Nor yet that he should offer himself often, ^pas the high priest entereth into ⁱthe holy place every year with blood of others; ²⁶For then must he often have suffered ^qsince the foundation of the world: but now ^ronce ^sin the end of the world ^sshath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷And as it is appointed unto men ^tonce to die, but ^uafter this the judgment: ²⁸So ^vChrist was ^ronce offered to bear the sins of ^xmany; and unto them that ^ylook for him shall he appear the second time ^zwithout sin unto salvation.

10For the law having ^aa shadow ^bof good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never ^cwith those sacrifices which they offered year by year ^dcontinually ^cmake the comers thereunto ^eperfect. ²For then ^||would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. ³But ^fin those sacrifices there is ^ga remembrance again made of sins…