Hebrews 7:20–9:5
20 And by as much as this was not without an oath (for these on the one hand ⌊have become priests⌋h without an oath, 21 but he with an oath by the one who said to him,
“The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind,
‘You are a priest ⌊forever⌋i’ ”j),
22 by so much morek Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
23 And indeed many ⌊have become⌋l priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he, because he continues ⌊forever⌋m, holds the priesthood permanently. 25 Therefore also he is able to save completely those who draw near to God through him, because he* always lives in order to intercede on their behalf.
26 For a high priest such as this indeed is fitting for us, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and having become exalted above the heavens, 27 who does not ⌊need every day⌋n like the former high priests to offer up sacrifices for his own sins and then for the sins of the people, because he did this once for all when he* offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men as high priests who have weakness, but the statement of the oath, after the law, appoints a Son, who is made perfect ⌊forever⌋o.
The Mediator of a New and Better Covenant
8 Now this is the main point in what has been said: we have a high priest such as this, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord set up, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices; therefore it was* necessary for this one also to have something that he offers. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not even be a priest, because there* are those who offer the gifts according to the law, 5 who serve a sketch and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned when he* was about to complete the tabernacle, for he says, “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern which was shown to you on the mountain.”a 6 But now he has attained a more excellent ministry, by as much as he is also mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted upon better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, occasion would not have been sought for a second. 8 For in finding fault with them he says,
“Behold, days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah,
9 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers
on the day I took hold of them by my 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 decree with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I am putting my laws in their minds
and I will write them on their hearts,
and I will be ⌊their⌋b God
and they will be ⌊my⌋c people.
11 And they will not teach each one his fellow citizen
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful toward their wrongdoings,
and I will not remember their sins any longer.”
13 In calling it new, he has declared the former to be old. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is near to disappearing.
The Earthly Ministry of the Old Covenant
9 Nowa the first covenant had regulations for worship and the earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tent was prepared, the first one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the presentation of the loaves, which is called the holy place. 3 And after the second curtain was a tent called the holy of holies, 4 containing the golden incense altar and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which were a golden jar containing the manna and the rod of Aaron that budded and the tablets of the covenant. 5 And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, about which it is not now possible to speak in detail.