Hebrews 7–10

The Greatness of Melchizedek

7For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham as he^* was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,^{a 2}to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth of everything^b—in the first place, his name is translated “king of righteousness,” and then also “king of Salem,” that is, “king of peace”; ³without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God—he remains a priest for all time.

⁴But see how great this man was, to whom Abraham^c the patriarch gave a tenth from the spoils! ⁵And indeed those of the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood have a commandment to collect a tenth from the people according to the law, that is, from their brothers, although they are descended from Abraham^d. ⁶But the one who did not trace his descent from them collected tithes from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. ⁷Now without any dispute the inferior is blessed by the more prominent. ⁸And in this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case it is testified that he lives. ⁹And, so to speak^e, even Levi, the one who receives tithes, has paid tithes through Abraham. ¹⁰For he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

The Superiority of Jesus to Melchizedek

¹¹Thus if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood, for on the basis of it the people received the law, what further need is there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek and not said to be according to the order of Aaron? ¹²For when^* the priesthood changes, of necessity there is a change of the law also. ¹³For the one about whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe from which no one has officiated at the altar. ¹⁴For it is evident that our Lord is a descendant of Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses said nothing concerning priests. ¹⁵And it is still more clear, if another priest according to the likeness of Melchizedek arises, ¹⁶who has become a priest not according to a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷For it is testified,

“You are a priest forever^f according to the order of Melchizedek.”^g

¹⁸For on the one hand a preceding commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness ¹⁹(for the law made nothing perfect), but on the other hand there is the introduction of a better hope through which we draw near to God. ²⁰And by as much as this was not without an oath (for these on the one hand have become priests^h without an oath, ²¹but 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 foreverⁱ’ ”^j),

²²by so much more^k Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

²³And indeed many have become^l priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, ²⁴but he, because he continues forever^m, holds the priesthood permanently. ²⁵Therefore 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.

²⁶For a high priest such as this indeed is fitting for us, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and having become exalted above the heavens, ²⁷who does not need every dayⁿ 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. ²⁸For 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

8Now 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, ²a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord set up, not man. ³For 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. ⁴Now if he were on earth, he would not even be a priest, because there^* are those who offer the gifts according to the law, ⁵who 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. ⁷For if that first covenant had been faultless, occasion would not have been sought for a second. ⁸For 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,

⁹not 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.

¹⁰For 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.

¹¹And 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.

¹²For I will be merciful toward their wrongdoings,

and I will not remember their sins any longer.”

¹³In 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

9Now^a the first covenant had regulations for worship and the earthly sanctuary. ²For 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. ³And after the second curtain was a tent called the holy of holies, ⁴containing 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. ⁵And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, about which it is not now possible to speak in detail.

⁶Now these things having been prepared in this way, the priests enter into the first tent continually^b as they^* accomplish their service, ⁷but only the high priest enters into the second tent once a year, not without blood, which he offers on behalf of himself and the sins of the people committed in ignorance. ⁸The Holy Spirit was making this clear, that the way into the holy place was not yet revealed, while^* the first tent was still in existence, ⁹which was a symbol for the present time, in which both the gifts and sacrifices which were offered were not able to perfect the worshiper with respect to the conscience, ¹⁰concerning instead only food and drink and different washings, regulations of outward things imposed until the time of setting things right.

The Heavenly Ministry of the New Covenant

¹¹But Christ has arrived as a high priest of the good things to come. Through the greater and more perfect tent not made by hands, that is, not of this creation, ¹²and not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered once for all into the most holy place, obtaining eternal redemption. ¹³For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled sanctify them for the ritual purity of the flesh, ¹⁴how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to serve the living God?

¹⁵And because of this, he is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that, because^* a death has taken place for the redemption of transgressions committed during the first covenant, those who are the called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. ¹⁶For where there is a will, it is a necessity for the death of the one who made the will to be established. ¹⁷For a will is in force concerning those who are dead, since it is never in force when the one who made the will is alive. ¹⁸Therefore not even the first covenant was ratified without blood. ¹⁹For when^* every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves^c with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people, ²⁰saying,

“This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for you.”^d

²¹And likewise he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the utensils of service with the blood. ²²Indeed, nearly everything is purified with blood according to the law, and apart from the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

²³Therefore it was necessary for the sketches of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves to be purified with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf, ²⁵and not in order that he can offer himself many times, as the high priest enters into the sanctuary year by year^e with blood not his own, ²⁶since it would have been necessary for him to suffer many times from the foundation of the world, but now he has appeared once at the end of the ages for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷And just as^f it is destined for people to die once, and after this, judgment, ²⁸thus also Christ, having been offered once in order to bear the sins of many, will appear for the second time without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him for salvation.

Christ’s One Sacrifice for…