Hebrews 5–7

Chapter 5

The Perfect High Priest

¹For every high priest ^ataken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in ^bthings pertaining to God, in order to ^coffer both gifts and sacrifices ^dfor sins;

^21ahe can deal gently with the ^bignorant and ^cmisguided, since he himself also is ^2dbeset with weakness;

³and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices ^afor sins, ^bas for the people, so also for himself.

⁴And ^ano one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even ^bas Aaron was.

⁵So also Christ ^adid not glorify Himself so as to become a ^bhigh priest, but He who ^csaid to Him,

“^dYou are My Son,

Today I have begotten You”;

⁶just as He says also in another passage,

“^aYou are a priest forever

According to ^bthe order of Melchizedek.”

⁷¹In the days of His flesh, ^2aHe offered up both prayers and supplications with ^bloud crying and tears to the One ^cable to save Him ³from death, and He ⁴was heard because of His ^dpiety.

⁸Although He was ^aa Son, He learned ^bobedience from the things which He suffered.

⁹And having been made ^aperfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,

¹⁰being designated by God as ^aa high priest according to ^bthe order of Melchizedek.

¹¹Concerning ¹him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

¹²For though ¹by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you ^athe ^2belementary principles of the ^coracles of God, and you have come to need ^dmilk and not solid food.

¹³For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an ^ainfant.

¹⁴But solid food is for ^athe mature, who because of practice have their senses ^btrained to ^cdiscern good and evil.

Chapter 6

The Peril of Falling Away

¹Therefore ^aleaving ^bthe ¹elementary teaching about the ²Christ, let us press on to ^3cmaturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from ^ddead works and of faith toward God,

²of ^ainstruction about washings and ^blaying on of hands, and the ^cresurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.

³And this we will do, ^aif God permits.

⁴For in the case of those who have once been ^aenlightened and have tasted of ^bthe heavenly gift and have been made ^cpartakers of the Holy Spirit,

⁵and ^ahave tasted the good ^bword of God and the powers of ^cthe age to come,

⁶and then have fallen away, it is ^aimpossible to renew them again to repentance, ^1bsince they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

⁷For ground that drinks the rain which often ¹falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those ^afor whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;

⁸but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and ^aclose ¹to being cursed, and ²it ends up being burned.

Better Things for You

⁹But, ^abeloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that ¹accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way.

¹⁰For ^aGod is not unjust so as to forget ^byour work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ^cministered and in still ministering to the ¹saints.

¹¹And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence ¹so as to realize the ^afull assurance of ^bhope until the end,

¹²so that you will not be sluggish, but ^aimitators of those who through ^bfaith and patience ^cinherit the promises.

¹³For ^awhen God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He ^bswore by Himself,

¹⁴saying, “^aI will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”

¹⁵And so, ^ahaving patiently waited, he obtained the promise.

^16aFor men swear by ¹one greater than themselves, and with them ^ban oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

¹⁷¹In the same way God, desiring even more to show to ^athe heirs of the promise ^bthe unchangeableness of His purpose, ²interposed with an oath,

¹⁸so that by two unchangeable things in which ^ait is impossible for God to lie, we who have ¹taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of ^bthe hope set before us.

¹⁹¹This ^ahope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which ^benters ²within the veil,

^20awhere Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a ^bhigh priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Chapter 7

Melchizedek’s Priesthood Like Christ’s

¹For this ^aMelchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the ^bMost High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

²to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace.

³Without father, without mother, ^awithout genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like ^bthe Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.

⁴Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the ^apatriarch, ^bgave a tenth of the choicest spoils.

⁵And those indeed of ^athe sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have commandment ¹in the Law to collect ²a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although these ³are descended from Abraham.

⁶But the one ^awhose genealogy is not traced from them ^bcollected ¹a tenth from Abraham and ²blessed the one who ^chad the promises.

⁷But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater.

⁸In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, ^aof whom it is witnessed that he lives on.

⁹And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes,

¹⁰for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

^11aNow if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it ^bthe people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise ^caccording to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?

¹²For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also.

¹³For ^athe one concerning whom ^bthese things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar.

¹⁴For it is evident that our Lord ¹was ^adescended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests.

¹⁵And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek,

¹⁶who has become such not on the basis of a law of ^1aphysical requirement, but according to the power of ^ban indestructible life.

¹⁷For it is attested of Him,

“^aYou are a priest forever

According to the order of Melchizedek.”

¹⁸For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment ^abecause of its weakness and uselessness

¹⁹(for ^athe Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better ^bhope, through which we ^cdraw near to God.

²⁰And inasmuch as it was not without an oath

²¹(for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him,

“^aThe Lord has sworn

And ^bwill not change His mind,

‘You are a priest ^cforever’ ”);

²²so much the more also Jesus has become the ^aguarantee of ^ba better covenant.

²³¹The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing,

²⁴but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues ^aforever, holds His priesthood permanently.

²⁵Therefore He is able also to ^asave ¹forever those who ^bdraw near to God through Him, since He always lives to ^cmake intercession for them.

²⁶For it was fitting for us to have such a ^ahigh priest, ^bholy, ^cinnocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and ^dexalted above the heavens;

²⁷who does not need daily, like those high priests, to ^aoffer up sacrifices, ^bfirst for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did ^conce for all when He ^doffered up Himself.

²⁸For the Law appoints men as high priests ^awho are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints ^ba Son, ^cmade perfect forever.