Hebrews 8–10

Chapter 8

A Better Ministry

¹Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a ^ahigh priest, who has taken His seat at ^bthe right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

²a ^aminister ¹in the sanctuary and in the ^btrue ²tabernacle, which the Lord ^cpitched, not man.

³For every ^ahigh priest is appointed ^bto offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer.

⁴Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who ^aoffer the gifts according to the Law;

⁵who serve ^aa copy and ^bshadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses ¹was ^cwarned by God when he was about to erect the ²tabernacle; for, “^dSee,” He says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.”

⁶But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the ^amediator of ^ba better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.

A New Covenant

⁷For ^aif that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.

⁸For finding fault with them, He says,

“^aBehold, days are coming, says the Lord,

¹When I will effect ^ba new covenant

With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;

^9aNot like the covenant which I made with their fathers

On the day when I took them by the hand

To lead them out of the land of Egypt;

For they did not continue in My covenant,

And I did not care for them, says the Lord.

¹⁰“^aFor this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

After those days, says the Lord:

¹I will put My laws into their minds,

And I will write them ^bon their hearts.

And I will be their God,

And they shall be My people.

¹¹“^aAnd they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,

And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

For ^ball will know Me,

From ¹the least to the greatest of them.

¹²“^aFor I will be merciful to their iniquities,

^bAnd I will remember their sins no more.”

¹³¹When He said, “^aA new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. ^bBut whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ²ready to disappear.

Chapter 9

The Old and the New

¹Now even the first covenant had ^aregulations of divine worship and ^bthe earthly sanctuary.

²For there was ^aa ¹tabernacle prepared, the ²outer one, in which were ^bthe lampstand and ^cthe table and ^dthe ³sacred bread; this is called the holy place.

³Behind ^athe second veil there was a ¹tabernacle which is called the ^bHoly of Holies,

⁴having a golden ^1aaltar of incense and ^bthe ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was ^ca golden jar holding the manna, and ^dAaron’s rod which budded, and ^ethe tables of the covenant;

⁵and above it were the ^acherubim of glory ^bovershadowing the mercy seat; but of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

⁶Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests ^aare continually entering the ¹outer ²tabernacle performing the divine worship,

⁷but into ^athe second, only ^bthe high priest enters ^conce a year, ^dnot without taking blood, which he ^eoffers for himself and for the ^1fsins of the people committed in ignorance.

^8aThe Holy Spirit is signifying this, ^bthat the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the ¹outer tabernacle is still standing,

⁹which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly ^aboth gifts and sacrifices are offered which ^bcannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience,

¹⁰since they relate only to ^afood and ^bdrink and various ^cwashings, ^dregulations for the ¹body imposed until ^ea time of reformation.

¹¹But when Christ appeared as a ^ahigh priest of the ^bgood things ¹to come, He entered through ^cthe greater and more perfect ²tabernacle, ^dnot made with hands, that is to say, ^enot of this creation;

¹²and not through ^athe blood of goats and calves, but ^bthrough His own blood, He ^centered the holy place ^donce for all, ¹having obtained ^eeternal redemption.

¹³For if ^athe blood of goats and bulls and ^bthe ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the ¹cleansing of the flesh,

¹⁴how much more will ^athe blood of Christ, who through ^1bthe eternal Spirit ^coffered Himself without blemish to God, ^dcleanse ²your conscience from ^edead works to serve ^fthe living God?

¹⁵For this reason ^aHe is the ^bmediator of a ^cnew covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been ^dcalled may ^ereceive the promise of ^fthe eternal inheritance.

¹⁶For where a ¹covenant is, there must of necessity ²be the death of the one who made it.

¹⁷For a ¹covenant is valid only when ²men are dead, ³for it is never in force while the one who made it lives.

¹⁸Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood.

¹⁹For when every commandment had been ^aspoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, ^bhe took the ^cblood of the calves and the goats, with ^dwater and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both ^ethe book itself and all the people,

²⁰saying, “^aThis is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.”

²¹And in the same way he ^asprinkled both the ¹tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood.

²²And according to the ¹Law, one may ^aalmost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and ^bwithout shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

²³Therefore it was necessary for the ^acopies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

²⁴For Christ ^adid not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of ^bthe true one, but into ^cheaven itself, now ^dto appear in the presence of God for us;

²⁵nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as ^athe high priest enters ^bthe holy place year by year with blood that is not his own.

²⁶Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since ^athe foundation of the world; but now ^bonce at ^cthe consummation of the ages He has been ^dmanifested to put away sin ^1eby the sacrifice of Himself.

²⁷And inasmuch as ^ait is ¹appointed for men to die once and after this ^bcomes judgment,

²⁸so Christ also, having been ^aoffered once to ^bbear the sins of many, will appear ^ca second time for ^dsalvation ^ewithout reference to sin, to those who ^feagerly await Him.

Chapter 10

One Sacrifice of Christ Is Sufficient

¹For the Law, since it has only ^aa shadow of ^bthe good things to come and not the very ¹form of things, ²can ^cnever, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, ^dmake perfect those who draw near.

²Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had ^aconsciousness of sins?

³But ^ain ¹those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.

⁴For it is ^aimpossible for the ^bblood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵Therefore, ^awhen He comes into the world, He says,

“^bSacrifice and offering You have not desired,

But ^ca body You have prepared for Me;

^6aIn whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure.

⁷“^aThen I said, ‘Behold, I have come

(In ^bthe scroll of the book it is written of Me)

To do Your will, O God.’ ”

⁸After saying above, “^aSacrifices and offerings and ^bwhole burnt offerings and sacrifices ^cfor sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law),

⁹then He ¹said, “^aBehold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second.

¹⁰By ¹this will we have been ^asanctified through ^bthe offering of ^cthe body of Jesus Christ ^donce for all.

¹¹Every priest stands daily ministering and ^aoffering time after time the same sacrifices, which ^bcan never take away sins;

¹²but He, having offered one sacrifice ^afor ¹sins ^bfor all time, ^csat down at the right hand of God,

¹³waiting from that time onward ^auntil His enemies be made a footstool for His feet.

¹⁴For by one offering He has ^aperfected ^bfor all time those who are ¹sanctified.

¹⁵And ^athe Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

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

After those days, says the Lord:

I will put My laws upon their heart,

And on their mind I will write them,”

He then says,

¹⁷“^aAnd their sins and their lawless deeds

I will remember no more.”

¹⁸Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

A New and Living Way

¹⁹Therefore, brethren, since we ^ahave confidence to ^benter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,

²⁰by ^aa new and living way which He inaugurated for us through ^bthe veil, that is, His flesh,

²¹and since we have ^aa great priest ^bover the house of God,

²²let us ^adraw near with a ¹sincere heart in ^bfull assurance of faith, having our hearts ^csprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies ^dwashed with pure water.

²³Let us hold fast the ^aconfession of our ^bhope without wavering, for ^cHe who promised is faithful;

²⁴and let us consider how ^ato stimulate one another to love and ^bgood deeds,

²⁵not forsaking our own ^aassembling together, as is the habit of some, but ^bencouraging one another; and all the more as you see ^cthe day drawing near.

Christ or Judgment

²⁶For if we go on ^asinning willfully after receiving ^bthe knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

²⁷but a terrifying expectation of ^ajudgment and ^bthe fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.

^28aAnyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

^29aHow much severer punishment do you think he will deserve ^bwho has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean ^cthe blood of the covenant ^dby which he was sanctified, and has ^einsulted the Spirit of grace?

³⁰For we know Him who said, “^aVengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “^bThe Lord will judge His people.”

³¹It is a ^aterrifying thing to fall into the hands of the ^bliving God.

³²But remember ^athe former days, ¹when, after being ^benlightened, you endured a great ^c…