5Every high priest is chosen from among other people. He is given the work of going before God for them to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. ²Since he himself is weak, he is able to be gentle with those who do not understand and who are doing wrong things. ³Because he is weak, the high priest must offer sacrifices for his own sins and also for the sins of the people.

⁴To be a high priest is an honor, but no one chooses himself for this work. He must be called by God as Aaron ⁿ was. ⁵So also Christ did not choose himself to have the honor of being a high priest, but God chose him. God said to him,

“You are my Son.

Today I have become your Father.”

⁶And in another Scripture God says,

“You are a priest forever,

a priest like Melchizedek.” ⁿ

⁷While Jesus lived on earth, he prayed to God and asked God for help. He prayed with loud cries and tears to the One who could save him from death, and his prayer was heard because he trusted God. ⁸Even though Jesus was the Son of God, he learned obedience by what he suffered. ⁹And because his obedience was perfect, he was able to give eternal salvation to all who obey him. ¹⁰In this way God made Jesus a high priest, a priest like Melchizedek.

Warning Against Falling Away

¹¹We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are so slow to understand. ¹²By now you should be teachers, but you need someone to teach you again the first lessons of God’s message. You still need the teaching that is like milk. You are not ready for solid food. ¹³Anyone who lives on milk is still a baby and knows nothing about right teaching. ¹⁴But solid food is for those who are grown up. They are mature enough to know the difference between good and evil.

6So let us go on to grown-up teaching. Let us not go back over the beginning lessons we learned about Christ. We should not again start teaching about faith in God and about turning away from those acts that lead to death. ²We should not return to the teaching about baptisms, ⁿ about laying on of hands, ⁿ about the raising of the dead and eternal judgment. ³And we will go on to grown-up teaching if God allows.

⁴Some people cannot be brought back again to a changed life. They were once in God’s light, and enjoyed heaven’s gift, and shared in the Holy Spirit. ⁵They found out how good God’s word is, and they received the powers of his new world. ⁶But they fell away from Christ. It is impossible to bring them back to a changed life again, because they are nailing the Son of God to a cross again and are shaming him in front of others.

⁷Some people are like land that gets plenty of rain. The land produces a good crop for those who work it, and it receives God’s blessings. ⁸Other people are like land that grows thorns and weeds and is worthless. It is about to be cursed by God and will be destroyed by fire.

⁹Dear friends, we are saying this to you, but we really expect better things from you that will lead to your salvation. ¹⁰God is fair; he will not forget the work you did and the love you showed for him by helping his people. And he will remember that you are still helping them. ¹¹We want each of you to go on with the same hard work all your lives so you will surely get what you hope for. ¹²We do not want you to become lazy. Be like those who through faith and patience will receive what God has promised.

¹³God made a promise to Abraham. And as there is no one greater than God, he used himself when he swore to Abraham, ¹⁴saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” ⁿ ¹⁵Abraham waited patiently for this to happen, and he received what God promised.

¹⁶People always use the name of someone greater than themselves when they swear. The oath proves that what they say is true, and this ends all arguing. ¹⁷God wanted to prove that his promise was true to those who would get what he promised. And he wanted them to understand clearly that his purposes never change, so he made an oath. ¹⁸These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when he makes a promise, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. These things encourage us who came to God for safety. They give us strength to hold on to the hope we have been given. ¹⁹We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and strong. It enters behind the curtain in the Most Holy Place in heaven, ²⁰where Jesus has gone ahead of us and for us. He has become the high priest forever, a priest like Melchizedek. ⁿ

The Priest Melchizedek

7Melchizedek ⁿ was the king of Salem and a priest for God Most High. He met Abraham when Abraham was coming back after defeating the kings. When they met, Melchizedek blessed Abraham, ²and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything he had brought back from the battle. First, Melchizedek’s name means “king of goodness,” and he is king of Salem, which means “king of peace.” ³No one knows who Melchizedek’s father or mother was, ⁿ where he came from, when he was born, or when he died. Melchizedek is like the Son of God; he continues being a priest forever.

⁴You can see how great Melchizedek was. Abraham, the great father, gave him a tenth of everything that he won in battle. ⁵Now the law says that those in the tribe of Levi who become priests must collect a tenth from the people—their own people—even though the priests and the people are from the family of Abraham. ⁶Melchizedek was not from the tribe of Levi, but he collected a tenth from Abraham. And he blessed Abraham, the man who had God’s promises. ⁷Now everyone knows that the more important person blesses the less important person. ⁸Priests receive a tenth, even though they are only men who live and then die. But Melchizedek, who received a tenth from Abraham, continues living, as the Scripture says. ⁹We might even say that Levi, who receives a tenth, also paid it when Abraham paid Melchizedek a tenth. ¹⁰Levi was not yet born, but he was in the body of his ancestor when Melchizedek met Abraham.

¹¹The people were given the law ⁿ concerning the system of priests from the tribe of Levi, but they could not be made perfect through that system. So there was a need for another priest to come, a priest like Melchizedek, not Aaron. ¹²And when a different kind of priest comes, the law must be changed, too. ¹³We are saying these things about Christ, who belonged to a different tribe. No one from that tribe ever served as a priest at the altar. ¹⁴It is clear that our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests belonging to that tribe.

Jesus Is like Melchizedek

¹⁵And this becomes even more clear when we see that another priest comes who is like Melchizedek. ⁿ ¹⁶He was not made a priest by human rules and laws but through the power of his life, which continues forever. ¹⁷It is said about him,

“You are a priest forever,

a priest like Melchizedek.”

¹⁸The old rule is now set aside, because it was weak and useless. ¹⁹The law of Moses could not make anything perfect. But now a better hope has been given to us, and with this hope we can come near to God. ²⁰It is important that God did this with an oath. Others became priests without an oath, ²¹but Christ became a priest with God’s oath. God said:

“The Lord has made a promise

and will not change his mind.

‘You are a priest forever.’ ”

²²This means that Jesus is the guarantee of a better agreement ⁿ from God to his people.

²³When one of the other priests died, he could not continue being a priest. So there were many priests. ²⁴But because Jesus lives forever, he will never stop serving as priest. ²⁵So he is able always to save those who come to God through him because he always lives, asking God to help them.

²⁶Jesus is the kind of high priest we need. He is holy, sinless, pure, not influenced by sinners, and he is raised above the heavens. ²⁷He is not like the other priests who had to offer sacrifices every day, first for their own sins, and then for the sins of the people. Christ offered his sacrifice only once and for all time when he offered himself. ²⁸The law chooses high priests who are people with weaknesses, but the word of God’s oath came later than the law. It made God’s Son to be the high priest, and that Son has been made perfect forever.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

nAaron Moses’ brother and the first Jewish high priest.
nMelchizedek A priest and king who lived in the time of Abraham. (Read Genesis 14:17–24.)
nbaptisms The word here may refer to Christian baptism, or it may refer to the Jewish ceremonial washings.
nlaying on of hands The laying on of hands had many purposes, including the giving of a blessing, power, or authority.
n“I … descendants.” Quotation from Genesis 22:17.
nMelchizedek A priest and king who lived in the time of Abraham. (Read Genesis 14:17–24.)
nMelchizedek A priest and king who lived in the time of Abraham. (Read Genesis 14:17–24.)
nNo … was Literally, “Melchizedek was without father, without mother, without genealogy.”
nThe … law This refers to the people of Israel who were given the Law of Moses.
nMelchizedek A priest and king who lived in the time of Abraham. (Read Genesis 14:17–24.)
nagreement God gives a contract or agreement to his people. For the Jews, this agreement was the Law of Moses. But now God has given a better agreement to his people through Christ.