20 And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21 but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:

“The Lord has sworn

and will not change his mind:b

‘You are a priest forever.’ ”b c

22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.d

23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.e 25 Therefore he is able to savef completelyc those who come to Godg through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.h

26 Such a high priesti truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners,j exalted above the heavens.k 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrificesl day after day, first for his own sins,m and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for alln when he offered himself.o 28 For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness;p but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son,q who has been made perfectr forever.

The High Priest of a New Covenant

8 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest,s who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,t 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacleu set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.