Hebrews 7–10

Melchizedek the Priest

7This Melchizedek was king of Salem^f and priest of God Most High.^g He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him,^{h 2}and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” ³Without father or mother, without genealogy,ⁱ without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God,^j he remains a priest forever.

⁴Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch^k Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!^{l 5}Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people^m—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham. ⁶This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessedⁿ him who had the promises.^{o 7}And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. ⁸In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living.^{p 9}One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, ¹⁰because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.

Jesus Like Melchizedek

¹¹If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people^q established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come,^r one in the order of Melchizedek,^s not in the order of Aaron? ¹²For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. ¹³He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe,^t and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar.^{u 14}For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah,^v and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. ¹⁵And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, ¹⁶one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷For it is declared:

“You are a priest forever,

in the order of Melchizedek.”^aw

¹⁸The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless^{x 19}(for the law made nothing perfect),^y and a better hope^z is introduced, by which we draw near to God.^a

²⁰And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, ²¹but 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.’ ”^bc

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

²³Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; ²⁴but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.^{e 25}Therefore he is able to save^f completely^c those who come to God^g through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.^h

²⁶Such 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 sacrifices^l 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 perfect^r forever.

The High Priest of a New Covenant

8Now 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 tabernacle^u set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.

³Every high priest^v is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices,^w and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer.^{x 4}If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law.^{y 5}They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy^z and shadow^a of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned^b when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”^{ac 6}But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant^d of which he is mediator^e is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

⁷For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.^{f 8}But God found fault with the people and said^b:

“The days are coming, declares the Lord,

when I will make a new covenant^g

with the people of Israel

and with the people of Judah.

⁹It will not be like the covenant

I made with their ancestors^h

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of Egypt,

because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,

and I turned away from them,

declares the Lord.

¹⁰This is the covenantⁱ I will establish with the people of Israel

after that time, declares the Lord.

I will put my laws in their minds

and write them on their hearts.^j

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.^k

¹¹No longer will they teach their neighbor,

or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’

because they will all know me,^l

from the least of them to the greatest.

¹²For I will forgive their wickedness

and will remember their sins no more.^m”^cn

¹³By calling this covenant “new,”^o he has made the first one obsolete;^p and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle

9Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary.^{q 2}A tabernacle^r was set up. In its first room were the lampstand^s and the table^t with its consecrated bread;^u this was called the Holy Place.^{v 3}Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place,^{w 4}which had the golden altar of incense^x and the gold-covered ark of the covenant.^y This ark contained the gold jar of manna,^z Aaron’s staff that had budded,^a and the stone tablets of the covenant.^{b 5}Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory,^c overshadowing the atonement cover.^d But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

⁶When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly^e into the outer room to carry on their ministry. ⁷But only the high priest entered^f the inner room,^g and that only once a year,^h and never without blood,ⁱ which he offered for himself^j and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.^{k 8}The Holy Spirit was showing^l by this that the way^m into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. ⁹This is an illustrationⁿ for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered^o were not able to clear the conscience^p of the worshiper. ¹⁰They are only a matter of food^q and drink^r and various ceremonial washings^s—external regulations^t applying until the time of the new order.

The Blood of Christ

¹¹But when Christ came as high priest^u of the good things that are now already here,^av he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle^w that is not made with human hands,^x that is to say, is not a part of this creation. ¹²He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves;^y but he entered the Most Holy Place^z once for all^a by his own blood,^b thus obtaining^b eternal redemption. ¹³The blood of goats and bulls^c and the ashes of a heifer^d sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit^e offered himself^f unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences^g from acts that lead to death,^ch so that we may serve the living God!ⁱ

¹⁵For this reason Christ is the mediator^j of a new covenant,^k that those who are called^l may receive the promised^m eternal inheritanceⁿ—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.^o

¹⁶In the case of a will,^d it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, ¹⁷because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. ¹⁸This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.^{p 19}When Moses had proclaimed^q every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves,^r together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people.^{s 20}He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”^{et 21}In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. ²²In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood,^u and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.^v

²³It was necessary, then, for the copies^w of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one;^x he entered heaven itself,^y now to appear for us in God’s presence.^{z 25}Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place^a every year with blood that is not his own.^{b 26}Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world.^c But he has appeared^d once for all^e at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.^{f 27}Just as people are destined to die once,^g and after that to face judgment,^{h 28}so Christ was sacrificed onceⁱ to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time,^j not to bear sin,^k but to bring salvation^l to those who are waiting for him.^m

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10The law is only a shadowⁿ of the good things^o that are coming—not the realities themselves.^p For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make…