Hebrews 9

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