18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.p 19 When Moses had proclaimedq 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.”e t 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood,u and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.v

23 It was necessary, then, for the copiesw of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For 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 Placea every year with blood that is not his own.b