Hebrews 7–8

The King of Righteousness

7For this ^aMelchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, ²to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” ³without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

⁴Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the ¹spoils. ⁵And indeed ^bthose who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; ⁶but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham ^cand blessed ^dhim who had the promises. ⁷Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. ⁸Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, ^eof whom it is witnessed that he lives. ⁹Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, ¹⁰for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

Need for a New Priesthood

^11fTherefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? ¹²For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. ¹³For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has ²officiated at the altar.

¹⁴For it is evident that ^gour Lord arose from ^hJudah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning ³priesthood. ¹⁵And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest ¹⁶who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. ¹⁷For ⁴He testifies:

ⁱ“You are a priest forever

According to the order of Melchizedek.”

¹⁸For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of ^jits weakness and unprofitableness, ¹⁹for ^kthe law made nothing ⁵perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of ^la better hope, through which ^mwe draw near to God.

Greatness of the New Priest

²⁰And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath ²¹(for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:

ⁿ“The Lord has sworn

And will not relent,

‘You are a priest ⁶forever

According to the order of Melchizedek’ ”),

²²by so much more Jesus has become a ⁷surety of a ^obetter covenant.

²³Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. ²⁴But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. ²⁵Therefore He is also ^pable to save ⁸to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives ^qto make intercession for them.

²⁶For such a High Priest was fitting for us, ^rwho is holy, ⁹harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, ^sand has become higher than the heavens; ²⁷who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His ^town sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. ²⁸For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

The New Priestly Service

8Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, ^awho is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, ²a Minister of ^bthe ¹sanctuary and of ^cthe true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

³For ^devery high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore ^eit is necessary that this One also have something to offer. ⁴For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; ⁵who serve ^fthe copy and ^gshadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, ^h“See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” ⁶But now ⁱHe has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a ^jbetter covenant, which was established on better promises.

A New Covenant

⁷For if that ^kfirst covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. ⁸Because finding fault with them, He says: ^l“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—⁹not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. ¹⁰For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the ^mLord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and ⁿI will be their God, and they shall be My people. ^11oNone of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the ^pLord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. ¹²For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, ^qand their sins ²and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

^13rIn that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.