Hebrews 7–9

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.

The Earthly Sanctuary

9Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and ^athe earthly sanctuary. ²For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the ¹sanctuary; ^3band behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, ⁴which had the ^cgolden censer and ^dthe ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were ^ethe golden pot that had the manna, ^fAaron’s rod that budded, and ^gthe tablets of the covenant; ⁵and ^habove it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

Limitations of the Earthly Service

⁶Now when these things had been thus prepared, ⁱthe priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. ⁷But into the second part the high priest went alone ^jonce a year, not without blood, which he offered for ^khimself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; ⁸the Holy Spirit indicating this, that ^lthe way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. ⁹It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered ^mwhich cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—¹⁰concerned only with ⁿfoods and drinks, ^ovarious ²washings, ^pand fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.

The Heavenly Sanctuary

¹¹But Christ came as High Priest of ^qthe good things ³to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹²Not ^rwith the blood of goats and calves, but ^swith His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place ^tonce for all, ^uhaving obtained eternal redemption. ¹³For if ^vthe blood of bulls and goats and ^wthe ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, ⁴sanctifies for the ⁵purifying of the flesh, ¹⁴how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without ⁶spot to God, ^xcleanse your conscience from ^ydead works ^zto serve the living God? ¹⁵And for this reason ^aHe is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that ^bthose who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

The Mediator’s Death Necessary

¹⁶For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. ¹⁷For ^ca testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. ^18dTherefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. ¹⁹For when Moses had spoken every ⁷precept to all the people according to the law, ^ehe took the blood of calves and goats, ^fwith water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, ²⁰saying, ^g“This is the ^hblood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” ²¹Then likewise ⁱhe sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. ²²And according to the law almost all things are ⁸purified with blood, and ^jwithout shedding of blood there is no ⁹remission.

Greatness of Christ’s Sacrifice

²³Therefore it was necessary that ^kthe copies of the things in the heavens should be ¹purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴For ^lChrist has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are ²copies of ^mthe true, but into heaven itself, now ⁿto appear in the presence of God for us; ²⁵not that He should offer Himself often, as ^othe high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—²⁶He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. ^27pAnd as it is appointed for men to die once, ^qbut after this the judgment, ²⁸so ^rChrist was ^soffered once to bear the sins ^tof many. To those who ^ueagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.