Hebrews 5–7

⁵Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. ²He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness,^{* 3}and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. ⁴And one does not presume to take this honor but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.^*

⁵So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest but was appointed by^g the one who said to him,

“You are my Son;

today I have begotten you”;^*

⁶as he says also in another place,

“You are a priest forever,

according to the order of Melchizedek.”^*

⁷In the days of his flesh, Jesus^h offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.^{* 8}Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered,^{* 9}and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,^{* 10}having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Warning against Falling Away

¹¹About thisⁱ we have much to say that is hard to explain, since you have become sluggish in hearing. ¹²For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,^{* 13}for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.^*

The Peril of Falling Away

⁶Therefore let us go on^j toward perfection,^k leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ and not laying again the foundation: repentance from dead works and faith toward God,^{* 2}instruction about baptisms and laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.^{* 3}And we will do^l this, if God permits. ⁴For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit^{* 5}and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come^{* 6}and then have fallen away, since they are crucifying again the Son of God to their own harm and are holding him up to contempt.^{* 7}Ground that drinks up the rain falling on it repeatedly and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God.^{* 8}But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and on the verge of being cursed; its end is to be burned over.^*

⁹Even though we speak in this way, beloved, we are confident of better things in your case, things that belong to salvation. ¹⁰For God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the^m love that you showed for his sakeⁿ in serving the saints, as you still do.^{* 11}And we want each one of you to show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end,^{* 12}so that you may not become sluggish but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.^*

The Certainty of God’s Promise

¹³When God made a promise to Abraham, because he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,^{* 14}saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply you.” ¹⁵And thus Abraham,^o having patiently endured, obtained the promise. ¹⁶Humans, of course, swear by someone greater than themselves, and an oath given as confirmation puts an end to all dispute among them.^{* 17}In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath,^{* 18}so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us.^{* 19}We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain,^{* 20}where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.^*

The Priestly Order of Melchizedek

⁷This “Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him,”^{* 2}and to him Abraham apportioned “one-tenth of everything.” His name, in the first place, means “king of righteousness”; next, he is also king of Salem, that is, “king of peace.” ³Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.^*

⁴See how great he is! Even^p Abraham the patriarch gave him a tenth of the spoils.^{* 5}And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to collect tithes^q from the people, that is, from their kindred, though these also are descended from Abraham.^{* 6}But this man, who does not belong to their ancestry, collected tithes^r from Abraham and blessed him who had received the promises.^{* 7}It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. ⁸In the one case, tithes are received by those who are mortal; in the other, by one of whom it is testified that he lives.^{* 9}One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, ¹⁰for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

Another Priest, Like Melchizedek

¹¹Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood—for the people received the law under this priesthood—what further need would there have been to speak of another priest arising according to the order of Melchizedek rather than one according to the order of Aaron?^{* 12}For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. ¹³Now the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. ¹⁴For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.^*

¹⁵It is even more obvious when another priest arises, resembling Melchizedek, ¹⁶one who has become a priest, not through a legal requirement concerning physical descent but through the power of an indestructible life.^{* 17}For it is attested of him,

“You are a priest forever,

according to the order of Melchizedek.”^*

¹⁸There is, on the one hand, the abrogation of an earlier commandment because it was weak and ineffectual^{* 19}(for the law made nothing perfect); there is, on the other hand, the introduction of a better hope through which we approach God.^*

²⁰This was confirmed with an oath, for others have become priests without an oath, ²¹but this one became a priest with an oath because of the one who said to him,

“The Lord has sworn

and will not change his mind,

‘You are a priest forever’ ”^s*

²²accordingly Jesus has also become the guarantor of a better covenant.^*

²³Furthermore, the former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, ²⁴but he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. ²⁵Consequently, he is able for all time to save^t those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.^*

²⁶For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.^{* 27}Unlike the other^u high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself.^{* 28}For the law appoints as high priests humans, who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.^*