Hebrews 7; Hebrews 8;
Hebrews 9; Hebrews 10
1 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most
High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed
him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his
name means "king of righteousness"; then also, "king of
Salem" means "king of peace." 3 Without father
or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like
the Son of God he remains a priest forever. 4 Just think how
great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! 5 Now
the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth
from the people--that is, their brothers--even though their brothers are
descended from Abraham. 6This man, however, did not trace his
descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who
had the promises. 7 And without doubt the lesser person is
blessed by the greater.8 In the one case, the tenth is collected by
men who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. 9 One
might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through
Abraham,10 because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in
the body of his ancestor. 11 If perfection could have been attained
through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to
the people), why was there still need for another priest to come--one in the
order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? 12 For when
there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the
law. 13 He of whom these things are said belonged to a
different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14 For
it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses
said nothing about priests. 15 And what we have said is even
more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 one
who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but
on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it
is declared: "You are a priest forever, in the order of
Melchizedek." 18 The former regulation is set aside
because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing
perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. 20 And
it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21 but
he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: "The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever.' " 22 Because
of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. 23 Now
there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from
continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he
has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save
completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to
intercede for them. 26 Such a high priest meets our need--one
who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the
heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to
offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins
of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered
himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who are
weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been
made perfect forever.
1 The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a
high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in
heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle
set up by the Lord, not by man. 3 Every high priest is
appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this
one also to have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he
would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed
by the law. 5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and
shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to
build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the
pattern shown you on the mountain." 6 But the ministry
Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is
mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better
promises. 7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that
first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But
God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declares
the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the
house of Judah. 9 It will not be like the covenant I made with
their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because
they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord. 10 This is the covenant I will make with
the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in
their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will
be my people. 11 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a
man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from
the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will forgive their
wickedness and will remember their sins no more." 13 By
calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and
what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
1 Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and
also an earthly sanctuary. 2 A tabernacle was set up. In its
first room were the lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread; this was
called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a room
called the Most Holy Place, 4 which had the golden altar of
incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold
jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the
covenant. 5 Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory,
overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail
now. 6 When everything had been arranged like this, the
priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. 7 But
only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and
never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people
had committed in ignorance. 8 The Holy Spirit was showing by
this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long
as the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 This is an
illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices
being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. 10 They
are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings--external
regulations applying until the time of the new order. 11 When
Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went
through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is
to say, not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by
means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once
for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 The
blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are
ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How
much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to
death, so that we may serve the living God! 15 For this reason
Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive
the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them
free from the sins committed under the first covenant. 16 In
the case of a will, 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. 18 This
is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19 When
Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took
the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop,
and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20 He said,
"This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to
keep." 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, and
without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 23 It
was necessary, then, for the copies 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 man-made sanctuary
that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear
for us in God's presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer
himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place
every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Then Christ
would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he
has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the
sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as man is destined to die once,
and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed
once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time,
not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are
coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same
sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near
to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered?
For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer
have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an
annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the
blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when
Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not
desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings
and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, 'Here I
am--it is written about me in the scroll-- I have come to do your will, O God.'
" 8 First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt
offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with
them" (although the law required them to be made). 9 Then
he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the
first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have
been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all. 11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his
religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for
all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13 Since
that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because
by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.15 The
Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 "This
is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will
put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." 17 Then
he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." 18 And
where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. 19 Therefore,
brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of
Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the
curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great
priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a
sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to
cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure
water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for
he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may
spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not
give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us
encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 26 If
we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the
truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful
expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of
God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without
mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much
more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the
Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the
covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For
we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and
again, "The Lord will judge his people." 31 It is a
dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 32 Remember
those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground
in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33 Sometimes you
were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side
by side with those who were so treated. 34 You sympathized
with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property,
because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So
do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You
need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive
what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while,
"He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my
righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased
with him." 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and
are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
