Hebrews 5:1-10:18

New Life Version

The Job of a Religious Leader

5 Every Jewish religious leader is chosen from among men. He is a helper standing between God and men. He gives gifts on the altar in worship to God from the people. He gives blood from animals for the sins of the people. ² A Jewish religious leader is weak in many ways because he is just a man himself. He knows how to be gentle with those who know little. He knows how to help those who are doing wrong. ³ Because he is weak himself, he must give gifts to God for his own sins as well as for the sins of the people. ⁴ A Jewish religious leader does not choose this honor for himself. God chooses a man for this work. Aaron was chosen this way.

Christ Is Our Religious Leader Who Has Made the Way for Man to Go to God

⁵ It is the same way with Christ. He did not choose the honor of being a Religious Leader Who has made the way for man to go to God. Instead, God said to Christ, “You are My Son. Today I have become Your Father.” ^{(A) 6} God says in another part of His Word, “You will be a Religious Leader forever. You will be like Melchizedek.” ^{(B) 7} During the time Jesus lived on earth, He prayed and asked God with loud cries and tears. Jesus’ prayer was to God Who was able to save Him from death. God heard Christ because Christ honored God. ⁸ Even being God’s Son, He learned to obey by the things He suffered. ⁹ And having been made perfect, He planned and made it possible for all those who obey Him to be saved from the punishment of sin. ¹⁰ In God’s plan He was to be a Religious Leader Who made the way for man to go to God. He was like Melchizedek.

Do Not Fall Back Into Sin

¹¹ There is much we could say about this, but it is hard to make you understand. It is because you do not want to hear well. ¹² By now you should be teachers. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the first things you need to know from God’s Word. You still need milk instead of solid food. ¹³ Anyone who lives on milk cannot understand the teaching about being right with God. He is a baby. ¹⁴ Solid food is for full-grown men. They have learned to use their minds to tell the difference between good and bad.

Going Ahead

6 So let us leave the first things you need to know about Christ. Let us go on to the teaching that full-grown Christians should understand. We do not need to teach these first truths again. You already know that you must be sorry for your sins and turn from them. You know that you must have faith in God. ² You know about being baptized and about putting hands on people. You know about being raised from the dead and about being punished forever. ³ We will go on, if God lets us.

⁴ There are those who have known the truth. They have received the gift from heaven. They have shared the Holy Spirit. ⁵ They know how good the Word of God is. They know of the powers of the world to come. ⁶ But if they turn away, they cannot be sorry for their sins and turn from them again. It is because they are nailing the Son of God on a cross again. They are holding Him up in shame in front of all people. ⁷ It is the same with a piece of ground that has had many rains fall on it. God makes it possible for that ground to give good fruits and vegetables. ⁸ But if it gives nothing but weeds, it is worth nothing. It will be hated and destroyed by fire.

⁹ Dear friends, even as we tell you this, we are sure of better things for you. These things go along with being saved from the punishment of sin. ¹⁰ God always does what is right. He will not forget the work you did to help the Christians and the work you are still doing to help them. This shows your love for Christ. ¹¹ We want each one of you to keep on working to the end. Then what you hope for, will happen. ¹² Do not be lazy. Be like those who have faith and have not given up. They will receive what God has promised them.

God’s Promise

¹³ When God made a promise to Abraham, He made that promise in His own name because no one was greater. ¹⁴ He said, “I will make you happy in so many ways. For sure, I will give you many children.” ^{(C) 15} Abraham was willing to wait and God gave to him what He had promised.

¹⁶ When men make a promise, they use a name greater than themselves. They do this to make sure they will do what they promise. In this way, no one argues about it. ¹⁷ And so God made a promise. He wanted to show Abraham that He would never change His mind. So He made the promise in His own name. ¹⁸ God gave these two things that cannot be changed and God cannot lie. We who have turned to Him can have great comfort knowing that He will do what He has promised. ¹⁹ This hope is a safe anchor for our souls. It will never move. This hope goes into the Holiest Place of All behind the curtain of heaven. ²⁰ Jesus has already gone there. He has become our Religious Leader forever and has made the way for man to go to God. He is like Melchizedek.

Melchizedek—Like Christ

7 Melchizedek was king of Salem. He was a religious leader for God. When Abraham was coming back from the war where many kings were killed, Melchizedek met Abraham and showed respect to him. ² Abraham gave Melchizedek one-tenth part of all he had. Melchizedek’s name means king of what is right. Salem means peace. So he is king of peace. ³ Melchizedek was without a father or mother or any family. He had no beginning of life or end of life. He is a religious leader forever like the Son of God.

⁴ We can see how great Melchizedek was. Abraham gave him one-tenth part of all he had taken in the war. ⁵ The Law made the family of Levi the Jewish religious leaders. The Law said that the religious leaders were to take one-tenth part of everything from their own people. ⁶ Melchizedek was not even from the family group of Levi but Abraham paid him. Melchizedek showed respect to Abraham who was the one who had received God’s promises. ⁷ The one who shows respect is always greater than the one who receives it. ⁸ Jewish religious leaders receive one-tenth part. They are men and they all die. But here Melchizedek received one-tenth part and is alive. ⁹ We might say that Levi, who receives one-tenth part, paid one-tenth part through Abraham. ¹⁰ Levi was not yet born. He was still inside Abraham’s body when Abraham paid Melchizedek.

¹¹ The Law was given during the time when Levi and his sons were the religious leaders. If the work of those religious leaders had been perfect in taking away the sins of the people, there would have been no need for another religious leader. But one like Melchizedek was needed and not one from the family group of Aaron. ¹² For when the family group of religious leaders changed, the Law had to be changed also. ¹³ These things speak of Christ Who is from another family group. That family group never had a religious leader who killed animals and gave gifts at the altar for the sins of the people. ¹⁴ Our Lord came from the family group of Judah. Moses did not write anything about religious leaders coming from that family group.

A Different Religious Leader Has Come

¹⁵ We can see that a different Religious Leader has come. This One is like Melchizedek. ¹⁶ Christ did not become a Religious Leader by coming from the family group of Levi as the Law said had to be. He became the Religious Leader by the power of a life that never ends. ¹⁷ The Holy Writings say this about Christ, “You are a Religious Leader forever like Melchizedek.” ^(D)

¹⁸ God put the Law of Moses aside. It was weak and could not be used. ¹⁹ For the Law of Moses could not make men right with God. Now there is a better hope through which we can come near to God.

²⁰ God made a promise when Christ became the Religious Leader Who made the way for man to go to God. ²¹ God did not make such a promise when Levi’s family group became religious leaders. But when Christ became a Religious Leader, this is the promise God made, “The Lord has made a promise. He will never change His mind. You will be a Religious Leader forever.” ^{(E) 22} Christ makes this New Way of Worship sure for us because of God’s promise. ²³ There had to be many religious leaders during the time of the Old Way of Worship. They died and others had to keep on in their work. ²⁴ But Jesus lives forever. He is the Religious Leader forever. It will never change. ²⁵ And so Jesus is able, now and forever, to save from the punishment of sin all who come to God through Him because He lives forever to pray for them.

²⁶ We need such a Religious Leader Who made the way for man to go to God. Jesus is holy and has no guilt. He has never sinned and is different from sinful men. He has the place of honor above the heavens. ²⁷ Christ is not like other religious leaders. They had to give gifts every day on the altar in worship for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. Christ did not have to do that. He gave one gift on the altar and that gift was Himself. It was done once and it was for all time. ²⁸ The Law makes religious leaders of men. These men are not perfect. After the Law was given, God spoke with a promise. He made His Son a perfect Religious Leader forever.

8 Now the important thing is this: We have such a Religious Leader Who has made the way for man to go to God. He is the One Who sits at the right side of the All-powerful God in the heavens. ² He is the Religious Leader of that holy place in heaven which is the true place of worship. It was built by the Lord and not by men’s hands. ³ Every religious leader of the Old Way of Worship had the work of killing animals and of giving gifts on the altar to God. So Christ had to have something to give also. ⁴ If Christ were on the earth, He would not be a religious leader such as these. The religious leaders on earth give gifts like the Law says. ⁵ Their work shows us only a picture of the things in heaven. When Moses was putting up the tent to worship in, God told him, “Be sure you make the tent for worship like I showed you on Mount Sinai.” ^(F)

⁶ But Christ has a more perfect work. He is the One Who goes between God and man in this new and better way. The New Way of Worship promises better things. ⁷ If the Old Way of Worship had been perfect, there would have been no need for another one. ⁸ God was not happy how the people lived by the Old Way of Worship. He said, “The day will come when I will make a New Way of Worship for the Jews and those of the family group of Judah. ⁹ The New Way of Worship will not be like the Old Way of Worship I gave to their early fathers. That was when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. But they did not follow the Old Way of Worship. And so I turned away from them. ¹⁰ This is the New Way of Worship that I will give to the Jews. When that day comes, says the Lord, I will put My Laws into their minds. And I will write them in their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. ¹¹ No one will need to teach his neighbor or his brother to know the Lord. All of them will already know Me from the least to the greatest. ¹² I will show loving-kindness to them and forgive their sins. I will remember their sins no more.” ^(G)

¹³ When God spoke about a New Way of Worship, He showed that the Old Way of Worship was finished and of no use now. It will never be used again.

The New Way of Worship Is Better

9 There were special ways of worship and a special holy place made by man for the Old Way of Worship. ² A big tent was built and set up. It was called the holy place. It had a light and a table, and the holy bread was on the table. ³ Behind the second curtain there was another tent. This was called the Holiest Place of All. ⁴ In the inside tent there was an altar where special perfume was burned. There was also a large box made of wood called the box of the Way of Worship. Both of these were covered with gold inside and out. Inside the box was a pot made of gold with the bread from heaven. It also had in it Aaron’s stick that once started to grow. The stones on which the Law of Moses was written were in it. ⁵ Above the box were the cherubim of honor. Their wings were spread up and over and met in the center. On the top of the box and under the shadow of their wings was the mercy-seat. We cannot tell anymore about these things now.

⁶ When everything was finished, the Jewish religious leaders went in and out of the outside tent to do the things which had to be done to worship God. ⁷ Once each year the head religious leader would go into the inside tent alone. He would not go in without blood. He gave this blood to God as a gift in worship for his own sins and for the sins of all the people who sinned without knowing it.

⁸ And so the Holy Spirit is teaching that, with the Old Way of Worship, the people could not go into the Holiest Place of All as long as the outside tent and its Old Way of Worship were being used. ⁹ The outside tent is a picture of that day. With the Old Way of Worship, animals killed and gifts given in worship to God could not take away the guilty feeling of sin. ¹⁰ The Old Way of Worship was made up of Laws about what to eat and drink. These Laws told how to wash and other things to do with the body. These things had to be done until Christ came to bring a better way of worship.

The New Way of Worship Has a Better Gift

¹¹ But Christ came as the Head Religious Leader of the good things God promised. He made the way for man to go to God. He was a greater and more perfect tent. He was not made by human hands and was not a part of this earth. ¹² Christ went into the Holiest Place of All one time for all people. He did not take the blood of goats and young cows to give to God as a gift in worship. He gave His own blood. By doing this, He bought us with His own blood and made us free from sin forever. ¹³ With the Old Way of Worship, the blood and ashes of animals could make men clean after they had sinned. ¹⁴ How much more the blood of Christ will do! He gave Himself as a perfect gift to God through the Spirit that lives forever. Now your heart can be free from the guilty feeling of doing work that is worth nothing. Now you can work for the living God.

¹⁵ Christ is the One Who gave us this New Way of Worship. All those who have been called by God may receive life that lasts forever just as He promised them. Christ bought us with His blood when He died for us. This made us free from our sins which we did under the Old Way of Worship.

¹⁶ When a man wants to give his money to someone after he dies, he writes it all down on paper. But that paper is worth nothing until the man is dead. ¹⁷ That piece of paper means nothing as long as he is alive. It is good only when he dies. ¹⁸ The Old Way of Worship had to have a death to make it good. The blood of an animal was used. ¹⁹ Moses told the people all the things they had to obey in the Law. Then he took the blood of animals together with water and put it on the Book of the Law and on all the people. He used special branches and red wool as he put it on them. ²⁰ Moses said, “This is the blood of the Way of Worship which God said you must obey.” ^{(H) 21} In the same way, Moses put the blood on the tent and on all the things used in worship. ²² The Law says that almost everything is made clean by blood. Sins are not forgiven unless blood is given.

One Perfect Gift

²³ The tent to worship in and the things inside to worship with were like the things in heaven. They were made clean by putting blood on them. But the things in heaven were made clean by a much better gift of worship. ²⁴ For Christ did not go into the Holiest Place of All that was made by men, even if it was like the true one in heaven. He went to heaven itself and He is before God for us. ²⁵ Christ has not given Himself many times, as the head religious leader here on earth went into the Holiest Place of All each year with blood that was not his own. ²⁶ For then Christ would have had to die many times since the world began. But He came once at the end of the Old Way of Worship. He gave Himself once for all time. He gave Himself to destroy sin. ²⁷ It is in the plan that all men die once. After that, they will stand before God and be judged. ²⁸ It is the same with Christ. He gave Himself once to take away the sins of many. When He comes the second time, He will not need to give Himself again for sin. He will save all those who are waiting for Him.

In the Old Way of Worship Many Gifts Were Given

10 The Law is like a picture of the good things to come. The Jewish religious leaders gave gifts on the altar in worship to God all the time year after year. Those gifts could not make the people who came to worship perfect. ² If those gifts given to God could take away sins, the people who came to worship would no longer feel guilty of sin. They would have given no more gifts. ³ When they gave the gifts year after year, it made them remember that they still had their sins. ⁴ The blood of animals cannot take away the sins of men.

In The New Way of Worship One Gift Was Given

⁵ When Christ came to the world, He said to God, “You do not want animals killed or gifts given in worship. You have made My body ready to give as a gift. ⁶ You are not pleased with animals that have been killed or burned and given as gifts on the altar to take away sin. ⁷ Then I said, ‘I have come to do what You want, O God. It is written in the Law that I would.’”

⁸ Then Christ said, “You do not want animals killed or gifts given in worship to you for sin. You are not pleased with them.” These things are done because the Law says they should be done. ⁹ Then He said, “I have come to do what You want Me to do.” And this is what He did when He died on a cross. God did away with the Old Way of Worship and made a New Way of Worship. ¹⁰ Our sins are washed away and we are made clean because Christ gave His own body as a gift to God. He did this once for all time.

¹¹ All Jewish religious leaders stand every day killing animals and giving gifts on the altar. They give the same gifts over and over again. These gifts cannot take away sins. ¹² But Christ gave Himself once for sins and that is good forever. After that He sat down at the right side of God. ¹³ He is waiting there for God to make of those who have hated Him a place to rest His feet. ¹⁴ And by one gift He has made perfect forever all those who are being set apart for God-like living.

¹⁵ The Holy Spirit tells us this: First He says, ¹⁶ “This is the New Way of Worship that I will give them. When that day comes, says the Lord, I will put My Laws in their hearts. And I will write them in their minds.” Then He says, ¹⁷ “I will not remember their sins and wrong-doings anymore.” ^{(I) 18} No more gifts on the altar in worship are needed when our sins are forgiven.