Hebrews 7-10 (Contemporary English Version)

Hebrews 7

The Priestly Family of Melchizedek

 ¹Melchizedek was both king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He was the one who went out and gave Abraham his blessing, when Abraham returned from killing the kings. ²Then Abraham gave him a tenth of everything he had.

   The meaning of the name Melchizedek is "King of Justice." But since Salem means "peace," he is also "King of Peace." ³We are not told that he had a father or mother or ancestors or beginning or end. He is like the Son of God and will be a priest forever. ^{[a] 4}Notice how great Melchizedek is! Our famous ancestor Abraham gave him a tenth of what he had taken from his enemies. ⁵The Law teaches that even Abraham's descendants must give a tenth of what they possess. And they are to give this to their own relatives, who are the descendants of Levi and are priests. ⁶Although Melchizedek wasn't a descendant of Levi, Abraham gave him a tenth of what he had. Then Melchizedek blessed Abraham, who had been given God's promise. ⁷Everyone agrees that a person who gives a blessing is greater than the one who receives the blessing.

    ⁸Priests are given a tenth of what people earn. But all priests die, except Melchizedek, and the Scriptures teach that he is alive. ⁹Levi's descendants are now the ones who receive a tenth from people. We could even say that when Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth, Levi also gave him a tenth. ¹⁰This is because Levi was born later into the family of Abraham, who gave a tenth to Melchizedek.

    ¹¹Even though the Law of Moses says that the priests must be descendants of Levi, those priests cannot make anyone perfect. So there needs to be a priest like Melchizedek, rather than one from the priestly family of Aaron. ^{[b] 12}And when the rules for selecting a priest are changed, the Law must also be changed. ¹³The person we are talking about is our Lord, who came from a tribe that had never had anyone to serve as a priest at the altar. ¹⁴Everyone knows he came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never said that priests would come from that tribe.

    ¹⁵All of this becomes clearer, when someone who is like Melchizedek is appointed to be a priest. ¹⁶That person wasn't appointed because of his ancestors, but because his life can never end. ¹⁷The Scriptures say about him,

   "You are a priest forever,

   just like Melchizedek."

    ¹⁸In this way a weak and useless command was put aside, ¹⁹because the Law cannot make anything perfect. At the same time, we are given a much better hope, and it can bring us close to God.

    ^20-21God himself made a promise when this priest was appointed. But he did not make a promise like this when the other priests were appointed. The promise he made is,

   "I, the Lord, promise that you

   will be a priest forever!

   And I will never

   change my mind!"

    ²²This means that Jesus guarantees us a better agreement with God. ²³There have been a lot of other priests, and all of them have died. ²⁴But Jesus will never die, and so he will be a priest forever! ²⁵He is forever able to save ^[c] the people he leads to God, because he always lives to speak to God for them. ²⁶Jesus is the high priest we need. He is holy and innocent and faultless, and not at all like us sinners. Jesus is honored above all beings in heaven, ²⁷and he is better than any other high priest. Jesus doesn't need to offer sacrifices each day for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. He offered a sacrifice once for all, when he gave himself. ²⁸The Law appoints priests who have weaknesses. But God's promise, which came later than the Law, appoints his Son. And he is the perfect high priest forever.

   

Hebrews 8

A Better Promise

 ¹What I mean is that we have a high priest who sits at the right side ^[d] of God's great throne in heaven. ²He also serves as the priest in the most holy place ^[e] inside the real tent there in heaven. This tent of worship was set up by the Lord, not by humans. ³Since all priests must offer gifts and sacrifices, Christ also needed to have something to offer. ⁴If he were here on earth, he would not be a priest at all, because here the Law appoints other priests to offer sacrifices. ⁵But the tent where they serve is just a copy and a shadow of the real one in heaven. Before Moses made the tent, he was told, "Be sure to make it exactly like the pattern you were shown on the mountain!" ⁶Now Christ has been appointed to serve as a priest in a much better way, and he has given us much assurance of a better agreement.

    ⁷If the first agreement with God had been all right, there would not have been any need for another one. ⁸But the Lord found fault with it and said,

   "I tell you the time will come,

   when I will make

   a new agreement

   with the people of Israel

   and the people of Judah.

    ⁹It won't be like the agreement

   that I made

   with their ancestors,

   when I took them by the hand

   and led them out of Egypt.

   They broke their agreement

   with me,

   and I stopped caring

   about them!

    ¹⁰"But now I tell the people

   of Israel

   this is my new agreement:

   `The time will come

   when I, the Lord,

   will write my laws

   on their minds and hearts.

   I will be their God,

   and they will be

   my people.

    ¹¹Not one of them

   will have to teach another

   to know me, their Lord.'

   "All of them will know me,

   no matter who they are.

    ¹²I will treat them with kindness,

   even though they are wicked.

   I will forget their sins."

    ¹³When the Lord talks about a new agreement, he means that the first one is out of date. And anything that is old and useless will soon disappear.

   

Hebrews 9

The Tent in Heaven

 ¹The first promise that was made included rules for worship and a tent for worship here on earth. ²The first part of the tent was called the holy place, and a lampstand, a table, and the sacred loaves of bread were kept there.

    ³Behind the curtain was the most holy place. ⁴The gold altar that was used for burning incense was in this holy place. The gold-covered sacred chest was also there, and inside it were three things. First, there was a gold jar filled with manna. ^[f] Then there was Aaron's walking stick that sprouted. ^[g] Finally, there were the flat stones with the Ten Commandments written on them. ⁵On top of the chest were the glorious creatures with wings ^[h] opened out above the place of mercy. ^[i] Now isn't the time to go into detail about these things. ⁶But this is how everything was when the priests went each day into the first part of the tent to do their duties. ⁷However, only the high priest could go into the second part of the tent, and he went in only once a year. Each time he carried blood to offer for his sins and for any sins that the people had committed without meaning to.

    ⁸All of this is the Holy Spirit's way of saying that no one could enter the most holy place while the tent was still the place of worship. ⁹This also has a meaning for today. It shows that we cannot make our consciences clear by offering gifts and sacrifices. ¹⁰These rules are merely about such things as eating and drinking and ceremonies for washing ourselves. And rules about physical things will last only until the time comes to change them for something better.

    ¹¹Christ came as the high priest of the good things that are now here. ^[j] He also went into a much better tent that wasn't made by humans and that doesn't belong to this world. ¹²Then Christ went once for all into the most holy place and freed us from sin forever. He did this by offering his own blood instead of the blood of goats and bulls. ¹³According to the Law of Moses, those people who become unclean are not fit to worship God. Yet they will be considered clean, if they are sprinkled with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a sacrificed calf. ¹⁴But Christ was sinless, and he offered himself as an eternal and spiritual sacrifice to God. That's why his blood is much more powerful and makes our ^[k] consciences clear. Now we can serve the living God and no longer do things that lead to death. ¹⁵Christ died to rescue those who had sinned and broken the old agreement. Now he brings his chosen ones a new agreement with its guarantee of God's eternal blessings! ¹⁶In fact, making an agreement of this kind is like writing a will. This is because the one who makes the will must die before it is of any use. ¹⁷In other words, a will doesn't go into effect as long as the one who made it is still alive.

    ¹⁸Blood was also used ^[l] to put the first agreement into effect. ¹⁹Moses told the people all that the Law said they must do. Then he used red wool and a hyssop plant to sprinkle the people and the book of the Law with the blood of bulls and goats ^[m] and with water. ²⁰He told the people, "With this blood God makes his agreement with you." ²¹Moses also sprinkled blood on the tent and on everything else that was used in worship. ²²The Law says that almost everything must be sprinkled with blood, and no sins can be forgiven unless blood is offered.

Christ's Great Sacrifice

 ²³These things are only copies of what is in heaven, and so they had to be made holy by these ceremonies. But the real things in heaven must be made holy by something better. ²⁴This is why Christ did not go into a tent that had been made by humans and was only a copy of the real one. Instead, he went into heaven and is now there with God to help us.

    ²⁵Christ did not have to offer himself many times. He wasn't like a high priest who goes into the most holy place each year to offer the blood of an animal. ²⁶If he had offered himself every year, he would have suffered many times since the creation of the world. But instead, near the end of time he offered himself once and for all, so that he could be a sacrifice that does away with sin.

    ²⁷We die only once, and then we are judged. ²⁸So Christ died only once to take away the sins of many people. But when he comes again, it will not be to take away sin. He will come to save everyone who is waiting for him.

   

Hebrews 10

 ¹The Law of Moses is like a shadow of the good things to come. This shadow isn't the good things themselves, because it cannot free people from sin by the sacrifices that are offered year after year. ²If there were worshipers who already have their sins washed away and their consciences made clear, there would not be any need to go on offering sacrifices. ^3-4But the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. It only reminds people of their sins from one year to the next.

    ⁵When Christ came into the world, he said to God,

   "Sacrifices and offerings

   are not what you want,

   but you have given me

   my body.

    ⁶No, you are not pleased

   with animal sacrifices

   and offerings for sin."

    ⁷Then Christ said,

   "And so, my God,

   I have come to do

   what you want,

   as the Scriptures say."

    ⁸The Law teaches that offerings and sacrifices must be made because of sin. But why did Christ mention these things and say that God did not want them? ⁹Well, it was to do away with offerings and sacrifices and to replace them. That is what he meant by saying to God, "I have come to do what you want." ¹⁰So we are made holy because Christ obeyed God and offered himself once for all.

    ¹¹The priests do their work each day, and they keep on offering sacrifices that can never take away sins. ¹²But Christ offered himself as a sacrifice that is good forever. Now he is sitting at God's right side, ^{[n] 13}and he will stay there until his enemies are put under his power. ¹⁴By his one sacrifice he has forever set free from sin the people he brings to God. ¹⁵The Holy Spirit also speaks of this by telling us that the Lord said,

    ¹⁶"When the time comes,

   I will make an agreement

   with them.

   I will write my laws

   on their minds and hearts.

    ¹⁷Then I will forget

   about their sins

   and no longer remember

   their evil deeds."

    ¹⁸When sins are forgiven, there is no more need to offer sacrifices.

   

Encouragement and Warning

 ¹⁹My friends, the blood of Jesus gives us courage to enter the most holy place ²⁰by a new way that leads to life! And this way takes us through the curtain that is Christ himself.

    ²¹We have a great high priest who is in charge of God's house. ²²So let's come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith. Let's keep our hearts pure, our consciences free from evil, and our bodies washed with clean water. ²³We must hold tightly to the hope that we say is ours. After all, we can trust the one who made the agreement with us. ²⁴We should keep on encouraging each other to be thoughtful and to do helpful things. ²⁵Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord's coming is getting closer.

    ²⁶No sacrifices can be made for people who decide to sin after they find out about the truth. ²⁷They are God's enemies, and all they can look forward to is a terrible judgment and a furious fire. ²⁸If two or more witnesses accused someone of breaking the Law of Moses, that person could be put to death. ²⁹But it is much worse to dishonor God's Son and to disgrace the blood of the promise that made us holy. And it is just as bad to insult the Holy Spirit, who shows us mercy. ³⁰We know that God has said he will punish and take revenge. We also know that the Scriptures say the Lord will judge his people. ³¹It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

    ³²Don't forget all the hard times you went through when you first received the light. ³³Sometimes you were abused and mistreated in public, and at other times you shared in the sufferings of others. ³⁴You were kind to people in jail. And you gladly let your possessions be taken away, because you knew you had something better, something that would last forever.

    ³⁵Keep on being brave! It will bring you great rewards. ³⁶Learn to be patient, so that you will please God and be given what he has promised. ³⁷As the Scriptures say,

   "God is coming soon!

   It won't be very long.

    ³⁸The people God accepts

   will live

   because

   of their faith. ^[o] But he isn't pleased

   with anyone

   who turns back."

    ³⁹We are not like those people who turn back and get destroyed. We will keep on having faith until we are saved.