The Messiah Has a Better Ministry

8 Now the main point in what we are saying is this: we do have this kind of 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 tent set up by the Lord and not by any human. ³ For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore, this high priest^[a] had to offer something, too. ⁴ Now if he were on earth, he would not even be a priest, because other men offer the gifts prescribed by the Law. ⁵ They serve in a sanctuary that is a copy, a shadow of the heavenly one. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tent: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”^{[b] 6} However, Jesus^[c] has now obtained a more superior ministry, since the covenant he mediates is founded on better promises.

The New Covenant is Better than the Old

⁷ If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one, ⁸ but God^[d] found something wrong with his people^[e] when he said,

¹³ In speaking of a “new” covenant, he has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.