Make Promises Carefully

³³ “[^LAgain] You have heard that it was said to ·our people long ago [our ancestors; the ancients], ‘Don’t break your ·promises [vows; oaths], but ·keep [fulfill] the ·promises [vows; oaths] you make to the Lord [Lev. 19:12; Num. 30:2; Deut. 23:21].’ ³⁴ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all. ·Don’t swear an oath using the name of heaven [^L…neither by heaven], because heaven is God’s throne. ³⁵ ·Don’t swear an oath using the name of the earth [^L…nor by earth], because the earth ·belongs to God [^Lis his footstool; Is. 66:1]. ·Don’t swear an oath using the name of Jerusalem […nor by Jerusalem], because it is the city of the great King [Ps. 48:2]. ³⁶ Don’t even swear by your own head, because you cannot make one hair on your head become white or black. ³⁷ ·Say only yes if you mean yes, and no if you mean no [^LLet your word “yes” be “yes”; your “no” be “no”]. ·If you say more than yes or no, it [^LAnything more than this] is from the Evil One.

Help for Fellow Christians

9 I really do not need to write you about this ·help [service; ministry] for ·God’s people [^Tthe saints]. ² [^LFor; Because] I know ·you want [your eagerness/willingness] to help. I have been ·bragging [boasting] about this to the ·believers in Macedonia [^LMacedonians; 8:1], telling them that you in Achaia [^Csouthern Greece; 1:1] have been ready to give since last year. And your ·desire to give [^Lzeal; enthusiasm] has ·made most of them ready to give also [^Laroused/provoked the majority]. ³ But I am sending the brothers to you so that our ·bragging [boasting] about you in this matter will not be empty words. I want you to be ready, as I said you would be. ⁴ If any of the ·believers from Macedonia [^LMacedonians] come with me and find that you are not ready, we will be ·ashamed [embarrassed; dishonored] that we were so sure of you. (And you will be ·ashamed [embarrassed; dishonored], too!) ⁵ So I thought I should ·ask [urge; encourage] these brothers to go to you before we do. They will finish getting in order the ·generous gift [blessing] you promised so it will be ready when we come. And it will be a ·generous gift [blessing]—not one ·that you did not want to give [required from you; grudgingly given].

⁶ Remember this: The person who ·plants a little [sows sparingly] will ·have a small harvest [also reap sparingly], but the person who ·plants a lot [sows generously/bountifully] will ·have a big harvest [also reap generously/bountifully]. ⁷ Each of you should give as you have decided in your heart to give. You should not ·be sad when you give [or give reluctantly], and you should not give ·because you feel forced to give [out of compulsion]. [^LFor] God loves the person who gives ·happily [cheerfully]. ⁸ And God can ·give you more blessings than you need [^Loverflow/abound all grace to you]. Then ·you will always have plenty of everything [^Lin all things at all times you will have all you need]— ·enough to give to [abounding/overflowing in] every good work. ⁹ [^LJust as] It is written in the Scriptures:

¹⁰ [^LFor] God is the One who gives seed to the farmer and bread for food. He will ·give you all the seed you need and make it grow [^Lsupply and multiply your seed] so there will be a great harvest ·from your goodness [of your righteousness]. ¹¹ He will make you rich in every way so that you can always give ·freely [generously]. And your giving through us will ·cause many to give thanks [^Lproduce thanksgiving] to God. ¹² This ·service you do [^Lministry of service] not only helps the needs of ·God’s people [^Tthe saints], it also brings many more thanks to God. ¹³ It is a proof of your faith. Many people will ·praise [glorify] God because you ·obey [submit to] the ·Good News [Gospel] of Christ—the gospel you ·say you believe [confess]—and because you ·freely [generously] share with them and with all others. ¹⁴ And when they pray for you, they will ·wish they could be with [^Llong for] you because of the great grace that God has given you. ¹⁵ Thanks be to God for his ·gift that is too wonderful for words [indescribable/inexpressible gift].

Jesus Is Our High Priest

8 Here is the [main; most important] point of what we are saying: We have a high priest who sits on the right side of ·God’s [^Lthe Majesty’s] throne in heaven. ² Our high priest ·serves [ministers; performs priestly service] in the ·Most Holy Place [sanctuary; ^Lholy things], the true ·place of worship [Tabernacle; Holy Tent; Ex. 33:7] that was made by the Lord, not by humans.

³ [^LFor] Every high priest ·has the work of offering [is appointed to offer] gifts and sacrifices to God. So our high priest must also ·offer something to God [^Lhave something to offer]. ⁴ If our high priest were now living on earth, he would not be a priest, because there are already priests here who follow the law by offering gifts to God. ⁵ ·The work they do as priests [or The sanctuary in which they serve] is only a ·copy [model; prototype] and a shadow of what is in heaven. This is why God warned Moses when he was ready to build the ·Holy Tent [^TTabernacle]: “Be very careful to make everything by the ·plan [pattern; design] I showed you on the mountain [Ex. 25:40].” ⁶ But the priestly ·work [service; ministry] that has been given to Jesus is ·much greater than [far superior to] the work that was given to the other priests. In the same way, the new ·agreement [covenant; contract] that Jesus ·brought from God to his people [^Lmediates] is much ·greater [better] than the old one. And the new ·agreement [covenant; contract] is ·based [founded; legally enacted] on ·promises of better things [^Lbetter promises; ^Call God’s promises are reliable, but these promises bring greater blessings].

⁷ If there had been ·nothing wrong [no fault] with the first ·agreement [covenant; contract; ^Cgiven to Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai], there would have been no ·need for [or reason to look for; or occasion for God to establish] a second ·agreement [^Lone; ^Cthe Mosaic covenant was insufficient because it did not provide true forgiveness of sins; 10:1]. ⁸ But God ·found something wrong with his people and said [or found fault with the covenant, and said to his people]:^[a]