The New Priestly Service

Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, (A)who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of (B)the [a]sanctuary and of (C)the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

For (D)every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore (E)it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve (F)the copy and (G)shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, (H)“See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” But now (I)He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a (J)better covenant, which was established on better promises.

A New Covenant(K)

For if that (L)first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: (M)“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the (N)Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and (O)I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 (P)None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the (Q)Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, (R)and their sins [b]and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

13 (S)In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 8:2 Lit. holies
  2. Hebrews 8:12 NU omits and their lawless deeds

Mediator of a Better Covenant

Now the main point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent[a] that the Lord, and not any mortal, has set up. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They offer worship in a sanctuary that is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one; for Moses, when he was about to erect the tent,[b] was warned, ‘See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.’ But Jesus[c] has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted through better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one.

God[d] finds fault with them when he says:

‘The days are surely coming, says the Lord,
    when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel
    and with the house of Judah;
not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors,
    on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;
for they did not continue in my covenant,
    and so I had no concern for them, says the Lord.
10 This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
    after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds,
    and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
    and they shall be my people.
11 And they shall not teach one another
    or say to each other, “Know the Lord”,
for they shall all know me,
    from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful towards their iniquities,
    and I will remember their sins no more.’

13 In speaking of ‘a new covenant’, he has made the first one obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old will soon disappear.

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 8:2 Or tabernacle
  2. Hebrews 8:5 Or tabernacle
  3. Hebrews 8:6 Gk he
  4. Hebrews 8:8 Gk He