Hebrews 7:13-28

Contemporary English Version

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 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. ¹⁷^(A) The 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.

^20-21^(B) God 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^[a] 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, ²⁷^(C) and 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.

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