¹⁸ Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless.

³ The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.^[a] So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.

³⁹ Everyone who believes in him is made right in God’s sight—something the law of Moses could never do.

¹¹ So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?^[a]

¹² And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it.

⁷ If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. ⁸ But when God found fault with the people, he said:

¹³ When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.

¹⁹ For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

⁹ So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?

⁸ “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”

⁹ So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.

¹⁷ This is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise.