⁴ For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;

Need for a New Priesthood^(A)

^11 (B)Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? ¹² For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. ¹³ For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has ^[a]officiated at the altar.

¹⁴ For it is evident that ^(C)our Lord arose from ^(D)Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning ^[b]priesthood. ¹⁵ And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest

Qualifications for High Priesthood

5 For every high priest taken from among men ^(A)is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

¹⁸ And they withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, “It ^(A)is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the ^(B)priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from the Lord God.”

¹⁹ Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, ^(C)leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar.

⁵ And you shall attend to ^(A)the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, ^(B)that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel.

¹² So the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Surely we die, we perish, we all perish! ^13 (A)Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord must die. Shall we all utterly die?”

⁴⁰ to be a ^[a]memorial to the children of Israel ^(A)that no outsider, who is not a descendant of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his companions, just as the Lord had said to him through Moses.

Faith at the Dawn of History^(A)

⁴ By faith ^(B)Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still ^(C)speaks.