Hebrews 8 Amplified Bible

A Better Ministry

8 Now the main point of what we have to say is this: we have such a High Priest, [the Christ] who is seated [in the place of honor] at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty (God) in heaven,^(A) ²a Minister (Officiating Priest) in the holy places and in the true tabernacle, which is erected not by man, but by the Lord. ³For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is essential for this One also to have something to offer. ⁴Now if He were [still living] on earth, He would not be a priest at all, for there are priests who offer the gifts [to God] in accordance with the Law. ⁵They serve as a pattern and foreshadowing of [what has its true existence and reality in] the heavenly things (sanctuary). For when Moses was about to erect the tabernacle, he was warned by God, saying, “See that you make it all [exactly] according to the pattern which was shown to you on the mountain.”^(B) ⁶But as it is, Christ has acquired a [priestly] ministry which is more excellent [than the old Levitical priestly ministry], for He is the Mediator (Arbiter) of a better covenant [uniting God and man], which has been enacted and rests on better promises.

A New Covenant

⁷For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one or an attempt to institute another one [the new covenant]. ⁸However, God finds fault with them [showing its inadequacy] when He says,

“Behold, the days will come, says the Lord,
When I will make and ratify a new covenant
With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
⁹
Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
On the day when I took them by the hand
To lead them out of the land of Egypt;
For they did not abide in My covenant,
And so I withdrew My favor and 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 Lord:
I will imprint My laws upon their minds [even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding],
And engrave them upon their hearts [effecting their regeneration].
And I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.
¹¹
“And it will not be [necessary] for each one to teach his fellow citizen,
Or each one his brother, saying, ‘Know [by experience, have knowledge of] the Lord,’
For all will know [Me by experience and have knowledge of] Me,
From the least to the greatest of them.
¹²
“For I will be merciful and gracious toward their wickedness,
And I will remember their sins no more.”^(C)

¹³When God speaks of “A new covenant,” He makes the first one obsolete. And whatever is becoming obsolete (out of use, annulled) and growing old is ready to disappear.