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Now in the things which we are saying, the main point is this. We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a servant of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. For if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law, who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses was warned by God when he was about to make the tabernacle, for he said, “See, you shall make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.”Exodus 25:40 But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which on better promises has been given as law. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. For finding fault with them, he said,

“Behold,[a] the days come”, says the Lord,
    “that 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 that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;
for they didn’t 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 Lord;
“I will put my laws into their mind,
    I will also write them on their heart.
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.
11 They will not teach every man his fellow citizen,[b]
    and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
    for all will know me,
    from their least to their greatest.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness.
    I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more.”Jeremiah 31:31-34

13 In that he says, “A new covenant”, he has made the first old. But that which is becoming old and grows aged is near to vanishing away.

Footnotes

  1. 8:8 “Behold”, from “ἰδοὺ”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.
  2. 8:11 TR reads “neighbor” instead of “fellow citizen”

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) a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent[a] that the Lord, and not any mortal, has set up.(B) For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.(C) Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are already those[b] who offer gifts according to the law. They offer worship in a sanctuary that is[c] a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one, just as Moses was warned when he was about to erect the tent.[d] For, God[e] said, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”(D) But Jesus[f] has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on the basis of better promises.(E) For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one.(F)

God[g] 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,(G)
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.(H)
11 And they shall not teach one another
    or say to each other,[h] ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
    from the least of them to the greatest.(I)
12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
    and I will remember their sins[i] no more.”(J)

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

Footnotes

  1. 8.2 Or tabernacle
  2. 8.4 Other ancient authorities read priests
  3. 8.5 Gk lacks a sanctuary that is
  4. 8.5 Or tabernacle
  5. 8.5 Gk he
  6. 8.6 Gk he
  7. 8.8 Gk He
  8. 8.11 Or teach each one their fellow-citizen and each one their sibling, saying
  9. 8.12 Other ancient authorities add and their lawless deeds