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Hebrews 10
New English Translation

Concluding Exposition: Old and New Sacrifices Contrasted

10 For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship.[a] 2 For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have[b] no further consciousness of sin? 3 But in those sacrifices[c] there is a reminder of sins year after year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 So when he came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.
6 “Whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you took no delight in.
7 “Then I said, ‘Here I am:[d] I have come—it is written of me in the scroll of the book—to do your will, O God.’”[e]

8 When he says above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you did not desire nor did you take delight in them”[f] (which are offered according to the law), 9 then he says, “Here I am: I have come to do your will.”[g] He does away with[h] the first to establish the second. 10 By his will[i] we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands day after day[j] serving and offering the same sacrifices again and again—sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest[k] had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right hand[l] of God, 13 where he is now waiting[m] until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet.[n] 14 For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy. 15 And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after saying,[o] 16 “This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put[p] my laws on their hearts and I will inscribe them on their minds,”[q] 17 then he says,[r] “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no longer.”[s] 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Drawing Near to God in Enduring Faith

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters,[t] since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us[u] through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,[v] 21 and since we have a great priest[w] over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings,[x] because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience[y] and our bodies washed in pure water. 23 And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. 24 And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works,[z] 25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day[aa] drawing near.[ab]

26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us,[ac] 27 but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury[ad] of fire that will consume God’s enemies.[ae] 28 Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death[af] without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.[ag] 29 How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for[ah] the Son of God, and profanes[ai] the blood of the covenant that made him holy,[aj] and insults the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,”[ak] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”[al] 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32 But remember the former days when you endured a harsh conflict of suffering after you were enlightened. 33 At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and afflictions, and at other times you came to share with others who were treated in that way. 34 For in fact you shared the sufferings of those in prison,[am] and you accepted the confiscation of your belongings with joy, because you knew that you certainly[an] had a better and lasting possession. 35 So do not throw away your confidence, because it[ao] has great reward. 36 For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised.[ap] 37 For just a little longer[aq] and he who is coming will arrive and not delay.[ar] 38 But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, I[as] take no pleasure in him.[at] 39 But we are not among those who shrink back and thus perish, but are among those who have faith and preserve their souls.[au]

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 10:1 tn Grk “those who approach.”
  2. Hebrews 10:2 tn Grk “the worshipers, having been purified once for all, would have.”
  3. Hebrews 10:3 tn Grk “in them”; the referent (those sacrifices) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  4. Hebrews 10:7 tn Grk “behold,” but this construction often means “here is/there is” (cf. BDAG 468 s.v. ἰδού 2).
  5. Hebrews 10:7 sn A quotation from Ps 40:6-8 (LXX). The phrase a body you prepared for me (in v. 5) is apparently an interpretive expansion of the HT reading “ears you have dug out for me.”
  6. Hebrews 10:8 sn Various phrases from the quotation of Ps 40:6 in Heb 10:5-6 are repeated in Heb 10:8.
  7. Hebrews 10:9 tc The majority of mss, especially the later ones (א2 0278vid 1739 M lat), have ὁ θεός (ho theos, “God”) at this point, while most of the earliest and best witnesses lack such an explicit addressee (so P46 א* A C D K P Ψ 33 1175 1881 2464 al). The longer reading is apparently motivated in part by the wording of Ps 40:8 (39:9 LXX) and by the word order of this same verse as quoted in Heb 10:7.
  8. Hebrews 10:9 tn Or “abolishes.”
  9. Hebrews 10:10 tn Grk “by which will.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
  10. Hebrews 10:11 tn Or “daily,” “every day.”
  11. Hebrews 10:12 tn Grk “this one.” This pronoun refers to Jesus, but “this priest” was used in the translation to make the contrast between the Jewish priests in v. 11 and Jesus as a priest clearer in English.
  12. Hebrews 10:12 sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.
  13. Hebrews 10:13 tn Grk “from then on waiting.”
  14. Hebrews 10:13 sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.
  15. Hebrews 10:15 tn Grk “after having said,” emphasizing the present impact of this utterance.
  16. Hebrews 10:16 tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”
  17. Hebrews 10:16 sn A quotation from Jer 31:33.
  18. Hebrews 10:17 tn Grk “and.”
  19. Hebrews 10:17 sn A quotation from Jer 31:34.
  20. Hebrews 10:19 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.
  21. Hebrews 10:20 tn Grk “that he inaugurated for us as a fresh and living way,” referring to the entrance mentioned in v. 19.
  22. Hebrews 10:20 sn Through his flesh. In a bold shift the writer changes from a spatial phrase (Christ opened the way through the curtain into the inner sanctuary) to an instrumental phrase (he did this through [by means of] his flesh in his sacrifice of himself), associating the two in an allusion to the splitting of the curtain in the temple from top to bottom (Matt 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45). Just as the curtain was split, so Christ’s body was broken for us, to give us access into God’s presence.
  23. Hebrews 10:21 tn Grk “and a great priest,” continuing the construction begun in v. 19.
  24. Hebrews 10:22 tn Grk “in assurance of faith.”
  25. Hebrews 10:22 sn The phrase our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience combines the OT imagery of the sprinkling with blood to give ritual purity with the emphasis on the interior cleansing provided by the new covenant: It is the heart that is cleansed and the conscience made perfect (cf. Heb 8:10; 9:9, 14; 10:2, 16).
  26. Hebrews 10:24 tn Grk “let us consider one another for provoking of love and good deeds.”
  27. Hebrews 10:25 sn The day refers to that well-known time of Christ’s coming and judgment in the future; see a similar use of “day” in 1 Cor 3:13.
  28. Hebrews 10:25 tn This paragraph (vv. 19-25) is actually a single, skillfully composed sentence in Greek, but it must be broken into shorter segments for English idiom. It begins with several subordinate phrases (since we have confidence and a great priest), has three parallel exhortations as its main verbs (let us draw near, hold, and take thought), and concludes with several subordinate phrases related to the final exhortation (not abandoning but encouraging).
  29. Hebrews 10:26 tn Grk “is left,” with “for us” implied by the first half of the verse.
  30. Hebrews 10:27 tn Grk “zeal,” recalling God’s jealous protection of his holiness and honor (cf. Exod 20:5).sn An allusion to Zeph 1:18.
  31. Hebrews 10:27 tn Grk “the enemies.”sn An allusion to Isa 26:11.
  32. Hebrews 10:28 tn Grk “dies.”
  33. Hebrews 10:28 sn An allusion to Deut 17:6.
  34. Hebrews 10:29 tn Grk “tramples under foot.”
  35. Hebrews 10:29 tn Grk “regarded as common.”
  36. Hebrews 10:29 tn Grk “by which he was made holy.”
  37. Hebrews 10:30 sn A quotation from Deut 32:35.
  38. Hebrews 10:30 sn A quotation from Deut 32:36.
  39. Hebrews 10:34 tc Most witnesses, including some significant ones (א D2 1881 M), read δεσμοῖς μου (desmois mou, “my imprisonment”) here, a reading that is probably due to the widespread belief in the early Christian centuries that Paul was the author of Hebrews (cf. Phil 1:7; Col 4:18). It may have been generated by the reading δεσμοῖς without the μου (so P46 Ψ 104), the force of which is so ambiguous (lit., “you shared the sufferings with the bonds”) as to be virtually nonsensical. Most likely, δεσμοῖς resulted when a scribe made an error in copying δεσμίοις (desmiois), a reading which makes excellent sense (“[of] those in prison”) and is strongly supported by early and significant witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western text-forms (A D* H 6 33 81 1739 lat sy co). Thus, δεσμίοις best explains the rise of the other readings on both internal and external grounds and is strongly preferred.
  40. Hebrews 10:34 tn Grk “you yourselves.”
  41. Hebrews 10:35 tn Grk “which,” but showing the reason.
  42. Hebrews 10:36 tn Grk “the promise,” referring to the thing God promised, not to the pledge itself.
  43. Hebrews 10:37 sn A quotation from Isa 26:20.
  44. Hebrews 10:37 sn A quotation from Hab 2:3.
  45. Hebrews 10:38 tn Grk “my soul.”
  46. Hebrews 10:38 sn A quotation from Hab 2:4.
  47. Hebrews 10:39 tn Grk “not…of shrinking back to perdition but of faith to the preservation of the soul.”
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Hebrews 10
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 10

One Sacrifice Instead of Many. 1 [a]Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come,[b] and not the very image of them, it can never make perfect those who come to worship by the same sacrifices that they offer continually each year.(A) 2 Otherwise, would not the sacrifices have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, once cleansed, would no longer have had any consciousness of sins? 3 But in those sacrifices there is only a yearly remembrance of sins,(B) 4 for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats take away sins.(C) 5 For this reason, when he came into the world, he said:[c]

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,(D)
    but a body you prepared for me;
6 holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight in.
7 Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,
    Behold, I come to do your will, O God.’”

8 First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings,[d] you neither desired nor delighted in.” These are offered according to the law.(E) 9 Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second.(F) 10 By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.(G)

11 [e]Every priest stands daily at his ministry, offering frequently those same sacrifices that can never take away sins.(H) 12 But this one offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God;(I) 13 [f]now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.(J) 15 [g]The holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying:

16 “This is the covenant I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord:
    ‘I will put my laws in their hearts,
    and I will write them upon their minds,’”(K)

17 he also says:[h]

“Their sins and their evildoing
    I will remember no more.”(L)

18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin.

Recalling the Past.[i] 19 Therefore, brothers, since through the blood of Jesus we have confidence of entrance into the sanctuary(M) 20 [j]by the new and living way he opened for us through the veil,(N) that is, his flesh, 21 [k](O)and since we have “a great priest over the house of God,” 22 let us approach with a sincere heart and in absolute trust, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience[l] and our bodies washed in pure water.(P) 23 Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy.(Q) 24 We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works. 25 We should not stay away from our assembly,[m] as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near.(R)

26 [n](S)If we sin deliberately after receiving knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains sacrifice for sins 27 but a fearful prospect of judgment and a flaming fire that is going to consume the adversaries.(T) 28 Anyone who rejects the law of Moses[o] is put to death without pity on the testimony of two or three witnesses.(U) 29 Do you not think that a much worse punishment is due the one who has contempt for the Son of God, considers unclean the covenant-blood by which he was consecrated, and insults the spirit of grace?(V) 30 We know the one who said:

“Vengeance is mine; I will repay,”

and again:

“The Lord will judge his people.”(W)

31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.(X)

32 Remember the days past when, after you had been enlightened,[p] you endured a great contest of suffering.(Y) 33 At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and affliction; at other times you associated yourselves with those so treated.(Z) 34 You even joined in the sufferings of those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, knowing that you had a better and lasting possession.(AA) 35 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence; it will have great recompense.(AB) 36 You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.(AC)

37 “For, after just a brief moment,[q]
    he who is to come shall come;
    he shall not delay.(AD)
38 But my just one shall live by faith,
    and if he draws back I take no pleasure in him.”(AE)

39 We are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and will possess life.

Footnotes

  1. 10:1–10 Christian faith now realizes that the Old Testament sacrifices did not effect the spiritual benefits to come but only prefigured them (Hb 10:1). For if the sacrifices had actually effected the forgiveness of sin, there would have been no reason for their constant repetition (Hb 10:2). They were rather a continual reminder of the people’s sins (Hb 10:3). It is not reasonable to suppose that human sins could be removed by the blood of animal sacrifices (Hb 10:4). Christ, therefore, is here shown to understand his mission in terms of Ps 40:6–8, cited according to the Septuagint (Hb 10:5–7). Jesus acknowledged that the Old Testament sacrifices did not remit the sins of the people and so, perceiving the will of God, offered his own body for this purpose (Hb 10:8–10).
  2. 10:1 A shadow of the good things to come: the term shadow was used in Hb 8:5 to signify the earthly counterpart of the Platonic heavenly reality. But here it means a prefiguration of what is to come in Christ, as it is used in the Pauline literature; cf. Col 2:17.
  3. 10:5–7 A passage from Ps 40:7–9 is placed in the mouth of the Son at his incarnation. As usual, the author follows the Septuagint text. There is a notable difference in Hb 10:5 (Ps 40:6), where the Masoretic text reads “ears you have dug for me” (“ears open to obedience you gave me,” NAB), but most Septuagint manuscripts have “a body you prepared for me,” a reading obviously more suited to the interpretation of Hebrews.
  4. 10:8 Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings: these four terms taken from the preceding passage of Ps 40 (with the first two changed to plural forms) are probably intended as equivalents to the four principal types of Old Testament sacrifices: peace offerings (Lv 3, here called sacrifices); cereal offerings (Lv 2, here called offerings); holocausts (Lv 1); and sin offerings (Lv 4–5). This last category includes the guilt offerings of Lv 5:14–19.
  5. 10:11–18 Whereas the levitical priesthood offered daily sacrifices that were ineffectual in remitting sin (Hb 10:11), Jesus offered a single sacrifice that won him a permanent place at God’s right hand. There he has only to await the final outcome of his work (Hb 10:12–13; cf. Ps 110:1). Thus he has brought into being in his own person the new covenant prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer 31:33–34) that has rendered meaningless all other offerings for sin (Hb 10:14–18).
  6. 10:13 Until his enemies are made his footstool: Ps 110:1 is again used; the reference here is to the period of time between the enthronement of Jesus and his second coming. The identity of the enemies is not specified; cf. 1 Cor 15:25–27.
  7. 10:15–17 The testimony of the scriptures is now invoked to support what has just preceded. The passage cited is a portion of the new covenant prophecy of Jer 31:31–34, which the author previously used in Hb 8:8–12.
  8. 10:17 He also says: these words are not in the Greek text, which has only kai, “also,” but the expression “after saying” in Hb 10:15 seems to require such a phrase to divide the Jeremiah text into two sayings. Others understand “the Lord says” of Hb 10:16 (here rendered says the Lord) as outside the quotation and consider Hb 10:16b as part of the second saying. Two ancient versions and a number of minuscules introduce the words “then he said” or a similar expression at the beginning of Hb 10:17.
  9. 10:19–39 Practical consequences from these reflections on the priesthood and the sacrifice of Christ should make it clear that Christians may now have direct and confident access to God through the person of Jesus (Hb 10:19–20), who rules God’s house as high priest (Hb 10:21). They should approach God with sincerity and faith, in the knowledge that through baptism their sins have been remitted (Hb 10:22), reminding themselves of the hope they expressed in Christ at that event (Hb 10:23). They are to encourage one another to Christian love and activity (Hb 10:24), not refusing, no matter what the reason, to participate in the community’s assembly, especially in view of the parousia (Hb 10:25; cf. 1 Thes 4:13–18). If refusal to participate in the assembly indicates rejection of Christ, no sacrifice exists to obtain forgiveness for so great a sin (Hb 10:26); only the dreadful judgment of God remains (Hb 10:27). For if violation of the Mosaic law could be punished by death, how much worse will be the punishment of those who have turned their backs on Christ by despising his sacrifice and disregarding the gifts of the holy Spirit (Hb 10:28–29). Judgment belongs to the Lord, and he enacts it by his living presence (Hb 10:30–31). There was a time when the spirit of their community caused them to welcome and share their sufferings (Hb 10:32–34). To revitalize that spirit is to share in the courage of the Old Testament prophets (cf. Is 26:20; Hb 2:3–4), the kind of courage that must distinguish the faith of the Christian (Hb 10:35–39).
  10. 10:20 Through the veil, that is, his flesh: the term flesh is used pejoratively. As the temple veil kept people from entering the Holy of Holies (it was rent at Christ’s death, Mk 15:38), so the flesh of Jesus constituted an obstacle to approaching God.
  11. 10:21 The house of God: this refers back to Hb 3:6, “we are his house.”
  12. 10:22 With our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience: as in Hb 9:13 (see note there), the sprinkling motif refers to the Mosaic rite of cleansing from ritual impurity. This could produce only an external purification, whereas sprinkling with the blood of Christ (Hb 9:14) cleanses the conscience. Washed in pure water: baptism is elsewhere referred to as a washing; cf. 1 Cor 6:11; Eph 5:26.
  13. 10:25 Our assembly: the liturgical assembly of the Christian community, probably for the celebration of the Eucharist. The day: this designation for the parousia also occurs in the Pauline letters, e.g., Rom 2:16; 1 Cor 3:13; 1 Thes 5:2.
  14. 10:26 If we sin deliberately: verse 29 indicates that the author is here thinking of apostasy; cf. Hb 3:12; 6:4–8.
  15. 10:28 Rejects the law of Moses: evidently not any sin against the law, but idolatry. Dt 17:2–7 prescribed capital punishment for idolaters who were convicted on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
  16. 10:32 After you had been enlightened: “enlightenment” is an ancient metaphor for baptism (cf. Eph 5:14; Jn 9:11), but see Hb 6:4 and the note there.
  17. 10:37–38 In support of his argument, the author uses Hb 2:3–4 in a wording almost identical with the text of the Codex Alexandrinus of the Septuagint but with the first and second lines of Hb 10:4 inverted. He introduces it with a few words from Is 26:20: after just a brief moment. Note the Pauline usage of Hb 2:4 in Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11.
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