¹² For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. ¹³ He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe,^(A) and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar.^{(B) 14} For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah,^(C) and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. ¹⁵ And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, ¹⁶ one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷ For it is declared:

¹⁸ The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless^{(E) 19} (for the law made nothing perfect),^(F) and a better hope^(G) is introduced, by which we draw near to God.^(H)

²⁰ And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, ²¹ but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:

²² Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.^(K)

²³ Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; ²⁴ but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.^{(L) 25} Therefore he is able to save^(M) completely^[c] those who come to God^(N) through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.^(O)

²⁶ Such a high priest^(P) truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners,^(Q) exalted above the heavens.^{(R) 27} Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices^(S) day after day, first for his own sins,^(T) and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all^(U) when he offered himself.^{(V) 28} For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness;^(W) but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son,^(X) who has been made perfect^(Y) forever.

The Blood of Christ

¹¹ But when Christ came as high priest^(A) of the good things that are now already here,^[a](B) he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle^(C) that is not made with human hands,^(D) that is to say, is not a part of this creation. ¹² He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves;^(E) but he entered the Most Holy Place^(F) once for all^(G) by his own blood,^(H) thus obtaining^[b] eternal redemption. ¹³ The blood of goats and bulls^(I) and the ashes of a heifer^(J) sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴ How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit^(K) offered himself^(L) unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences^(M) from acts that lead to death,^[c](N) so that we may serve the living God!^(O)

¹⁵ For this reason Christ is the mediator^(P) of a new covenant,^(Q) that those who are called^(R) may receive the promised^(S) eternal inheritance^(T)—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.^(U)

¹⁶ In the case of a will,^[d] it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, ¹⁷ because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. ¹⁸ This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.^{(V) 19} When Moses had proclaimed^(W) every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves,^(X) together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people.^{(Y) 20} He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”^{[e](Z) 21} In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. ²² In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood,^(AA) and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.^(AB)

²³ It was necessary, then, for the copies^(AC) of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one;^(AD) he entered heaven itself,^(AE) now to appear for us in God’s presence.^{(AF) 25} Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place^(AG) every year with blood that is not his own.^{(AH) 26} Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world.^(AI) But he has appeared^(AJ) once for all^(AK) at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.^{(AL) 27} Just as people are destined to die once,^(AM) and after that to face judgment,^{(AN) 28} so Christ was sacrificed once^(AO) to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time,^(AP) not to bear sin,^(AQ) but to bring salvation^(AR) to those who are waiting for him.^(AS)