Hebrews 8
Good News Translation
Jesus Our High Priest
8 (A)The whole point of what we are saying is that we have such a High Priest, who sits at the right of the throne of the Divine Majesty in heaven. 2 He serves as high priest in the Most Holy Place, that is, in the real tent which was put up by the Lord, not by human hands.
3 Every high priest is appointed to present offerings and animal sacrifices to God, and so our High Priest must also have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer the gifts required by the Jewish Law. 5 (B)The work they do as priests is really only a copy and a shadow of what is in heaven. It is the same as it was with Moses. When he was about to build the Sacred Tent, God told him, “Be sure to make everything according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain.” 6 But now, Jesus has been given priestly work which is superior to theirs, just as the covenant which he arranged between God and his people is a better one, because it is based on promises of better things.
7 If there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, there would have been no need for a second one. 8 (C)But God finds fault with his people when he says,
“The days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will draw up a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors
on the day I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt.
They were not faithful to the covenant I made with them,
and so I paid no attention to them.
10 Now, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel
in the days to come, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 None of them will have to teach their friends
or tell their neighbors,
‘Know the Lord.’
For they will all know me,
from the least to the greatest.
12 I will forgive their sins
and will no longer remember their wrongs.”
13 By speaking of a new covenant, God has made the first one old; and anything that becomes old and worn out will soon disappear.
Hebrews 8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Mediator of a Better Covenant
8 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) 2 a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent[a] that the Lord, and not any mortal, has set up.(B) 3 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) 4 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. 5 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) 6 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) 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one.(F)
8 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)
9 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)
Hebrews 8
Complete Jewish Bible
8 Here is the whole point of what we have been saying: we do have just such a cohen gadol as has been described. And he does sit at the right hand of HaG’dulah in heaven.[a] 2 There he serves in the Holy Place, that is, in the true Tent of Meeting, the one erected not by human beings but by Adonai.
3 For every cohen gadol is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so this cohen gadol too has to have something he can offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he wouldn’t be a cohen at all, since there already are cohanim offering the gifts required by the Torah. 5 But what they are serving is only a copy and shadow of the heavenly original; for when Moshe was about to erect the Tent, God warned him, “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain.”[b]
6 But now the work Yeshua has been given to do is far superior to theirs, just as the covenant he mediates is better. For this covenant has been given as Torah on the basis of better promises. 7 Indeed, if the first covenant had not given ground for faultfinding, there would have been no need for a second one. 8 For God does find fault with the people when he says,
“‘See! The days are coming,’ says Adonai,
‘when I will establish
over the house of Isra’el and over the house of Y’hudah
a new covenant.
9 “‘It will not be like the covenant
which I made with their fathers
on the day when I took them by their hand
and led them forth out of the land of Egypt;
because they, for their part,
did not remain faithful to my covenant;
so I, for my part,
stopped concerning myself with them,’
says Adonai.
10 “‘For this is the covenant which I will make
with the house of Isra’el after those days,’
says Adonai:
‘I will put my Torah in their minds
and write it on their hearts;
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 “‘None of them will teach his fellow-citizen
or his brother, saying, “Know Adonai!”
For all will know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,
12 because I will be merciful toward their wickednesses
and remember their sins no more.’”[c]
13 By using the term, “new,” he has made the first covenant “old”; and something being made old, something in the process of aging, is on its way to vanishing altogether.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 8:1 Psalm 110:1
- Hebrews 8:5 Exodus 25:40
- Hebrews 8:12 Jeremiah 31:30–33(31–34)
Hebrews 8
The Message
A New Plan with Israel
8 1-2 In essence, we have just such a high priest: authoritative right alongside God, conducting worship in the one true sanctuary built by God.
3-5 The assigned task of a high priest is to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and it’s no different with the priesthood of Jesus. If he were limited to earth, he wouldn’t even be a priest. We wouldn’t need him since there are plenty of priests who offer the gifts designated in the law. These priests provide only a hint of what goes on in the true sanctuary of heaven, which Moses caught a glimpse of as he was about to set up the tent-shrine. It was then that God said, “Be careful to do it exactly as you saw it on the Mountain.”
6-13 But Jesus’ priestly work far surpasses what these other priests do, since he’s working from a far better plan. If the first plan—the old covenant—had worked out, a second wouldn’t have been needed. But we know the first was found wanting, because God said,
Heads up! The days are coming
when I’ll set up a new plan
for dealing with Israel and Judah.
I’ll throw out the old plan
I set up with their ancestors
when I led them by the hand out of Egypt.
They didn’t keep their part of the bargain,
so I looked away and let it go.
This new plan I’m making with Israel
isn’t going to be written on paper,
isn’t going to be chiseled in stone;
This time I’m writing out the plan in them,
carving it on the lining of their hearts.
I’ll be their God,
they’ll be my people.
They won’t go to school to learn about me,
or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons.
They’ll all get to know me firsthand,
the little and the big, the small and the great.
They’ll get to know me by being kindly forgiven,
with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean.
By coming up with a new plan, a new covenant between God and his people, God put the old plan on the shelf. And there it stays, gathering dust.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson