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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)

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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

Christ Is Our High Priest

Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven. There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle,[a] the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands.

And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering, too. If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law. They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: “Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.”[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 8:2 Or tent; also in 8:5.
  2. 8:5 Exod 25:40; 26:30.