Jesus Goes to the Festival of Booths

7 Yeshua later traveled throughout Galilee. He didn’t want to travel in Judea because Jews there wanted to kill him.

² The time for the Jewish Festival of Booths was near. ³ So Yeshua’s brothers told him, “Leave this place, and go to Judea so that your disciples can see the things that you’re doing. ⁴ No one does things secretly when he wants to be known publicly. If you do these things, you should let the world see you.” ⁵ Even his brothers didn’t believe in him.

⁶ Yeshua told them, “Now is not the right time for me to go. Any time is right for you. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I say that what everyone does is evil. ⁸ Go to the festival. I’m not going to this festival right now. Now is not the right time for me to go.”

⁹ After saying this, Yeshua stayed in Galilee. ¹⁰ But after his brothers had gone to the festival, Yeshua went. He didn’t go publicly but secretly.

¹¹ The Jews were looking for Yeshua in the crowd at the festival. They kept asking, “Where is that man?” ¹² The crowds argued about Yeshua. Some people said, “He’s a good man,” while others said, “No he isn’t. He deceives the people.” ¹³ Yet, no one would talk openly about him because they were afraid of the Jews.

¹⁴ When the festival was half over, Yeshua went to the temple courtyard and began to teach. ¹⁵ The Jews were surprised and asked, “How can this man be so educated when he hasn’t gone to school?”

¹⁶ Yeshua responded to them, “What I teach doesn’t come from me but from the one who sent me. ¹⁷ Those who want to follow the will of God will know if what I teach is from God or if I teach my own thoughts. ¹⁸ Those who speak their own thoughts are looking for their own glory. But the man who wants to bring glory to the one who sent him is a true teacher and doesn’t have dishonest motives. ¹⁹ Didn’t Moses give you his teachings? Yet, none of you does what Moses taught you. So why do you want to kill me?”

²⁰ The crowd answered, “You’re possessed by a demon! Who wants to kill you?”

²¹ Yeshua answered them, “I performed one miracle, and all of you are surprised by it. ²² Moses gave you the teaching about circumcision (although it didn’t come from Moses but from our ancestors). So you circumcise a male on a day of worship. ²³ If you circumcise a male on the day of worship to follow Moses’ Teachings, why are you angry with me because I made a man entirely well on the day of worship? ²⁴ Stop judging by outward appearance! Instead, judge correctly.”

²⁵ Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem said, “Isn’t this the man they want to kill? ²⁶ But look at this! He’s speaking in public, and no one is saying anything to him! Can it be that the rulers really know that this man is the Messiah? ²⁷ However, we know where this man comes from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”

²⁸ Then, while Yeshua was teaching in the temple courtyard, he said loudly, “You know me, and you know where I come from. I didn’t decide to come on my own. The one who sent me is true. He’s the one you don’t know. ²⁹ I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

³⁰ The Jews tried to arrest him but couldn’t because his time had not yet come.

³¹ However, many people in the crowd believed in him. They asked, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more miracles than this man has?”

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd saying things like this about him. So the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest Yeshua.

³³ Yeshua said, “I will still be with you for a little while. Then I’ll go to the one who sent me. ³⁴ You will look for me, but you won’t find me. You can’t go where I’m going.”

³⁵ The Jews said among themselves, “Where does this man intend to go so that we won’t find him? Does he mean that he’ll live with the Jews who are scattered among the Greeks and that he’ll teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What does he mean when he says, ‘You will look for me, but you won’t find me,’ and ‘You can’t go where I’m going’?”

³⁷ On the last and most important day of the festival, Yeshua was standing in the temple courtyard. He said loudly, “Whoever is thirsty must come to me to drink. ³⁸ As Scripture says, ‘Streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.’” ³⁹ Yeshua said this about the Spirit, whom his believers would receive. The Spirit was not yet evident, as it would be after Yeshua had been glorified.

⁴⁰ After some of the crowd heard Yeshua say these words, they said, “This man is certainly the prophet.” ⁴¹ Other people said, “This man is the Messiah.” Still other people asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? ⁴² Doesn’t Scripture say that the Messiah will come from the descendants of David and from the village of Bethlehem, where David lived?” ⁴³ So the people were divided because of Yeshua. ⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to arrest him, but they couldn’t.

⁴⁵ When the temple guards returned, the chief priests and Pharisees asked them, “Why didn’t you bring Yeshua?”

⁴⁶ The temple guards answered, “No human has ever spoken like this man.”

⁴⁷ The Pharisees asked the temple guards, “Have you been deceived too? ⁴⁸ Has any ruler or any Pharisee believed in him? ⁴⁹ This crowd is cursed because it doesn’t know Moses’ Teachings.”

⁵⁰ One of those Pharisees was Nicodemus, who had previously visited Yeshua. Nicodemus asked them, ⁵¹ “Do Moses’ Teachings enable us to judge a person without first hearing that person’s side of the story? We can’t judge a person without finding out what that person has done.”

⁵² They asked Nicodemus, “Are you saying this because you’re from Galilee? Study the Scriptures, and you’ll see that no prophet comes from Galilee.”^[a]

⁵³ Then each of them went home.

A Woman Caught in Adultery

8 Yeshua went to the Mount of Olives. ² Early the next morning he returned to the temple courtyard. All the people went to him, so he sat down and began to teach them.

³ The experts in Moses’ Teachings and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of everyone ⁴ and asked Yeshua, “Teacher, we caught this woman in the act of adultery. ⁵ In his teachings, Moses ordered us to stone women like this to death. What do you say?” ⁶ They asked this to test him. They wanted to find a reason to bring charges against him.

Yeshua bent down and used his finger to write on the ground. ⁷ When they persisted in asking him questions, he straightened up and said, “The person who is sinless should be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ Then he bent down again and continued writing on the ground.

⁹ One by one, beginning with the older men, the experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees left. Yeshua was left alone with the woman. ¹⁰ Then Yeshua straightened up and asked her, “Where did they go? Has anyone condemned you?”

¹¹ The woman answered, “No one, sir.”

Yeshua said, “I don’t condemn you either. Go! From now on don’t sin.”

Jesus Speaks with the Pharisees about His Father

¹² Yeshua spoke to the Pharisees again. He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will have a life filled with light and will never live in the dark.”

¹³ The Pharisees said to him, “You testify on your own behalf, so your testimony isn’t true.”

¹⁴ Yeshua replied to them, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is true because I know where I came from and where I’m going. However, you don’t know where I came from or where I’m going. ¹⁵ You judge the way humans do. I don’t judge anyone. ¹⁶ Even if I do judge, my judgment is valid because I don’t make it on my own. I make my judgment with the Father who sent me. ¹⁷ Your own teachings say that the testimony of two people is true. ¹⁸ I testify on my own behalf, and so does the Father who sent me.”

¹⁹ The Pharisees asked him, “Where is your father?”

Yeshua replied, “You don’t know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.”

²⁰ Yeshua spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury area of the temple courtyard. No one arrested him, because his time had not yet come.

²¹ Yeshua spoke to the Pharisees again. He said, “I’m going away, and you’ll look for me. But you will die because of your sin. You can’t go where I’m going.”

²² Then the Jews asked, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means when he says, ‘You can’t go where I’m going’?”

²³ Yeshua said to them, “You’re from below. I’m from above. You’re from this world. I’m not from this world. ²⁴ For this reason I told you that you’ll die because of your sins. If you don’t believe that I am the one, you’ll die because of your sins.”

²⁵ The Jews asked him, “Who did you say you are?”

Yeshua told them, “I am who I said I was from the beginning. ²⁶ I have a lot I could say about you and a lot I could condemn you for. But the one who sent me is true. So I tell the world exactly what he has told me.” ²⁷ (The Jews didn’t know that he was talking to them about the Father.)

²⁸ So Yeshua told them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you’ll know that I am the one and that I can’t do anything on my own. Instead, I speak as the Father taught me. ²⁹ Besides, the one who sent me is with me. He hasn’t left me by myself. I always do what pleases him.”

³⁰ As Yeshua was saying this, many people believed in him. ³¹ So Yeshua said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you live by what I say, you are truly my disciples. ³² You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³ They replied to Yeshua, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and we’ve never been anyone’s slaves. So how can you say that we will be set free?”

³⁴ Yeshua answered them, “I can guarantee this truth: Whoever lives a sinful life is a slave to sin. ³⁵ A slave doesn’t live in the home forever, but a son does. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be absolutely free. ³⁷ I know that you’re Abraham’s descendants. However, you want to kill me because you don’t like what I’m saying. ³⁸ What I’m saying is what I have seen in my Father’s presence. But you do what you’ve heard from your father.”

³⁹ The Jews replied to Yeshua, “Abraham is our father.”

Yeshua told them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did. ⁴⁰ I am a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. But now you want to kill me. Abraham wouldn’t have done that. ⁴¹ You’re doing what your father does.”

The Jews said to Yeshua, “We’re not illegitimate children. God is our only Father.”

⁴² Yeshua told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me. After all, I’m here, and I came from God. I didn’t come on my own. Instead, God sent me. ⁴³ Why don’t you understand the language I use? Is it because you can’t understand the words I use? ⁴⁴ You come from your father, the devil, and you desire to do what your father wants you to do. The devil was a murderer from the beginning. He has never been truthful. He doesn’t know what the truth is. Whenever he tells a lie, he’s doing what comes naturally to him. He’s a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ So you don’t believe me because I tell the truth. ⁴⁶ Can any of you convict me of committing a sin? If I’m telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷ The person who belongs to God understands what God says. You don’t understand because you don’t belong to God.”

⁴⁸ The Jews replied to Yeshua, “Aren’t we right when we say that you’re a Samaritan and that you’re possessed by a demon?”

⁴⁹ Yeshua answered, “I’m not possessed. I honor my Father, but you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ I don’t want my own glory. But there is someone who wants it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹ I can guarantee this truth: Whoever obeys what I say will never see death.”

⁵² The Jews told Yeshua, “Now we know that you’re possessed by a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets, but you say, ‘Whoever does what I say will never taste death.’ ⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets have also died. Who do you think you are?”

⁵⁴ Yeshua said, “If I bring glory to myself, my glory is nothing. My Father is the one who gives me glory, and you say that he is your God. ⁵⁵ Yet, you haven’t known him. However, I know him. If I would say that I didn’t know him, I would be a liar like all of you. But I do know him, and I do what he says. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham was pleased to see that my day was coming. He saw it and was happy.”

⁵⁷ The Jews said to Yeshua, “You’re not even fifty years old. How could you have seen Abraham?”

⁵⁸ Yeshua told them, “I can guarantee this truth: Before Abraham was ever born, I am.”

⁵⁹ Then some of the Jews picked up stones to throw at Yeshua. However, Yeshua was concealed, and he left the temple courtyard.

Jesus Gives Sight to a Blind Man

9 As Yeshua walked along, he saw a man who had been born blind. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, why was this man born blind? Did he or his parents sin?”

³ Yeshua answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. Instead, he was born blind so that God could show what he can do for him. ⁴ We must do what the one who sent me wants us to do while it is day. The night when no one can do anything is coming. ⁵ As long as I’m in the world, I’m light for the world.”

⁶ After Yeshua said this, he spit on the ground and mixed the spit with dirt. Then he smeared it on the man’s eyes ⁷ and told him, “Wash it off in the pool of Siloam.” (Siloam means “sent.”) The blind man washed it off and returned. He was able to see.

⁸ His neighbors and those who had previously seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”

⁹ Some of them said, “He’s the one.” Others said, “No, he isn’t, but he looks like him.” But the man himself said, “I am the one.”

¹⁰ So they asked him, “How did you receive your sight?”

¹¹ He replied, “The man people call Yeshua mixed some spit with dirt, smeared it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam, and wash it off.’ So I went there, washed it off, and received my sight.”

¹² They asked him, “Where is that man?”

The man answered, “I don’t know.”

¹³ Some people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. ¹⁴ The day when Yeshua mixed the spit and dirt and gave the man sight was a day of worship. ¹⁵ So the Pharisees asked the man again how he received his sight.

The man told the Pharisees, “He put a mixture of spit and dirt on my eyes. I washed it off, and now I can see.”

¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “The man who did this is not from God because he doesn’t follow the traditions for the day of worship.” Other Pharisees asked, “How can a man who is a sinner perform miracles like these?” So the Pharisees were divided in their opinions.

¹⁷ They asked the man who had been born blind another question: “What do you say about the man who gave you sight?”

The man answered, “He’s a prophet.”

¹⁸ Until they talked to the man’s parents, the Jews didn’t believe that the man had been blind and had been given sight. ¹⁹ They asked his parents, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? Why can he see now?”

²⁰ His parents replied, “We know that he’s our son and that he was born blind. ²¹ But we don’t know how he got his sight or who gave it to him. You’ll have to ask him. He’s old enough to answer for himself.” ²² (His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. The Jews had already agreed to put anyone who acknowledged that Yeshua was the Christ out of the synagogue. ²³ That’s why his parents said, “You’ll have to ask him. He’s old enough.”)

²⁴ So once again the Jews called the man who had been blind. They told him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man who gave you sight is a sinner.”

²⁵ The man responded, “I don’t know if he’s a sinner or not. But I do know one thing. I used to be blind, but now I can see.”

²⁶ The Jews asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he give you sight?”

²⁷ The man replied, “I’ve already told you, but you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear the story again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

²⁸ The Jews yelled at him, “You’re his disciple, but we’re Moses’ disciples. ²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses, but we don’t know where this man came from.”

³⁰ The man replied to them, “That’s amazing! You don’t know where he’s from. Yet, he gave me sight. ³¹ We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners. Instead, he listens to people who are devout and who do what he wants. ³² Since the beginning of time, no one has ever heard of anyone giving sight to a person born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he couldn’t do anything like that.”

³⁴ The Jews answered him, “You were born full of sin. Do you think you can teach us?” Then they threw him out of the synagogue.

³⁵ Yeshua heard that the Jews had thrown the man out of the synagogue. So when Yeshua found the man, he asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶ The man replied, “Sir, tell me who he is so that I can believe in him.”

³⁷ Yeshua told him, “You’ve seen him. He is the person who is now talking with you.”

³⁸ The man bowed in front of Yeshua and said, “I believe, Lord.”

³⁹ Then Yeshua said, “I have come into this world to judge: Blind people will be given sight, and those who can see will become blind.”

⁴⁰ Some Pharisees who were with Yeshua heard this. So they asked him, “Do you think we’re blind?”

⁴¹ Yeshua told them, “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be sinners. But now you say, ‘We see,’ so you continue to be sinners.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd

10 “I can guarantee this truth: The person who doesn’t enter the sheep pen through the gate but climbs in somewhere else is a thief or a robber. ² But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep respond to his voice. He calls his sheep by name and leads them out of the pen. ⁴ After he has brought out all his sheep, he walks ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. ⁵ They won’t follow a stranger. Instead, they will run away from a stranger because they don’t recognize his voice.” ⁶ Yeshua used this illustration as he talked to the people, but they didn’t understand what he meant.

⁷ Yeshua emphasized, “I can guarantee this truth: I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who came before I did were thieves or robbers. However, the sheep didn’t respond to them. ⁹ I am the gate. Those who enter the sheep pen through me will be saved. They will go in and out of the sheep pen and find food. ¹⁰ A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came so that my sheep will have life and so that they will have everything they need.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. ¹² A hired hand isn’t a shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep. When he sees a wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and quickly runs away. So the wolf drags the sheep away and scatters the flock. ¹³ The hired hand is concerned about what he’s going to get paid and not about the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep as the Father knows me.^[b] My sheep know me as I know the Father. ¹⁵ So I give my life for my sheep. ¹⁶ I also have other sheep that are not from this pen. I must lead them. They, too, will respond to my voice. So they will be one flock with one shepherd. ¹⁷ The Father loves me because I give my life in order to take it back again. ¹⁸ No one takes my life from me. I give my life of my own free will. I have the authority to give my life, and I have the authority to take my life back again. This is what my Father ordered me to do.”

¹⁹ The Jews were divided because of what Yeshua said. ²⁰ Many of them said, “He’s possessed by a demon! He’s crazy! Why do you listen to him?” ²¹ Others said, “No one talks like this if he’s possessed by a demon. Can a demon give sight to the blind?”

¹⁹ We know that whatever the Scriptures say applies to everyone under their influence, and no one can say a thing. The whole world is brought under the judgment of God. ²⁰ Not one person can have God’s approval by any effort to follow the laws in the Scriptures. These laws show what sin is.

God Gives Us His Approval as a Gift

²¹ Now, the way to receive God’s approval has been made plain in a way other than the laws in the Scriptures. Moses’ Teachings and the Prophets tell us this. ²² Everyone who believes has God’s approval through faith in Yeshua Christ.

There is no difference between people. ²³ Because all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God’s glory. ²⁴ They receive God’s approval freely by an act of his kindness^[a] through the price Christ Yeshua paid to set us free from sin. ²⁵ God showed that Christ is the throne of mercy where God’s approval is given through faith in Christ’s blood. In his patience God waited to deal with sins committed in the past. ²⁶ He waited so that he could display his approval at the present time. This shows that he is a God of justice, a God who approves of people who believe in Yeshua.

²⁷ So, do we have anything to brag about? Bragging has been eliminated. On what basis was it eliminated? On the basis of our own efforts? No, indeed! Rather, it is eliminated on the basis of faith. ²⁸ We conclude that a person has God’s approval by faith, not by his own efforts.

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³⁰ So what can we say? We can say that non-Jewish people who were not trying to gain God’s approval won his approval, an approval based on faith. ³¹ The people of Israel tried to gain God’s approval by obeying the laws in Moses’ Teachings, but they did not reach their goal. ³² Why? They didn’t rely on faith to gain God’s approval, but they relied on their own efforts. They stumbled over the rock that trips people. ³³ As Scripture says,

If You Believe You Will Be Saved

10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of the Jewish people is that they would be saved. ² I can assure you that they are deeply devoted to God, but they are misguided. ³ They don’t understand how to receive God’s approval. So they try to set up their own way to get it, and they have not accepted God’s way for receiving his approval. ⁴ Christ is the fulfillment of Moses’ Teachings so that everyone who has faith may receive God’s approval.

⁵ Moses writes about receiving God’s approval by following his laws. He says, “The person who obeys these laws will live because he obeys them.” ⁶ However, Scripture says about God’s approval which is based on faith, “Don’t ask yourself who will go up to heaven,” (that is, to bring Christ down). ⁷ “Don’t ask who will go down into the depths,” (that is, to bring Christ back from the dead). ⁸ However, what else does it say? “This message is near you. It’s in your mouth and in your heart.” This is the message of faith that we spread. ⁹ If you declare that Yeshua is Lord, and believe that God brought him back to life, you will be saved. ¹⁰ By believing you receive God’s approval, and by declaring your faith you are saved. ¹¹ Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be ashamed.”

¹² There is no difference between Jews and Greeks. They all have the same Lord, who gives his riches to everyone who calls on him. ¹³ So then, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How to Treat Christians Who Live Like Non-Christians

5 Your own members are aware that there is sexual sin going on among them. This kind of sin is not even heard of among unbelievers—a man is actually married to his father’s wife. ² You’re being arrogant when you should have been more upset about this. If you had been upset, the man who did this would have been removed from among you. ³ Although I’m not physically present with you, I am with you in spirit. I have already judged the man who did this as though I were present with you. ⁴ When you have gathered together, I am with you in spirit. Then, in the name of our Lord Yeshua, and with his power, ⁵ hand such a person over to Satan to destroy his corrupt nature so that his spiritual nature may be saved on the day of the Lord.

⁶ It’s not good for you to brag. Don’t you know that a little yeast spreads through the whole batch of dough? ⁷ Remove the old yeast of sin so that you may be a new batch of dough, since you don’t actually have the yeast of sin.

Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸ So we must not celebrate our festival with the old yeast of sin or with the yeast of vice and wickedness. Instead, we must celebrate it with the bread of purity and truth that has no yeast.

⁹ In my letter to you I told you not to associate with people who continue to commit sexual sins. ¹⁰ I didn’t tell you that you could not have any contact with unbelievers who commit sexual sins, are greedy, are dishonest, or worship false gods. If that were the case, you would have to leave this world. ¹¹ Now, what I meant was that you should not associate with people who call themselves brothers or sisters in the Christian faith but live in sexual sin, are greedy, worship false gods, use abusive language, get drunk, or are dishonest. Don’t eat with such people.

¹² After all, do I have any business judging those who are outside the Christian faith? Isn’t it your business to judge those who are inside? ¹³ God will judge those who are outside. Remove that wicked man from among you.

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2 I decided not to visit you again while I was distressed. ² After all, if I had made you uncomfortable, how could you have cheered me up when you were uncomfortable?

³ This is the very reason I wrote to you. I didn’t want to visit you and be distressed by those who should make me happy. I’m confident about all of you that whatever makes me happy also makes you happy.

⁴ I was deeply troubled and anguished. In fact, I had tears in my eyes when I wrote to you. I didn’t write to make you uncomfortable but to let you know how much I love you.

Forgive the Person Who Sinned

⁵ If someone caused distress, I’m not the one really affected. To some extent—although I don’t want to emphasize this too much—it has affected all of you. ⁶ The majority of you have imposed a severe enough punishment on that person. ⁷ So now forgive and comfort him. Such distress could overwhelm someone like that if he’s not forgiven and comforted. ⁸ That is why I urge you to assure him that you love him. ⁹ I had also written to you to test you. I wanted to see if you would be obedient in every way.

¹⁰ If you forgive someone, so do I. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did in the presence of Christ for your benefit. ¹¹ I don’t want Satan to outwit us. After all, we are not ignorant about Satan’s scheming.

Paul’s Mission as Christ’s Spokesman

¹² When I went to the city of Troas, the Lord gave me an opportunity to spread the Good News about Christ. ¹³ But I didn’t have any peace of mind, because I couldn’t find Titus, our brother, there. So I said goodbye to the people in Troas and went to the province of Macedonia.

¹⁴ But I thank God, who always leads us in victory because of Christ. Wherever we go, God uses us to make clear what it means to know Christ. It’s like a fragrance that fills the air. ¹⁵ To God we are the aroma of Christ among those who are saved and among those who are dying. ¹⁶ To some people we are a deadly fragrance, while to others we are a life-giving fragrance.

Who is qualified to tell about Christ? ¹⁷ At least we don’t go around selling an impure word of God like many others. The opposite is true. As Christ’s spokesmen and in God’s presence, we speak the pure message that comes from God.

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¹⁰ Certainly, there is a curse on all who rely on their own efforts because Scripture says, “Whoever doesn’t obey everything that is written in Moses’ Teachings is cursed.” ¹¹ No one receives God’s approval by obeying the laws in Moses’ Teachings since, “The person who has God’s approval will live by faith.” ¹² These laws have nothing to do with faith, but, “Whoever obeys laws will live because he obeys them.”

¹³ Christ paid the price to free us from the curse that the laws in Moses’ Teachings bring by becoming cursed instead of us. Scripture says, “Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed.” ¹⁴ Christ paid the price so that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to all the people of the world through Yeshua Christ and we would receive the promised Spirit through faith.

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²³ There was a long succession of priests because when a priest died he could no longer serve. ²⁴ But Yeshua lives forever, so he serves as a priest forever. ²⁵ That is why he is always able to save those who come to God through him. He can do this because he always lives and intercedes for them.

²⁶ We need a chief priest who is holy, innocent, pure, set apart from sinners, and who has the highest position in heaven. ²⁷ We need a priest who doesn’t have to bring daily sacrifices as those chief priests did. First they brought sacrifices for their own sins, and then they brought sacrifices for the sins of the people. Yeshua brought the sacrifice for the sins of the people once and for all when he sacrificed himself. ²⁸ Moses’ Teachings designated mortals as chief priests even though they had weaknesses. But God’s promise, which came after Moses’ Teachings, designated the Son who forever accomplished everything that God required.

Jesus’ Priestly Work Is Superior to Other Priests’ Work

8 The main point we want to make is this: We do have this kind of chief priest. This chief priest has received the highest position, the throne of majesty in heaven. ² He serves as priest of the holy place and of the true tent set up by the Lord and not by any human.

³ Every chief priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. Therefore, this chief priest had to offer something. ⁴ If he were on earth, he would not even be a priest. On earth other priests offer gifts by following the instructions that Moses gave. ⁵ They serve at a place that is a pattern, a shadow, of what is in heaven. When Moses was about to make the tent, God warned him, “Be sure to make everything based on the plan I showed you on the mountain.”

⁶ Yeshua has been given a priestly work that is superior to the Levitical priests’ work. He also brings a better promise^[a] from God that is based on better guarantees. ⁷ If nothing had been wrong with the first promise, no one would look for another one. ⁸ But God found something wrong with his people and said to them,

¹³ God made this new promise and showed that the first promise was outdated. What is outdated and aging will soon disappear.

Christ Offered a Superior Sacrifice

9 The first promise had rules for the priests’ service. It also had a holy place on earth. ² A tent was set up. The first part of this tent was called the holy place. The lamp stand, the table, and the bread of the presence were in this part of the tent. ³ Behind the second curtain was the part of the tent called the most holy place. ⁴ It contained the gold incense burner and the ark of the Lord’s promise. The ark was completely covered with gold. In the ark were the gold jar filled with manna, Aaron’s staff that had blossomed, and the tablets on which the promise^[b] was written. ⁵ Above the ark were the angels^[c] of glory with their wings overshadowing the throne of mercy. (Discussing these things in detail isn’t possible now.)

⁶ That is how these two parts of the tent were set up. The priests always went into the first part of the tent to perform their duties. ⁷ But only the chief priest went into the second part of the tent. Once a year he entered and brought blood that he offered for himself and for the things that the people did wrong unintentionally. ⁸ The Holy Spirit used this to show that the way into the most holy place was not open while the tent was still in use.

⁹ The first part of the tent is an example for the present time. The gifts and sacrifices that were brought there could not give the worshiper a clear conscience. ¹⁰ These gifts and sacrifices were meant to be food, drink, and items used in various purification ceremonies. These ceremonies were required for the body until God would establish a new way of doing things.

¹¹ But Christ came as a chief priest of the good things that are now here. Christ went through a better, more perfect tent that was not made by human hands and that is not part of this created world. ¹² He used his own blood, not the blood of goats and bulls, for the sacrifice. He went into the most holy place and offered this sacrifice once and for all to free us forever.

¹³ The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of cows sprinkled on unclean^[d] people made their bodies holy and clean. ¹⁴ The blood of Christ, who had no defect, does even more. Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself to God and cleansed our consciences from the useless things we had done. Now we can serve the living God.

¹⁵ Because Christ offered himself to God, he is able to bring a new promise from God. Through his death he paid the price to set people free from the sins they committed under the first promise. He did this so that those who are called can be guaranteed an inheritance that will last forever.

¹⁶ In order for a will to take effect, it must be shown that the one who made it has died. ¹⁷ A will is used only after a person is dead because it goes into effect only when a person dies.

¹⁸ That is why even the first promise was made with blood. ¹⁹ As Scripture tells us, Moses told all the people every commandment. Then he took the blood of calves and goats together with some water, red yarn, and hyssop and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. ²⁰ He said, “Here is the blood that seals the promise God has made to you.” ²¹ In the same way, Moses sprinkled blood on the tent and on everything used in worship. ²² As Moses’ Teachings tell us, blood was used to cleanse almost everything, because if no blood is shed, no sins can be forgiven.

²³ The copies of the things in heaven had to be cleansed by these sacrifices. But the heavenly things themselves had to be cleansed by better sacrifices. ²⁴ Christ didn’t go into a holy place made by human hands. He didn’t go into a model of the real thing. Instead, he went into heaven to appear in God’s presence on our behalf. ²⁵ Every year the chief priest went into the holy place to make a sacrifice with blood that isn’t his own. However, Christ didn’t go into heaven to sacrifice himself again and again. ²⁶ Otherwise, he would have had to suffer many times since the world was created. But now, at the end of the ages, he has appeared once to remove sin by his sacrifice. ²⁷ People die once, and after that they are judged. ²⁸ Likewise, Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of humanity, and after that he will appear a second time. This time he will not deal with sin, but he will save those who eagerly wait for him.

We Can Enter the Most Holy Place because of Christ’s Superior Work

10 Moses’ Teachings with their yearly cycle of sacrifices are only a shadow of the good things in the future. They aren’t an exact likeness of those things. They can never make those who worship perfect. ² If these sacrifices could have made the worshipers perfect, the sacrifices would have stopped long ago. Those who worship would have been cleansed once and for all. Their consciences would have been free from sin. ³ Instead, this yearly cycle of sacrifices reminded people of their sins. ⁴ (The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins.)

⁵ For this reason, when Christ came into the world, he said,

⁸ In this passage Christ first said, “You did not want sacrifices, offerings, burnt offerings, and sacrifices for sin. You did not approve of them.” (These are the sacrifices that Moses’ Teachings require people to offer.) ⁹ Then Christ says, “I have come to do what you want.” He did away with sacrifices in order to establish the obedience that God wants. ¹⁰ We have been set apart as holy because Yeshua Christ did what God wanted him to do by sacrificing his body once and for all.

¹¹ Every day each priest performed his religious duty. He offered the same type of sacrifice again and again. Yet, these sacrifices could never take away sins. ¹² However, this chief priest made one sacrifice for sins, and this sacrifice lasts forever. Then he received the highest position in heaven. ¹³ Since that time, he has been waiting for his enemies to be made his footstool. ¹⁴ With one sacrifice he accomplished the work of setting them apart for God forever.

¹⁵ The Holy Spirit tells us the same thing: ¹⁶ “This is the promise^[e] that I will make to them after those days, says the Lord: ‘I will put my teachings in their hearts and write them in their minds.’”

¹⁷ Then he adds, “I will no longer hold their sins and their disobedience against them.”

¹⁸ When sins are forgiven, there is no longer any need to sacrifice for sins.

¹⁹ Brothers and sisters, because of the blood of Yeshua we can now confidently go into the holy place. ²⁰ Yeshua has opened a new and living way for us to go through the curtain. (The curtain is his own body.) ²¹ We have a superior priest in charge of God’s house. ²² We have been sprinkled with his blood to free us from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with clean water. So we must continue to come to him with a sincere heart and strong faith. ²³ We must continue to hold firmly to our declaration of faith. The one who made the promise is faithful.

Encourage Each Other

²⁴ We must also consider how to encourage each other to show love and to do good things. ²⁵ We should not stop gathering together with other believers, as some of you are doing. Instead, we must continue to encourage each other even more as we see the day of the Lord coming.