Beginning

Melchizedek, the great priest-king

7 For this Melchizedek, “king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abraham as he was coming back after defeating the kings, and blessed him; ² and Abraham portioned out to him a tenth of everything.”

To begin with, if you translate Melchizedek’s name, it means “king of righteousness”; then he is also “king of Salem,” which means “king of peace.” ³ No mention is made of his father or mother or genealogy, nor of the beginning or end of his earthly life. He is described in a similar way to the son of God; and he continues as a priest forever.

⁴ Look and see what an exalted status he has. Abraham the patriarch gave him a tenth of the spoils! ⁵ Those of Levi’s sons who receive the priesthood have a command to take tithes from the people according to the law—from, that is, their own brothers and sisters, although they, too, are physical descendants of Abraham. ⁶ But this man, who doesn’t share their genealogy at all, received tithes from Abraham, and blessed the man who possessed the promises. ⁷ It is beyond all question that the lesser is blessed by the greater. ⁸ In the former case, mortal humans receive tithes; in the latter case, the one who received them was one of whom scripture declares that he is alive. ⁹ And, if I can put it like this, even Levi paid tithes through Abraham—Levi, the one who receives tithes! ¹⁰ He was still in his ancestor’s loins, you see, when Melchizedek met him.

A new order of priesthood

¹¹ So, you see, if it had been possible to arrive at complete perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for the people received the law by that means), what further need would there have been to speak of another priesthood being established “according to the order of Melchizedek,” rather than “according to the order of Aaron”? ¹² Change the priesthood, after all, and you’re bound to change the law— ¹³ especially when you consider that the one of whom these things are spoken comes from another tribe altogether, one from which nobody is recruited to serve at the altar. ¹⁴ It’s obvious, isn’t it, that our Lord was descended from Judah, and Moses never made any connection between that tribe and the priesthood.

¹⁵ This is even clearer when another priest arises “according to the order of Melchizedek,” ¹⁶ who attains this rank not because of a law concerning physical descent but through the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. ¹⁷ What scripture says about him, after all, is, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” ¹⁸ What is happening here is that the previous commandment is being set aside. It was, after all, weak and useless; ¹⁹ the law brought nothing to perfection, did it? Instead, what appears is a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

The permanent priesthood of Jesus

²⁰ This is all the more so when you consider that an oath was sworn. The Levitical priests, you see, become priests without an oath, ²¹ but the Messiah attains his priesthood with an oath, through what was said to him:

²² Jesus has thus, additionally, become the guarantee of a better covenant.

²³ There needed to be a large number of Levitical priests, since they stop holding office at death. ²⁴ But since he continues as a priest forever, his priesthood is permanent. ²⁵ That’s why he is able to save those who come to God through him, completely and forever—since he always lives to make intercession for them.

²⁶ It was appropriate that we should have a high priest like this. He is holy, without blame or stain, separated from sinners, and elevated high above the heavens. ²⁷ He doesn’t need (like the ordinary high priests do) to offer sacrifices every day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people. He did this once for all, you see, when he offered himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints ordinary, weak, mortal men as high priests; but the word of the oath, which comes after the law, appoints the son, who has been made perfect forever.

Better ministry, better covenant

8 The point of all this now appears. We have just such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the heavenly Majesty, ² as a minister of the holy things and of the true Tabernacle, the one set up by God rather than by humans.

³ Every high priest, you see, is appointed in order to offer gifts and sacrifices, which is why this one, too, must have something to offer. ⁴ If he were on earth, he wouldn’t even be a priest, since there already are priests who make offerings in accordance with the law. ⁵ They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly realities, in line with what Moses was told, when he was getting ready to construct the Tabernacle: “take care that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” ⁶ Now, you see, Jesus has obtained a vastly superior ministry. In the same way, he is the mediator of a better covenant, which is established on better promises.

The promise of a new covenant

⁷ If the first covenant had been faultless, you see, there wouldn’t have been any reason to look for a second one. ⁸ God finds fault with them when he says:

¹³ Thus, when it speaks of a new covenant, it puts the first one out of date. And something that is out of date, and growing old, is about to disappear.

The old Tabernacle points forward to the new

9 The first Tabernacle had, of course, its own regulations for worship, and it contained the earthly sanctuary. ² A double tent was constructed. In the outer one was the lampstand, the table and the “bread of the presence.” This is called “the holy place.” ³ After the second curtain came the inner tent, called “the holy of holies.” ⁴ This contained the golden altar, and the ark of the covenant, which was covered completely in gold. In the ark were the golden urn containing the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded and the tablets of the covenant. ⁵ Above it were the glorious cherubim, which overshadowed the mercy seat. There is much we could say about all this, but now is not the time.

⁶ With all these things in place, the priests continually go into the first Tabernacle in the ordinary course of their duties. ⁷ But only the high priest goes into the second Tabernacle, once every year, and he always takes blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. ⁸ The holy spirit indicates by this that, as long as the original Tabernacle is still standing, the way is not yet open into the sanctuary.

⁹ This is a picture, so to speak, of the present age. During this period, gifts and sacrifices are offered which have no power to perfect the conscience of those who come to worship. ¹⁰ They only deal with foods and drinks and various kinds of washings. These are regulations for the ordering of bodily life until the appointed time, the moment when everything will be put into proper order.

The sacrifice of the Messiah

¹¹ But when the Messiah arrived as high priest of the good things that were coming, he entered through the greater and much superior Tabernacle, not made with hands (that is, not of the present creation), ¹² and not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood. He entered, once and for all, into the holy place, accomplishing a redemption that lasts forever.

¹³ If the blood of bulls and goats, you see, and the sprinkled ashes of a heifer, make people holy (in the sense of purifying their bodies) when they had been unclean, ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of the Messiah, who offered himself to God through the eternal spirit as a spotless sacrifice, cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living God!

The purpose of the blood

¹⁵ For this reason, Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant. The purpose was that those who are called should receive the promised inheritance of the age to come, since a death has occurred which provides redemption from transgressions committed under the first covenant.

¹⁶ Where there is a covenant, you see, it is vital to establish the death of the one who made it. ¹⁷ A will laid down in covenant only takes effect after death; it has no validity during the lifetime of the one who made it. ¹⁸ That’s why even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. ¹⁹ For when every commandment had been read out to the people by Moses, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled the book itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has made with you.” ²¹ Then, in the same way, he sprinkled with blood the Tabernacle, and all the vessels used in worship. ²² In fact, according to the law more or less everything is purified with blood; sins are not remitted unless blood is shed!

The Messiah’s work in the heavenly sanctuary

²³ That’s why it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly objects to be purified in this way, while the heavenly things themselves require better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For the Messiah did not enter into a sanctuary made by human hands, the copy and pattern of the heavenly one, but into the heavenly one itself, where he now appears in God’s presence on our behalf.

²⁵ Nor did he intend to offer himself over and over again, in the same way as the high priest goes into the sanctuary year after year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶ Had that been the case, he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. Instead, he has appeared once, at the close of the ages, to put away sin by the sacrifice of his own self.

²⁷ Furthermore, just as it is laid down that humans have to die once, and after that comes judgment, ²⁸ so the Messiah, having been offered once and for all to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time. This will no longer have anything to do with sin. It will be in order to save those who are eagerly awaiting him.

The stopping of the sacrifices

10 The law, you see, possesses a shadow of the good things that are coming, not the actual form of the things themselves. Thus it is unable to make worshipers perfect through the annual round in which the same sacrifices are continually being offered. ² If the worshipers really had been purified once and for all, they would no longer have sin on their consciences—so they would have stopped offering sacrifices, wouldn’t they? ³ But, as it is, the sacrifices serve as a regular annual reminder of sins, ⁴ since it’s impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take sins away.

⁵ That’s why, when the Messiah comes into the world, this is what he says:

⁸ When he says, earlier, “you didn’t want, and you didn’t like, sacrifices, offerings, burnt offerings and sin-offerings” (all of which are offered in accordance with the law), ⁹ then he says, “Look! I’ve come to do your will!” He takes away the first so that he can establish the second. ¹⁰ And it’s by that “will” that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus the Messiah, once for all.

The finished achievement of the Messiah

¹¹ Thus it comes about that every priest stands daily at his duty, offering over and over the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But Jesus offered a single sacrifice on behalf of sins, for all time, and then “sat down at the right hand of God.” ¹³ From that moment on he is waiting “until his enemies are made a stool for his feet.” ¹⁴ By a single sacrifice, you see, he has made perfect forever those who are sanctified.

¹⁵ The holy spirit bears witness to this too. For, after it is said,

then he adds:

¹⁸ Where these are put away, there is no longer a sacrifice for sin.

So—come to worship!

¹⁹ So then, my brothers and sisters, we have boldness to go into the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus. ²⁰ He has inaugurated a brand new, living path through the curtain (that is, his earthly body). ²¹ We have a high priest who is over God’s house. ²² Let us therefore come to worship, with a true heart, in complete assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from a bad conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

²³ Let us hold on tightly to our confession of hope, without being diverted; the one who announced the message to us is trustworthy! ²⁴ Let us, as well, stir up one another’s minds to energetic effort in love and good works. ²⁵ We mustn’t neglect meeting together, as some are now doing. Instead, we must encourage one another, and all the more as you can see the great day coming closer.

Warning of judgment

²⁶ For if we sin deliberately and knowingly after having received the knowledge of the truth, there is no further sacrifice for sin. ²⁷ Instead, there is a fearful prospect of judgment, and a hungry fire which will consume the opponents. ²⁸ If someone sets aside the law of Moses, they are to be “put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses,” with no pity. ²⁹ How much worse punishment, do you think, will be appropriate for people who trample the son of God underfoot, and profane the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and scorn the spirit of grace? ³⁰ We know the one who said, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will pay everyone back,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ³¹ It’s a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Suffering in hope

³² But remember the earlier times! When you were first enlightened, you went through great struggles and suffering. ³³ Sometimes you were exposed to public reproach and physical abuse. Sometimes you stood alongside people who were being treated in that way. ³⁴ You even shared the sufferings of those who were imprisoned. When people looted your property, you actually welcomed it joyfully, because you knew that you had a better possession, a lasting one.

³⁵ So don’t throw away your confidence. It carries a great reward. ³⁶ What you need is patience, you see; then, when you’ve done what God wants, you will receive the promise.

³⁹ We are not among the hesitators, who are destroyed! We are people of faith, and our lives will be kept safe.