Beginning
The Messiah is Superior to Melchizedek
7 Now this man Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, met Abraham and blessed him when he was returning from defeating the kings. 2 Abraham gave Melchizedek[a] a tenth of everything.[b] In the first place, his name means “king of righteousness,” and then he is also king of Salem, that is, “king of peace.” 3 He has no father, mother, or genealogy, no birth date recorded for him, nor a date of death.[c] Like the Son of God, he continues to be a priest forever.
4 Just look at how great this man was! Even Abraham—the patriarch himself—gave him a tenth of what he had captured! 5 The descendants of Levi who accept the priesthood have a commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their own brothers, even though they are also descendants of Abraham. 6 But this man, whose descent is not traced from them, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the man who had received the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the less important person is blessed by the more important person. 8 Mortal men collect tithes, but we are informed by Scripture[d] that[e] Melchizedek[f] keeps on living. 9 One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10 because Levi[g] was still inside his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
11 Now if perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—for on this basis the people received the Law—what further need would there be to speak of appointing another kind of priest according to the order of Melchizedek, not one according to the order of Aaron? 12 When a change in the priesthood takes place, there must also be a change in the Law. 13 For the person we are talking about belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served[h] at the altar. 14 Furthermore, it is obvious that our Lord was a descendant of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests coming from that tribe. 15 This point is even more obvious in that another priest who is like Melchizedek has appeared 16 who was appointed to be a priest,[i] not on the basis of a genealogical registry, but rather on the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is declared about him,
“You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.”[j]
18 Indeed, because it was weak and ineffective, the former commandment has been annulled, 19 since the Law made nothing perfect, and a better hope is presented, by which we approach God.
20 Now none of this happened without an oath. Others became priests without any oath, 21 but Jesus[k] became a priest[l] with an oath when God[m] told him,
22 In this way, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.
23 There have been many priests, since each one of them had to stop serving in office when he died. 24 But because Jesus[p] lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore, because he always lives to intercede for them, he is able to save completely[q] those who come to God through him.
26 We need such a high priest—one who is holy, innocent, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need to offer sacrifices every day like high priests do, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he sacrificed himself. 28 For the Law appoints as high priests men who are weak, but the promised oath, which came after the Law, results in a Son who is eternally perfect.
The Messiah Has a Better Ministry
8 Now the main point in what we are saying is this: we do have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tent set up by the Lord and not by any human. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore, this high priest[r] had to offer something, too. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not even be a priest, because other men offer the gifts prescribed by the Law. 5 They serve in a sanctuary that is a copy, a shadow of the heavenly one. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tent: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”[s] 6 However, Jesus[t] has now obtained a more superior ministry, since the covenant he mediates is founded on better promises.
The New Covenant is Better than the Old
7 If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one, 8 but God[u] found something wrong with his people[v] when he said,
“Look! The days are coming, declares the Lord,[w]
when I will establish a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors at the time
when I took them by the hand
and brought them out of the land of Egypt.
Because they did not remain loyal to my covenant,
I ignored them, declares the Lord.[x]
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord:[y]
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 Never again will everyone teach his neighbor
or his brother by saying, ‘Know the Lord,’[z]
because all of them will know me,
from the least important to the most important.
12 For I will be merciful regarding their wrong deeds,
and I will never again remember their sins.”[aa]
13 In speaking of a “new” covenant, he has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
The Earthly Sanctuary and Its Ritual
9 Now even the first covenant[ab] had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tent was set up, and in the first part were the lamp stand, the table, and the bread of the Presence.[ac] This was called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was the part of the tent called the Most Holy Place, 4 which had the gold altar for incense and the Ark of the Covenant completely covered with gold. In it were the gold jar holding the manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the Tablets of the Covenant. 5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the place of atonement. (We cannot discuss these things in detail now.)
6 When everything had been arranged like this, the priests always went into the first part of the tent to perform their duties. 7 But only the high priest went[ad] into the second part, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins committed by the people in ignorance. 8 The Holy Spirit was indicating by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first part of the tent was still standing. 9 This illustration for today indicates that the gifts and sacrifices being offered could not clear the conscience of a worshiper, 10 since they deal only with food, drink, and various washings, which are required for the body until the time when things would be set right.
The Messiah Has Offered a Superior Sacrifice
11 But when the Messiah[ae] came as a high priest of the good things that have come,[af] he went[ag] through the greater and more perfect tent that was not made by human[ah] hands and that is not a part of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood he went into the Most Holy Place once for all and secured our eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are unclean purifies them physically, 14 how much more will the blood of the Messiah,[ai] who through the eternal Spirit[aj] offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our[ak] consciences from dead actions so that we may serve the living God!
The Messiah is the Mediator of a New Covenant
15 This is why the Messiah[al] is the mediator of a new covenant; so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance promised them, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the offenses committed under the first covenant. 16 For where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will is in force only when somebody has died, since it never takes effect as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19 For after every commandment in the Law had been spoken to all the people by Moses, he took the blood of calves and goats,[am] together with some water, scarlet wool, and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God ordained for you.”[an] 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and everything used in worship. 22 In fact, under the Law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of the blood there is no forgiveness.
The Messiah’s Perfect Sacrifice
23 Thus it was necessary for these earthly[ao] copies of the things in heaven to be cleansed by these sacrifices,[ap] but the heavenly things themselves are made clean[aq] with better sacrifices than these. 24 For the Messiah[ar] did not go into a sanctuary made by human[as] hands that is merely a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, to appear now in God’s presence on our behalf. 25 Nor did he go into heaven[at] to sacrifice himself again and again, the way the high priest goes into the Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the creation of the world. But now, at the end of the ages, he has appeared once for all to remove sin by his sacrifice. 27 Indeed, just as people are destined to die once and after that to be judged,[au] 28 so the Messiah[av] was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people. And he will appear a second time, not to deal with sin,[aw] but to bring salvation to those who eagerly wait for him.
The Law is a Reflection
10 For the Law, being only[ax] a reflection[ay] of the blessings to come and not their substance, can never make perfect those who come near by the same sacrifices repeatedly offered year after year. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped offering them, because the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer be aware of any sins? 3 Instead, through those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year, 4 for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
The Messiah Offered One Sacrifice
5 For this reason, the Scriptures[az] say, when the Messiah[ba] was about to come into the world:
“You did not want sacrifices and offerings,
but you prepared a body for me.
6 In burnt offerings and sin offerings
you never took delight.
7 Then I said, ‘See, I have come to do your will, O God’
In the volume of the scroll this is written about me.”[bb]
8 In this passage he says, “You never wanted or took delight in sacrifices, offerings, burnt offerings, and sin offerings,”[bc] which are offered according to the Law. 9 Then he says, “See, I have come to do your will.”[bd] He takes away the first in order to establish the second. 10 By God’s will we have been sanctified once and for all through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus, the Messiah.[be]
11 Day after day every priest stands and repeatedly offers the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest[bf] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God.”[bg] 13 Since that time, he has been waiting for his enemies to be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15 The Holy Spirit also assures us of this, for he said:
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:[bh]
I will put my laws in their hearts
and will write them on their minds,
17 and I will never again remember their sins
and their lawless deeds.”[bi]
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these sins,[bj] there is no longer any offering for sin.
How We Should Live
19 Therefore, my brothers, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21 and since we have a great high priest over the household of God, 22 let us continue to come near with sincere hearts in the full assurance that faith provides, because our hearts have been sprinkled clean from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. 23 Let us continue to hold firmly to the hope that we confess without wavering, for the one who made the promise is faithful. 24 And let us continue to consider how to motivate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another even more as you see the day of the Lord[bk] coming nearer.
26 For if we choose to go on sinning after we have learned the full truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but only a terrifying prospect of judgment and a raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.[bl] 28 Anyone who violates the Law of Moses dies without mercy “on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”[bm] 29 How much more severe a punishment do you think that person deserves who tramples on God’s Son, treats as common the blood of the covenant by which it[bn] was sanctified, and insults the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the one who said, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will pay them back,”[bo] and again, “The Lord[bp] will judge his people.”[bq] 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!
32 But you must continue to remember those earlier days, how after you were enlightened you endured a hard and painful struggle. 33 At times you were made a public spectacle by means of insults and persecutions, while at other times you associated with people who were treated this way. 34 For you sympathized[br] with the prisoners and cheerfully submitted to the violent seizure of your property, because you know that you have a better and more permanent possession.
35 So don’t lose your confidence, since it holds a great reward for you. 36 For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will you can receive what he has promised. 37 For
“in a very little while
the one who is coming will return—
he will not delay;
38 but my righteous one will live by faith,
and if he turns back,
my soul will take no pleasure in him.”[bs]
39 Now, we do not belong to those who turn back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
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