Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

6 Let us go forward, then, to mature teaching and leave behind us the first lessons of the Christian message. We should not lay again the foundation of turning away from useless works and believing in God; ² of the teaching about baptisms^[a] and the laying on of hands; of the resurrection of the dead and the eternal judgment. ³ Let us go forward! And this is what we will do, if God allows.

⁴ For how can those who abandon their faith be brought back to repent again? They were once in God's light; they tasted heaven's gift and received their share of the Holy Spirit; ⁵ they knew from experience that God's word is good, and they had felt the powers of the coming age. ⁶ And then they abandoned their faith! It is impossible to bring them back to repent again, because they are again crucifying the Son of God and exposing him to public shame.

⁷ God blesses the soil which drinks in the rain that often falls on it and which grows plants that are useful to those for whom it is cultivated. ^8 (A)But if it grows thorns and weeds, it is worth nothing; it is in danger of being cursed by God and will be destroyed by fire.

⁹ But even if we speak like this, dear friends, we feel sure about you. We know that you have the better blessings that belong to your salvation. ¹⁰ God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to other Christians. ¹¹ Our great desire is that each of you keep up your eagerness to the end, so that the things you hope for will come true. ¹² We do not want you to become lazy, but to be like those who believe and are patient, and so receive what God has promised.

God's Sure Promise

¹³ When God made his promise to Abraham, he made a vow to do what he had promised. Since there was no one greater than himself, he used his own name when he made his vow. ^14 (B)He said, “I promise you that I will bless you and give you many descendants.” ¹⁵ Abraham was patient, and so he received what God had promised. ¹⁶ When we make a vow, we use the name of someone greater than ourselves, and the vow settles all arguments. ¹⁷ To those who were to receive what he promised, God wanted to make it very clear that he would never change his purpose; so he added his vow to the promise. ¹⁸ There are these two things, then, that cannot change and about which God cannot lie. So we who have found safety with him are greatly encouraged to hold firmly to the hope placed before us. ^19 (C)We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure, and goes through the curtain of the heavenly temple into the inner sanctuary. ^20 (D)On our behalf Jesus has gone in there before us and has become a high priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.^[b]

The Priest Melchizedek

7 ^(E)This Melchizedek was king of Salem and a priest of the Most High God. As Abraham was coming back from the battle in which he defeated the four kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him, ² and Abraham gave him one tenth of all he had taken. (The first meaning of Melchizedek's name is “King of Righteousness”; and because he was king of Salem, his name also means “King of Peace.”) ³ There is no record of Melchizedek's father or mother or of any of his ancestors; no record of his birth or of his death. He is like the Son of God; he remains a priest forever.

⁴ You see, then, how great he was. Abraham, our famous ancestor, gave him one tenth of all he got in the battle. ^5 (F)And those descendants of Levi who are priests are commanded by the Law to collect one tenth from the people of Israel, that is, from their own people, even though they are also descendants of Abraham. ⁶ Melchizedek was not descended from Levi, but he collected one tenth from Abraham and blessed him, the man who received God's promises. ⁷ There is no doubt that the one who blesses is greater than the one who is blessed. ⁸ In the case of the priests the tenth is collected by men who die; but as for Melchizedek the tenth was collected by one who lives, as the scripture says. ⁹ And, so to speak, when Abraham paid the tenth, Levi (whose descendants collect the tenth) also paid it. ¹⁰ For Levi had not yet been born, but was, so to speak, in the body of his ancestor Abraham when Melchizedek met him.

¹¹ It was on the basis of the levitical priesthood that the Law was given to the people of Israel. Now, if the work of the levitical priests had been perfect, there would have been no need for a different kind of priest to appear, one who is in the priestly order of Melchizedek,^[c] not of Aaron. ¹² For when the priesthood is changed, there also has to be a change in the law. ¹³ And our Lord, of whom these things are said, belonged to a different tribe, and no member of his tribe ever served as a priest. ¹⁴ It is well known that he was born a member of the tribe of Judah; and Moses did not mention this tribe when he spoke of priests.

Another Priest, like Melchizedek

¹⁵ The matter becomes even plainer; a different priest has appeared, who is like Melchizedek. ¹⁶ He was made a priest, not by human rules and regulations, but through the power of a life which has no end. ^17 (G)For the scripture says, “You will be a priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.”^{[d] 18} The old rule, then, is set aside, because it was weak and useless. ¹⁹ For the Law of Moses could not make anything perfect. And now a better hope has been provided through which we come near to God.

²⁰ In addition, there is also God's vow. There was no such vow when the others were made priests. ^21 (H)But Jesus became a priest by means of a vow when God said to him,

²² This difference, then, also makes Jesus the guarantee of a better covenant.

²³ There is another difference: there were many of those other priests, because they died and could not continue their work. ²⁴ But Jesus lives on forever, and his work as priest does not pass on to someone else. ²⁵ And so he is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through him, because he lives forever to plead with God for them.

²⁶ Jesus, then, is the High Priest that meets our needs. He is holy; he has no fault or sin in him; he has been set apart from sinners and raised above the heavens. ^27 (I)He is not like other high priests; he does not need to offer sacrifices every day for his own sins first and then for the sins of the people. He offered one sacrifice, once and for all, when he offered himself. ²⁸ The Law of Moses appoints men who are imperfect to be high priests; but God's promise made with the vow, which came later than the Law, appoints the Son, who has been made perfect forever.