HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1484
H EBREW S 8
page 1114
system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. 24 But because Jesus lives forever,
his priesthood lasts forever. 25 Therefore he is
able, once and forever, to save* those who come
to God through him. He lives forever to intercede
with God on their behalf.
26 He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by
sin. He has been set apart from sinners and
has been given the highest place of honor in
heaven.* 27 Unlike those other high priests, he
does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They
did this for their own sins first and then for the
sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all
when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the
people’s sins. 28 The law appointed high priests
who were limited by human weakness. But after
the law was given, God appointed his Son with
an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect
High Priest forever.
— promises —
from God
“I will put my laws in their
minds, and I will write
them on their hearts.
I will be their God, and
they will be my people.”
H E B R EWS 8:10
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.
2 There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle,* the true place of worship that was built
by the Lord and not by human hands.
3 And since every high priest is required to
offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must
make an offering, too. 4 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. 5 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.”*
6 But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been
given a ministry that is far superior to the old
priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for
us a far better covenant with God, based on
better promises.
7 If the first covenant had been faultless, there
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would have been no need for a second covenant
to replace it. 8 But when God found fault with the
people, he said:
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10
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“The day is coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel and Judah.
This covenant will not be like the one
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
and led them out of the land of Egypt.
They did not remain faithful to my
covenant,
so I turned my back on them, says
the Lord.
But this is the new covenant I will make
with the people of Israel on that day,*
says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds,
and I will write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
And they will not need to teach their
neighbors,
nor will they need to teach their relatives,*
saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’
For everyone, from the least to the greatest,
will know me already.
And I will forgive their wickedness,
and I will never again remember
their sins.”*
13 When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it
means he has made the first one obsolete. It is
now out of date and will soon disappear.
Old Rules about Worship
That first covenant between God and Israel
had regulations for worship and a place of
worship here on earth. 2 There were two rooms
in that Tabernacle.* In the first room were a
lampstand, a table, and sacred loaves of bread
on the table. This room was called the Holy
Place. 3 Then there was a curtain, and behind
the curtain was the second room* called the
Most Holy Place. 4 In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of
the Covenant, which was covered with gold on
all sides. Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing manna, Aaron’s staff that sprouted leaves,
and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5 Above
the Ark were the cherubim of divine glory,
whose wings stretched out over the Ark’s cover,
the place of atonement. But we cannot explain
these things in detail now.
6 When these things were all in place, the
priests regularly entered the first room* as they
performed their religious duties. 7 But only the
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7:25 Or is able to save completely. 7:26 Or has been exalted
higher than the heavens. 8:2 Or tent; also in 8:5. 8:5 Exod
25:40; 26:30. 8:10 Greek after those days. 8:11 Greek their
brother. 8:8-12 Jer 31:31-34. 9:2 Or tent; also in 9:11, 21.
9:3 Greek second tent. 9:6 Greek first tent.