Hebrews 8 - 9 — Legacy Standard Bible

Jesus, High Priest of a New Covenant

8Now the main point in what is being said is this: we have such a ^ahigh priest, who sat down at ^bthe right hand of the throne of the ^cMajesty in the heavens, ²a ^aminister ¹in the ²holy places and ³in the ^btrue ⁴tabernacle, which the Lord ^cpitched, not man. ³For every ^ahigh priest is appointed ^bto offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. ⁴Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who ^aoffer the gifts according to the Law; ⁵who serve ^aa copy and ^bshadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses ¹was ^cwarned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “^dSee,” He says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” ⁶But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the ^amediator of ^ba better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. ⁷For ^aif that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. ⁸For finding fault with them, He says, “^aBehold, days are coming, says the ¹Lord,²When I will complete ^ba new covenantWith the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;

⁹^aNot like the covenant which I made with their fathersIn the day when I took them by the handTo lead them out of the land of Egypt;For they did not continue in My covenant,And I did not care for them, says the ¹Lord.¹⁰“^aFor this is the covenant that I will make with the house of IsraelAfter those days, says the ¹Lord:²I will put My laws into their minds,And ^bupon their hearts I will write them.And I will be their God,And they shall be My people.¹¹“^aAnd they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’For ^ball will know Me,From ¹the least to the greatest of them.¹²“^aFor I will be merciful to their iniquities,^bAnd I will remember their sins no more.”

¹³¹When He said, “^aA new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. ^bBut whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ²ready to disappear.

The Old Covenant

9Now even the first covenant had ^arequirements of divine worship and ^bthe earthly sanctuary. ²For there was ^aa tabernacle prepared: the first part, in which were ^bthe lampstand and ^cthe table and ^dthe ¹sacred bread, which is called the holy place. ³And behind ^athe second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the ^bHoly of Holies, ⁴having a golden ¹^,^aaltar of incense and ^bthe ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was ^ca golden jar holding the manna, and ^dAaron’s rod which budded, and ^ethe tablets of the covenant. ⁵And above it were the ^acherubim of glory ^bovershadowing the ¹mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

⁶Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests ^aare continually entering the first part of the tabernacle performing the divine worship, ⁷but into ^athe second, only ^bthe high priest enters ^conce a year, ^dnot without taking blood, which he ^eoffers for himself and for the ¹^,^fsins of the people committed in ignorance. ⁸^aThe Holy Spirit is indicating this, ^bthat the way into the holy places has not yet been manifested while that first part of the tabernacle is still standing, ⁹which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly ^aboth gifts and sacrifices are offered which ^bcannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, ¹⁰since they relate only to ^afood and ^bdrink and various ^cwashings, ^drequirements for the ¹body imposed until ^ea time of reformation.

The New Covenant

¹¹But when Christ appeared as a ^ahigh priest of the ^bgood things ¹to come, He entered through ^cthe greater and more perfect tabernacle, ^dnot made with hands, that is to say, ^enot of this creation, ¹²and not through ^athe blood of goats and calves, but ^bthrough His own blood, He ^centered the holy places ^donce for all, ¹having obtained ^eeternal redemption. ¹³For if ^athe blood of goats and bulls and ^bthe ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the ¹cleansing of the flesh, ¹⁴how much more will ^athe blood of Christ, who through ¹^,^bthe eternal Spirit ^coffered Himself without blemish to God, ^dcleanse ²your conscience from ^edead works to serve ^fthe living God?

¹⁵And for this reason ^aHe is the ^bmediator of a ^cnew covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the trespasses that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been ^dcalled may ^ereceive the promise of ^fthe eternal inheritance. ¹⁶For where a ¹covenant is, there must of necessity ²be the death of the one who made it. ¹⁷For a ¹covenant is valid only when ²men are dead, ³for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. ¹⁸Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. ¹⁹For when every commandment had been ^aspoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, ^bhe took the ^cblood of the calves and the goats, with ^dwater and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both ^ethe book itself and all the people, ²⁰saying, “^aThis is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” ²¹And in the same way, both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry he ^asprinkled with the blood. ²²And according to the ¹Law, one may ^aalmost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and ^bwithout shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

²³Therefore it was necessary for the ^acopies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but ^bthe heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴For Christ ^adid not enter holy places made with hands, mere copies of ^bthe true ones, but into ^cheaven itself, now ^dto appear in the presence of God for us; ²⁵nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as ^athe high priest enters ^bthe holy places ^cyear by year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since ^athe foundation of the world; but now ^bonce at ^cthe consummation of the ages He has been ^dmanifested to put away sin ¹^,^eby the sacrifice of Himself. ²⁷And inasmuch as ^ait is ¹appointed for men to die once and after this ^bcomes judgment, ²⁸so Christ also, having been ^aoffered once to ^bbear the sins of many, will appear ^ca second time for ^dsalvation ^ewithout reference to sin, to those who ^feagerly await Him.