Christ's Eternal Priesthood

1Now the point of the things being spoken of is that we have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2a minister in the holy places and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord has pitched, not man.

3For every high priest is appointed in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices; wherefore it was necessary for this One also to have something that He might offer. 4Then certainly if He were on earth, not even would He be a priest, there being those offering the gifts according to Law, 5who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly, as Moses was divinely instructed, being about to complete the tabernacle. For He says, “See that you shall make all things according to the pattern having been shown you in the mountain.”a

The New Covenant

6But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted upon better promises. 7For if what was first had been faultless, no place would have been sought for a second. 8For finding fault with them, He says:

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,

and I will ratify a new covenant

with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah,

9not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers,

in the day of My having taken hold of their hand,

to lead them out of the land of Egypt,

because they did not continue in My covenant,

and I disregarded them, says the Lord.

10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

after those days, says the Lord,

putting My Laws into their mind,

and I will inscribe them upon their hearts;

and I will be to them God,

and they will be to Me for a people.

11And they shall not teach, each his neighbor, and each his brother,

saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

because all will know Me,

from the least of them to the greatest,

12because I will be merciful toward their iniquities,

and I shall remember their sins no more.b

13In saying, “new,” He has made obsolete the first; and that which is growing old and aging is near vanishing.