New Testament Plan

¹For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

²to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace.

³Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.

⁴Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the choicest spoils.

⁵And those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have a commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their countrymen, although they are descended from Abraham.

⁶But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.

⁷But without any dispute the lesser person is blessed by the greater.

⁸In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives on.

⁹And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, has paid tithes,

¹⁰for he was still in the loins of his forefather when Melchizedek met him.

¹¹So if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?

¹²For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also.

¹³For the one about whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar.

¹⁴For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses said nothing concerning priests.

¹⁵And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek,

¹⁶who has become a priest not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life.

¹⁷For it is attested of Him, “YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.”

¹⁸For, on the one hand, there is the nullification of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness

¹⁹(for the Law made nothing perfect); on the other hand, there is the introduction of a better hope, through which we come near to God.

²⁰And to the extent that it was not without an oath

²¹(for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, “THE LORD HAS SWORN AND WILL NOT CHANGE HIS MIND, ‘YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER’ ”);

²²by the same extent Jesus also has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

²³The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing;

²⁴Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently.

²⁵Therefore He is also able to save forever those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

²⁶For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens;

²⁷who has no daily need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because He did this once for all time when He offered up Himself.

²⁸For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, who has been made perfect forever.

¹Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

²a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord set up, not man.

³For every high priest is appointed to 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 offer the gifts according to the Law;

⁵who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “SEE,” He says, “THAT YOU MAKE all things BY THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN TO YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.”

⁶But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, to the extent that He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.

⁷For if that first covenant had been free of fault, no circumstances would have been sought for a second.

⁸For in finding fault with the people, He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL BRING ABOUT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND THE HOUSE OF JUDAH,

⁹NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO BRING THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE ABOUT THEM, SAYS THE LORD.

¹⁰FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT WHICH I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, DECLARES THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

¹¹AND THEY WILL NOT TEACH, EACH ONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EACH ONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’ FOR THEY WILL ALL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.

¹²FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TOWARD THEIR WRONGDOINGS, AND THEIR SINS I WILL NO LONGER REMEMBER.”

¹³When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is about to disappear.

¹Now even the first covenant had regulations for divine worship and the earthly sanctuary.

²For a tabernacle was equipped, the outer sanctuary, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the sacred bread; this is called the Holy Place.

³Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Most Holy Place,

⁴having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, Aaron’s staff which budded, and the tablets of the covenant;

⁵and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the atoning cover; but about these things we cannot now speak in detail.

⁶Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship,

⁷but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

⁸The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing,

⁹which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience,

¹⁰since they relate only to food, drink, and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.

¹¹But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things having come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hands, that is, not of this creation;

¹²and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all time, having obtained eternal redemption.

¹³For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh,

¹⁴how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

¹⁵For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the violations that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

¹⁶For where there is a covenant, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it.

¹⁷For a covenant is valid only when people are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives.

¹⁸Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood.

¹⁹For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,

²⁰saying, “THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT WHICH GOD COMMANDED YOU.”

²¹And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood.

²²And almost all things are cleansed with blood, according to the Law, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

²³Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these things, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

²⁴For Christ did not enter a holy place made by hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

²⁵nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year by year with blood that is not his own.

²⁶Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

²⁷And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment,

²⁸so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.