Christ’s Eternal Priesthood

¹ The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ² and who ministers in the sanctuary and true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man. ³ And since every high priest^* is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, it was necessary for this One also to have something to offer.

⁴ Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest,^* since there are already priests who offer gifts according to the law. ⁵ The place where they serve is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

The New Covenant

⁶ Now, however, Jesus has received a much more excellent ministry,^* just as the covenant He mediates is better and is founded on better promises. ⁷ For if that first covenant had been without fault, no place would have been sought for a second. ⁸ But God found fault with the people and said:

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

when I will make a new covenant

with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah.

⁹ It will not be like the covenant

I made with their fathers

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of the land of Egypt,

because they did not abide by My covenant,

and I disregarded them,

declares the Lord.

¹⁰ For this is the covenant I will make

with the house of Israel

after those days,

declares the Lord.

I will put My laws in their minds

and inscribe them on their hearts.

And I will be their God,

and they will be My people.

¹¹ No longer will each one teach his neighbor or his brother,

saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

because they will all know Me,

from the least of them to the greatest.

¹² For I will forgive their iniquities

and will remember their sins no more.”

¹³ By speaking of a new covenant, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.