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Oct 26: Hebrews 8

Oct 26: Hebrews 8

Christ Is Our High Priest

8 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,[a] 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.”[b]

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 would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. 8 But when God found fault with the people, he said:

“The day is coming, says the Lord,
   when I will make a new covenant
   with the people of Israel and Judah.
9 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.
10 But this is the new covenant I will make
   with the people of Israel on that day,[c] 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.
11 And they will not need to teach their neighbors,
   nor will they need to teach their relatives,[d]
   saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’
For everyone, from the least to the greatest,
   will know me already.
12 And I will forgive their wickedness,
   and I will never again remember their sins.”[e]

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 It is now out of date and will soon disappear.