The New Priestly Service
1 Now thisis the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, Ps. 68:18; 110:1; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 2:17; 3:1; 10:12who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a Minister of Heb. 9:8, 12the sanctuary and of Heb. 9:11, 24the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.
3 For (Rom. 4:25; 5:6, 8; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 5:2); Heb. 5:1; 8:4every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore (Eph. 5:2; Heb. 9:14)itis necessary that this One also have something to offer. 4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5 who serve Heb. 9:23, 24the copy and Col. 2:17; Heb. 10:1shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, Ex. 25:40"See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain." 6 But now (2 Cor. 3:6–8)He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a (Luke 22:20); Heb. 7:22better covenant, which was established on better promises.
A New Covenant
7 For if that Ex. 3:8; 19:5first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: Jer. 31:31–34"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the 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. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Jer. 31:33; Rom. 11:27; Heb. 10:16Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and Zech. 8:8I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 Is. 54:13; John 6:45; (1 John 2:27)None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Jer. 31:34Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, Rom. 11:27and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
13 (2 Cor. 5:17); Heb. 1:11In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.