1 | Now the main point in the things that have been stated is this: that we have so great a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of Majesty in the heavens, |
2 | who is the minister of holy things, and of the true tabernacle, which was established by the Lord, not by man. |
3 | For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. Therefore, it is necessary for him also to have something to offer. |
4 | And so, if he were upon the earth, he would not be a priest, since there would be others to offer gifts according to the law, |
5 | gifts which serve as mere examples and shadows of the heavenly things. And so it was answered to Moses, when he was about to complete the tabernacle: "See to it," he said, "that you make everything according to the example which was revealed to you on the mountain." |
6 | But now he has been granted a better ministry, so much so that he is also the Mediator of a better testament, which has been confirmed by better promises. |
7 | For if the former one had been entirely without fault, then a place certainly would not have been sought for a subsequent one. |
8 | For, finding fault with them, he says: "Behold, the days shall arrive, says the Lord, when I will consummate a New Testament over the house of Israel and the house of Judah, |
9 | not according to the testament which I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand, so that I might lead them away from the land of Egypt. For they did not remain in my testament, and so I disregarded them, says the Lord. |
10 | For this is the testament which I will set before the house of Israel, after those days, says the Lord. I will instill my laws in their minds, and I will inscribe my laws on their hearts. And so, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. |
11 | And they will not teach, each one his neighbor, and each one his brother, saying: 'Know the Lord.' For all shall know me, from the least, even to the greatest of them. |
12 | For I will forgive their iniquities, and I will no longer remember their sins." |
13 | Now in saying something new, he has made the former old. But that which decays and grows old is close to passing away. |