1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest,uSee Mark 16:19 one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, invch. 9:24; [ch. 9:11] the true tent1Or tabernacle; also verse 5 that the LordwEx. 33:7 set up, not man. 3 ForxSee ch. 5:1 every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thusych. 9:12-14; 10:9-12; Eph. 5:2 it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They servezch. 9:23 a copy andach. 10:1; Col. 2:17 shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying,bCited from Ex. 25:40 “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain. ” 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that iscch. 1:4; 2 Cor. 3:6-11 as much more excellent than the old asdch. 7:22 the covenantech. 9:15; 12:24; [Gal. 3:19] he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 fSee ch. 7:11 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.
8 For he finds fault with them when he says:
gCited from Jer. 31:31-34 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah,
9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not continue in my covenant,
and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
10 hch. 10:16; Rom. 11:27 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
andi[2 Cor. 3:3] write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord, ’
for they shalljIsa. 54:13; John 6:45; 1 John 2:27 all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
kch. 10:17; Rom. 11:27 and I will remember their sins no more. ”
13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. Andl[2 Cor. 5:17] what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.