1 N ow the main point of what we have to say is this: We have such a High Priest, One Who is seated at the right hand of the majestic in heaven,

Now a summary of the things of which we are speaking, We have such a one high priest who has sat down on right hand of the throne of the greatness in the heavens;

2 A s officiating Priest, a Minister in the holy places and in the true tabernacle which is erected not by man but by the Lord.

minister of the holy places and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord has pitched, not man.

3 F or every high priest is appointed to offer up gifts and sacrifices; so it is essential for this to have some offering to make also.

For every high priest is constituted for the offering both of gifts and sacrifices; whence it is needful that this one also should have something which he may offer.

4 I f then He were still living on earth, He would not be a priest at all, for there are who offer the gifts in accordance with the Law.

If then indeed he were upon earth, he would not even be a priest, there being those who offer the gifts according to the law,

5 s ervice as a pattern and as a foreshadowing of the heavenly sanctuary. For when Moses was about to erect the tabernacle, he was warned by God, saying, See to it that you make it all according to the copy (the model) which was shown to you on the mountain.

(who serve the representation and shadow of heavenly things, according as Moses was oracularly told about to make the tabernacle; for See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern which has been shewn to thee in the mountain.)

6 B ut as it now is, He has acquired a ministry which is as much superior and more excellent as the covenant (the agreement) of which He is the Mediator (the Arbiter, Agent) is superior and more excellent, it is enacted and rests upon more important (sublimer, higher, and nobler) promises.

But now he has got a more excellent ministry, by so much as he is mediator of a better covenant, which is established on the footing of better promises.

7 F or if that first covenant had been without defect, there would have been no room for another one or an attempt to institute another one.

For if that first was faultless, place had not been sought for a second.

8 H owever, He finds fault with them when He says, Behold, the days will come, says the Lord, when I will make and ratify a new covenant or agreement with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

For finding fault, he says to them, Behold, days come, saith the Lord, and I will consummate a new covenant as regards the house of Israel, and as regards the house of Juda;

9 I t will not be like the covenant that I made with their forefathers on the day when I grasped them by the hand to help and relieve them and to lead them out from the land of Egypt, for they did not abide in My agreement with them, and so I withdrew My favor and disregarded them, says the Lord.

not according to the covenant which I made to their fathers in day of my taking their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in my covenant, and I did not regard them, saith Lord.

10 F or this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their minds, even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding, and engrave them upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Because this the covenant that I will covenant to the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: Giving my laws into their mind, I will write them also upon their hearts; and I will be to them for God, and they shall be to me for people.

11 A nd it will nevermore be necessary for each one to teach his neighbor and his fellow citizen or each one his brother, saying, Know (perceive, have knowledge of, and get acquainted by experience with) the Lord, for all will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest of them.

And they shall not teach each his fellow-citizen, and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord; because all shall know me in themselves, from little one unto great among them.

12 F or I will be merciful and gracious toward their sins and I will remember their deeds of unrighteousness no more.

Because I will be merciful to their unrighteousnesses, and their sins and their lawlessnesses I will never remember any more.

13 W hen God speaks of a new, He makes the first one obsolete (out of use). And what is obsolete (out of use and annulled because of age) is ripe for disappearance and to be dispensed with altogether.

In that he says New, he has made the first old; but that which grows old and aged near disappearing.