1 N ow this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

Now the important thing is this: We have such a Religious Leader Who has made the way for man to go to God. He is the One Who sits at the right side of the All-powerful God in the heavens.

2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

He is the Religious Leader of that holy place in heaven which is the true place of worship. It was built by the Lord and not by men’s hands.

3 F or every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.

Every religious leader of the Old Way of Worship had the work of killing animals and of giving gifts on the altar to God. So Christ had to have something to give also.

4 F or if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;

If Christ were on the earth, He would not be a religious leader such as these. The religious leaders on earth give gifts like the Law says.

5 w ho serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

Their work shows us only a picture of the things in heaven. When Moses was putting up the tent to worship in, God told him, “Be sure you make the tent for worship like I showed you on Mount Sinai.”

6 B ut now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. A New Covenant

But Christ has a more perfect work. He is the One Who goes between God and man in this new and better way. The New Way of Worship promises better things.

7 F or if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

If the Old Way of Worship had been perfect, there would have been no need for another one.

8 B ecause finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the L ord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah —

God was not happy how the people lived by the Old Way of Worship. He said, “The day will come when I will make a New Way of Worship for the Jews and those of the family group of Judah.

9 n ot 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 L ord.

The New Way of Worship will not be like the Old Way of Worship I gave to their early fathers. That was when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. But they did not follow the Old Way of Worship. And so I turned away from them.

10 F or this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

This is the New Way of Worship that I will give to the Jews. When that day comes, says the Lord, I will put My Laws into their minds. And I will write them in their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.

11 N one of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

No one will need to teach his neighbor or his brother to know the Lord. All of them will already know Me from the least to the greatest.

12 F or I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

I will show loving-kindness to them and forgive their sins. I will remember their sins no more.”

13 I n 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.

When God spoke about a New Way of Worship, He showed that the Old Way of Worship was finished and of no use now. It will never be used again.