Hebrews 8

Listen to Hebrews 8

Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant

1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, 1one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,
2 a minister in the holy places, in 2the true tent[a] that the Lord 3set up, not man.
3 For 4every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus 5it 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 serve 6a copy and 7shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, 8"See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain."
6 But as it is, Christ[b] has obtained a ministry that is 9as much more excellent than the old as 10the covenant 11he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.
7 12For 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:[c]13"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 14For 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, and 15write 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 shall 16all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, 17and I will remember their sins no more."
13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And 18what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Cross References 18

  • 1. See Mark 16:19
  • 2. Hebrews 9:24; [Hebrews 9:11]
  • 3. Exodus 33:7
  • 4. See Hebrews 5:1
  • 5. Hebrews 9:12-14; Hebrews 10:9-12; Ephesians 5:2
  • 6. Hebrews 9:23
  • 7. Hebrews 10:1; Colossians 2:17
  • 8. Cited from Exodus 25:40
  • 9. Hebrews 1:4; 2 Corinthians 3:6-11
  • 10. Hebrews 7:22
  • 11. Hebrews 9:15; Hebrews 12:24; [Galatians 3:19]
  • 12. See Hebrews 7:11
  • 13. Cited from Jeremiah 31:31-34
  • 14. Hebrews 10:16; Romans 11:27
  • 15. [2 Corinthians 3:3]
  • 16. Isaiah 54:13; John 6:45; 1 John 2:27
  • 17. Hebrews 10:17; Romans 11:27
  • 18. [2 Corinthians 5:17]

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Or tabernacle; also verse 5
  • [b]. Greek he
  • [c]. Some manuscripts For finding fault with it he says to them

Hebrews 8 Commentaries

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.