New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship.
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The old plan was only a hint of the good things in the new plan. Since that old "law plan" wasn't complete in itself, it couldn't complete those who followed it. No matter how many sacrifices were offered year after year, they never added up to a complete solution.
2 If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.
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If they had, the worshipers would have gone merrily on their way, no longer dragged down by their sins.
3 But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year.
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But instead of removing awareness of sin, when those animal sacrifices were repeated over and over they actually heightened awareness and guilt.
4 For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
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The plain fact is that bull and goat blood can't get rid of sin.
5 That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer.
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That is what is meant by this prophecy, put in the mouth of Christ: You don't want sacrifices and offerings year after year; you've prepared a body for me for a sacrifice.
6 You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin.
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It's not fragrance and smoke from the altar that whet your appetite.
7 Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me in the Scriptures.’”
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So I said, "I'm here to do it your way, O God, the way it's described in your Book."
8 First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses).
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When he said, "You don't want sacrifices and offerings," he was referring to practices according to the old plan.
9 Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect.
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When he added, "I'm here to do it your way," he set aside the first in order to enact the new plan -
10 For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.
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God's way - by which we are made fit for God by the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus.
11 Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins.
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Every priest goes to work at the altar each day, offers the same old sacrifices year in, year out, and never makes a dent in the sin problem.
12 But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
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As a priest, Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! Then he sat down right beside God
13 There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet.
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and waited for his enemies to cave in.
14 For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.
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It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process.
15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says,
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The Holy Spirit confirms this:
16 “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the LORD : I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”
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This new plan I'm making with Israel isn't going to be written on paper, isn't going to be chiseled in stone; This time "I'm writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts."
17 Then he says, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.”
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He concludes, I'll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins.
18 And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.
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Once sins are taken care of for good, there's no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them.
19 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.
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So, friends, we can now - without hesitation - walk right up to God, into "the Holy Place."
20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.
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Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God.
21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house,
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The "curtain" into God's presence is his body.
22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
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So let's do it - full of belief, confident that we're presentable inside and out.
23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
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Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word.
24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.
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Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out,
25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
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not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
26 Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins.
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If we give up and turn our backs on all we've learned, all we've been given, all the truth we now know, we repudiate Christ's sacrifice
27 There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies.
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and are left on our own to face the Judgment - and a mighty fierce judgment it will be!
28 For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
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If the penalty for breaking the law of Moses is physical death,
29 Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us.
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what do you think will happen if you turn on God's Son, spit on the sacrifice that made you whole, and insult this most gracious Spirit?
30 For we know the one who said, “I will take revenge. I will pay them back.” He also said, “The LORD will judge his own people.”
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This is no light matter. God has warned us that he'll hold us to account and make us pay. He was quite explicit: "Vengeance is mine, and I won't overlook a thing," and, "God will judge his people."
31 It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
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Nobody's getting by with anything, believe me.
32 Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering.
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Remember those early days after you first saw the light? Those were the hard times!
33 Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things.
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Kicked around in public, targets of every kind of abuse - some days it was you, other days your friends.
34 You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.
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If some friends went to prison, you stuck by them. If some enemies broke in and seized your goods, you let them go with a smile, knowing they couldn't touch your real treasure. Nothing they did bothered you, nothing set you back.
35 So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you!
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So don't throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It's still a sure thing!
36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.
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But you need to stick it out, staying with God's plan so you'll be there for the promised completion.
37 “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay.
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It won't be long now, he's on the way; he'll show up most any minute.
38 And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”
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But anyone who is right with me thrives on loyal trust; if he cuts and runs, I won't be very happy.
39 But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.
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But we're not quitters who lose out. Oh, no! We'll stay with it and survive, trusting all the way.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.