New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven.
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In essence, we have just such a high priest: authoritative right alongside God,
2 There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands.
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conducting worship in the one true sanctuary built by God.
3 And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering, too.
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The assigned task of a high priest is to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and it's no different with the priesthood of Jesus.
4 If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law.
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If he were limited to earth, he wouldn't even be a priest. We wouldn't need him since there are plenty of priests who offer the gifts designated in the law.
5 They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: “Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.”
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These priests provide only a hint of what goes on in the true sanctuary of heaven, which Moses caught a glimpse of as he was about to set up the tent-shrine. It was then that God said, "Be careful to do it exactly as you saw it on the Mountain."
6 But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.
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But Jesus' priestly work far surpasses what these other priests do, since he's working from a far better plan.
7 If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it.
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If the first plan - the old covenant - had worked out, a second wouldn't have been needed.
8 But when God found fault with the people, he said: “The day is coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.
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But we know the first was found wanting, because God said, Heads up! The days are coming when I'll set up a new plan for dealing with Israel and Judah.
9 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the LORD .
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I'll throw out the old plan I set up with their ancestors when I led them by the hand out of Egypt. They didn't keep their part of the bargain, so I looked away and let it go.
10 But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the LORD : I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
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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. I'll be their God, they'll be my people.
11 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the LORD .’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already.
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They won't go to school to learn about me, or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons. They'll all get to know me firsthand, the little and the big, the small and the great.
12 And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”
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They'll get to know me by being kindly forgiven, with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean.
13 When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.
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By coming up with a new plan, a new covenant between God and his people, God put the old plan on the shelf. And there it stays, gathering dust.
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.