The High Priest of a New Covenant
1Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.
3Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”8:5 Exodus 25:40 6But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.
7For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8But God found fault with the people and said8:8 Some manuscripts may be translated fault and said to the people.:
“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
9It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.
10This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”8:12 Jer. 31:31-34
13By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
更美之约的大祭司
1我们所讲的要点是：我们有这样一位大祭司，祂现在已经坐在天上至高上帝的宝座右边， 2并在圣所里供职。这圣所就是真正的圣幕，不是人建立的，而是主亲手建立的。 3所有的大祭司都是为了向上帝献礼物和祭物而设立的，因此我们这位大祭司也必须有所献上。 4祂如果是在地上，根本不会做祭司，因为地上已经有照律法向上帝献礼物的祭司了。 5这些祭司的事奉都是仿效和反映天上的事，正如摩西建圣幕的时候，上帝警告他说：
“你务要照着在山上指示你的样式造各样器具。”8:5 出埃及记25:40。
6但如今，耶稣得到了一个更超越的职任，正如祂担任了更美之约的中保，这约是根据更美的应许所立的。 7因为如果第一个约没有缺点，就不必另立新约了。 8然而，上帝指责祂的子民，说：
“主说，看啊，时候将到，
我要与以色列家和犹大家另立新约，
9这约不同于我与他们祖先所立的约，
那是我牵着他们祖先的手领他们离开埃及时所立的。
因为他们不持守我的约，
所以我不再理会他们。
这是主说的。
10主又说，那些日子以后，
我将与以色列家立这样的约，
我要把我的律法放在他们脑中，
写在他们心上。
我要做他们的上帝，
他们要做我的子民。
11谁都无需再教导自己的邻居和弟兄，
说，‘你要认识主。’
因为他们无论尊卑都必认识我。
12我要赦免他们的过犯，
忘掉他们的罪恶。”8:12 耶利米书31:31‑34。
13上帝既然说要立新约，就是把第一个约当作旧的了，那渐渐陈旧过时的很快就会消失。
