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13By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
Kuhani Mkuu Wa Agano Jipya
18:1 Ebr 2:17; Mk 16:19; Ebr 4:14; Efe 1:20; Kol 3:1Basi jambo tunalotaka kulisema ni hili: Tunaye Kuhani Mkuu ambaye ameketi mkono wa kuume wa kiti cha enzi cha Aliye Mkuu mbinguni, 28:2 Ebr 9:11, 24; 9:8, 12, 24yeye ahudumuye katika patakatifu, hema la kweli lililowekwa na Bwana, wala si na mwanadamu.
38:3 Ebr 2:17; 5:1; 9:9, 14; Efe 5:2Kila kuhani mkuu huwekwa ili atoe sadaka na dhabihu. Vivyo hivyo, ilikuwa jambo muhimu kwa huyu Kuhani naye awe na kitu cha kutoa. 48:4 Ebr 5:1; 9:9Kama angekuwa duniani, hangekuwa kuhani, kwa sababu tayari wapo watu watoao sadaka kama ilivyoelekezwa na sheria. 58:5 Ebr 9:23; 10:1; 11:7; 12:25; Kol 2:17; Kut 25:40Wanahudumu katika patakatifu palipo mfano na kivuli cha mambo ya mbinguni. Hii ndiyo sababu Mose alionywa alipokaribia kujenga hema, akiambiwa: “Hakikisha kuwa unavitengeneza vitu vyote kwa mfano ulioonyeshwa kule mlimani.” 68:6 Ebr 8:8, 13; Lk 22:20; Gal 3:20; 2Kor 3:6, 8, 9Lakini huduma aliyopewa Yesu ni bora zaidi kuliko yao, kama vile agano ambalo yeye ni mpatanishi wake lilivyo bora zaidi kuliko lile la zamani, nalo limewekwa misingi wa ahadi zilizo bora zaidi.
78:7 Ebr 7:11, 18; 10:1Kwa maana kama hapakuwa na kasoro katika lile agano la kwanza, pasingekuwa na haja ya kutafuta nafasi kwa ajili ya jingine. 88:8 Yer 31:31, 32, 33, 34; Ebr 10:16, 17Lakini Mungu aliona kosa kwa watu, naye akasema:
“Siku zinakuja, asema Bwana,
nitakapofanya agano jipya
na nyumba ya Israeli
na nyumba ya Yuda.
98:9 Kut 19:5-6; 20:1-17Agano langu halitakuwa kama lile
nililofanya na baba zao
nilipowashika mkono
kuwaongoza watoke nchi ya Misri,
kwa sababu hawakuendelea kuwa waaminifu katika agano langu,
nami nikawaacha,
asema Bwana.
108:10 Rum 11:27; 2Kor 3:3; Ebr 10:16; Eze 11:20; Zek 8:8Hili ndilo agano nitakalofanya na nyumba ya Israeli
baada ya siku zile, asema Bwana.
Nitaziweka sheria zangu katika nia zao
na kuziandika mioyoni mwao.
Nitakuwa Mungu wao,
nao watakuwa watu wangu.
118:11 Isa 54:13; Yn 6:45Mtu hatamfundisha tena jirani yake,
wala mtu kumfundisha ndugu yake akisema, ‘Mjue Bwana,’
kwa sababu wote watanijua mimi,
tangu aliye mdogo kabisa kwao, hadi aliye mkuu sana.
128:12 Ebr 10:17; Yer 31:31-34Kwa sababu nitasamehe uovu wao,
wala sitazikumbuka dhambi zao tena!”
138:13 Ebr 8:6, 8; Lk 22:20; 2Kor 5:17; Rum 10:4Kwa kuliita agano hili “jipya,” Mungu amefanya lile agano la kwanza kuwa kuukuu; nacho kitu kinachoanza kuchakaa na kuwa kikuukuu kiko karibu kutoweka.
