Hebrews 10
International Children’s Bible
10 The law is only an unclear picture of the good things coming in the future. It is not a perfect picture of the real things. The people under the law offered the same sacrifices every year. These sacrifices can never make perfect those who come near to worship God. 2 If the law could make them perfect, the sacrifices would have already stopped. The worshipers would be made clean, and they would no longer feel guilty for their sins. 3 These sacrifices remind them of their sins every year, 4 because it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 So when Christ came into the world, he said:
“You do not want sacrifices and offerings.
But you have prepared a body for me.
6 You do not ask for burnt offerings
and offerings to take away sins.
7 Then I said, ‘Look, I have come.
It is written about me in the book.
My God, I have come to do what you want.’” Psalm 40:6-8
8 In this Scripture he first said, “You do not want sacrifices and offerings. You do not ask for burnt offerings and offerings to take away sins.” (These are all sacrifices that the law commands.) 9 Then he said, “Here I am. I have come to do what you want.” So God ends the first system of sacrifices so that he can set up the new system. 10 Jesus Christ did what God wanted him to do. And because of this, we are made holy through the sacrifice of his body. Christ made this sacrifice only once, and for all time.
11 Every day the priests stand and do their religious service. Again and again they offer the same sacrifices. But those sacrifices can never take away sins. 12 But Christ offered one sacrifice for sins, and it is good forever. Then he sat down at the right side of God. 13 And now Christ waits there for his enemies to be put under his power. 14 With one sacrifice he made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
15 The Holy Spirit also tells us about this. First he says:
16 “In the future I will make this agreement[a]
with the people of Israel, says the Lord.
I will put my teachings in their hearts.
And I will write them on their minds.” Jeremiah 31:33
17 Then he says:
“Their sins and the evil things they do—
I will not remember anymore.” Jeremiah 31:34
18 And when these have been forgiven, there is no more need for a sacrifice for sins.
Continue to Trust God
19 So, brothers, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy Place. We can do this without fear because of the blood of Jesus’ death. 20 We can enter through a new way that Jesus opened for us. It is a living way. It leads through the curtain—Christ’s body. 21 And we have a great priest over God’s house. 22 So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith. We have been cleansed and made free from feelings of guilt. And our bodies have been washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold firmly to the hope that we have confessed. We can trust God to do what he promised.
24 Let us think about each other and help each other to show love and do good deeds. 25 You should not stay away from the church meetings, as some are doing. But you should meet together and encourage each other. Do this even more as you see the Day[b] coming.
26 If we decide to go on sinning after we have learned the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins. 27 There is nothing but fear in waiting for the judgment and the angry fire that will destroy all those who live against God. 28 Any person who refused to obey the law of Moses was found guilty from the proof given by two or three witnesses. He was put to death without mercy. 29 So what do you think should be done to a person who does not respect the Son of God? He looks at the blood of the agreement, the blood that made him holy, as no different from other men’s blood. He insults the Spirit of God’s grace. Surely he should have a much worse punishment. 30 We know that God said, “I will punish those who do wrong. I will repay them.”[c] And he also said, “The Lord will judge his people.”[d] 31 It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 Remember those days in the past when you first learned the truth. You had a hard struggle with many sufferings, but you continued strong. 33 Sometimes you were hurt and persecuted before crowds of people. And sometimes you shared with those who were being treated that way. 34 You helped the prisoners. And you even had joy when all that you owned was taken from you. You were joyful because you knew that you had something better and more lasting.
35 So do not lose the courage that you had in the past. It has a great reward. 36 You must hold on, so you can do what God wants and receive what he has promised. 37 For in a very short time,
“The One who is coming will come.
He will not be late.
38 The person who is right with me
will have life because of his faith.
But if he turns back with fear,
I will not be pleased with him.” Habakkuk 2:3-4
39 But we are not those who turn back and are lost. We are people who have faith and are saved.
Footnotes
- 10:16 agreement God gives a contract or agreement to his people. For the Jews, this agreement was the law of Moses. But now God has given a better agreement to his people through Christ.
- 10:25 Day The day Christ will come to judge all people and take his people to live with him.
- 10:30 “I . . . them.” Quotation from Deuteronomy 32:35.
- 10:30 “The Lord . . . people.” Quotation from Deuteronomy 32:36; Psalm 135:14.
Hebrews 10
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 10
One Sacrifice Instead of Many. 1 [a]Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come,[b] and not the very image of them, it can never make perfect those who come to worship by the same sacrifices that they offer continually each year.(A) 2 Otherwise, would not the sacrifices have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, once cleansed, would no longer have had any consciousness of sins? 3 But in those sacrifices there is only a yearly remembrance of sins,(B) 4 for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats take away sins.(C) 5 For this reason, when he came into the world, he said:[c]
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,(D)
but a body you prepared for me;
6 holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight in.
7 Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,
Behold, I come to do your will, O God.’”
8 First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings,[d] you neither desired nor delighted in.” These are offered according to the law.(E) 9 Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second.(F) 10 By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.(G)
11 [e]Every priest stands daily at his ministry, offering frequently those same sacrifices that can never take away sins.(H) 12 But this one offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God;(I) 13 [f]now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.(J) 15 [g]The holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying:
16 “This is the covenant I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord:
‘I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them upon their minds,’”(K)
17 he also says:[h]
“Their sins and their evildoing
I will remember no more.”(L)
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin.
Recalling the Past.[i] 19 Therefore, brothers, since through the blood of Jesus we have confidence of entrance into the sanctuary(M) 20 [j]by the new and living way he opened for us through the veil,(N) that is, his flesh, 21 [k](O)and since we have “a great priest over the house of God,” 22 let us approach with a sincere heart and in absolute trust, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience[l] and our bodies washed in pure water.(P) 23 Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy.(Q) 24 We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works. 25 We should not stay away from our assembly,[m] as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near.(R)
26 [n](S)If we sin deliberately after receiving knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains sacrifice for sins 27 but a fearful prospect of judgment and a flaming fire that is going to consume the adversaries.(T) 28 Anyone who rejects the law of Moses[o] is put to death without pity on the testimony of two or three witnesses.(U) 29 Do you not think that a much worse punishment is due the one who has contempt for the Son of God, considers unclean the covenant-blood by which he was consecrated, and insults the spirit of grace?(V) 30 We know the one who said:
“Vengeance is mine; I will repay,”
and again:
“The Lord will judge his people.”(W)
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.(X)
32 Remember the days past when, after you had been enlightened,[p] you endured a great contest of suffering.(Y) 33 At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and affliction; at other times you associated yourselves with those so treated.(Z) 34 You even joined in the sufferings of those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, knowing that you had a better and lasting possession.(AA) 35 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence; it will have great recompense.(AB) 36 You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.(AC)
37 “For, after just a brief moment,[q]
he who is to come shall come;
he shall not delay.(AD)
38 But my just one shall live by faith,
and if he draws back I take no pleasure in him.”(AE)
39 We are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and will possess life.
Footnotes
- 10:1–10 Christian faith now realizes that the Old Testament sacrifices did not effect the spiritual benefits to come but only prefigured them (Hb 10:1). For if the sacrifices had actually effected the forgiveness of sin, there would have been no reason for their constant repetition (Hb 10:2). They were rather a continual reminder of the people’s sins (Hb 10:3). It is not reasonable to suppose that human sins could be removed by the blood of animal sacrifices (Hb 10:4). Christ, therefore, is here shown to understand his mission in terms of Ps 40:6–8, cited according to the Septuagint (Hb 10:5–7). Jesus acknowledged that the Old Testament sacrifices did not remit the sins of the people and so, perceiving the will of God, offered his own body for this purpose (Hb 10:8–10).
- 10:1 A shadow of the good things to come: the term shadow was used in Hb 8:5 to signify the earthly counterpart of the Platonic heavenly reality. But here it means a prefiguration of what is to come in Christ, as it is used in the Pauline literature; cf. Col 2:17.
- 10:5–7 A passage from Ps 40:7–9 is placed in the mouth of the Son at his incarnation. As usual, the author follows the Septuagint text. There is a notable difference in Hb 10:5 (Ps 40:6), where the Masoretic text reads “ears you have dug for me” (“ears open to obedience you gave me,” NAB), but most Septuagint manuscripts have “a body you prepared for me,” a reading obviously more suited to the interpretation of Hebrews.
- 10:8 Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings: these four terms taken from the preceding passage of Ps 40 (with the first two changed to plural forms) are probably intended as equivalents to the four principal types of Old Testament sacrifices: peace offerings (Lv 3, here called sacrifices); cereal offerings (Lv 2, here called offerings); holocausts (Lv 1); and sin offerings (Lv 4–5). This last category includes the guilt offerings of Lv 5:14–19.
- 10:11–18 Whereas the levitical priesthood offered daily sacrifices that were ineffectual in remitting sin (Hb 10:11), Jesus offered a single sacrifice that won him a permanent place at God’s right hand. There he has only to await the final outcome of his work (Hb 10:12–13; cf. Ps 110:1). Thus he has brought into being in his own person the new covenant prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer 31:33–34) that has rendered meaningless all other offerings for sin (Hb 10:14–18).
- 10:13 Until his enemies are made his footstool: Ps 110:1 is again used; the reference here is to the period of time between the enthronement of Jesus and his second coming. The identity of the enemies is not specified; cf. 1 Cor 15:25–27.
- 10:15–17 The testimony of the scriptures is now invoked to support what has just preceded. The passage cited is a portion of the new covenant prophecy of Jer 31:31–34, which the author previously used in Hb 8:8–12.
- 10:17 He also says: these words are not in the Greek text, which has only kai, “also,” but the expression “after saying” in Hb 10:15 seems to require such a phrase to divide the Jeremiah text into two sayings. Others understand “the Lord says” of Hb 10:16 (here rendered says the Lord) as outside the quotation and consider Hb 10:16b as part of the second saying. Two ancient versions and a number of minuscules introduce the words “then he said” or a similar expression at the beginning of Hb 10:17.
- 10:19–39 Practical consequences from these reflections on the priesthood and the sacrifice of Christ should make it clear that Christians may now have direct and confident access to God through the person of Jesus (Hb 10:19–20), who rules God’s house as high priest (Hb 10:21). They should approach God with sincerity and faith, in the knowledge that through baptism their sins have been remitted (Hb 10:22), reminding themselves of the hope they expressed in Christ at that event (Hb 10:23). They are to encourage one another to Christian love and activity (Hb 10:24), not refusing, no matter what the reason, to participate in the community’s assembly, especially in view of the parousia (Hb 10:25; cf. 1 Thes 4:13–18). If refusal to participate in the assembly indicates rejection of Christ, no sacrifice exists to obtain forgiveness for so great a sin (Hb 10:26); only the dreadful judgment of God remains (Hb 10:27). For if violation of the Mosaic law could be punished by death, how much worse will be the punishment of those who have turned their backs on Christ by despising his sacrifice and disregarding the gifts of the holy Spirit (Hb 10:28–29). Judgment belongs to the Lord, and he enacts it by his living presence (Hb 10:30–31). There was a time when the spirit of their community caused them to welcome and share their sufferings (Hb 10:32–34). To revitalize that spirit is to share in the courage of the Old Testament prophets (cf. Is 26:20; Hb 2:3–4), the kind of courage that must distinguish the faith of the Christian (Hb 10:35–39).
- 10:20 Through the veil, that is, his flesh: the term flesh is used pejoratively. As the temple veil kept people from entering the Holy of Holies (it was rent at Christ’s death, Mk 15:38), so the flesh of Jesus constituted an obstacle to approaching God.
- 10:21 The house of God: this refers back to Hb 3:6, “we are his house.”
- 10:22 With our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience: as in Hb 9:13 (see note there), the sprinkling motif refers to the Mosaic rite of cleansing from ritual impurity. This could produce only an external purification, whereas sprinkling with the blood of Christ (Hb 9:14) cleanses the conscience. Washed in pure water: baptism is elsewhere referred to as a washing; cf. 1 Cor 6:11; Eph 5:26.
- 10:25 Our assembly: the liturgical assembly of the Christian community, probably for the celebration of the Eucharist. The day: this designation for the parousia also occurs in the Pauline letters, e.g., Rom 2:16; 1 Cor 3:13; 1 Thes 5:2.
- 10:26 If we sin deliberately: verse 29 indicates that the author is here thinking of apostasy; cf. Hb 3:12; 6:4–8.
- 10:28 Rejects the law of Moses: evidently not any sin against the law, but idolatry. Dt 17:2–7 prescribed capital punishment for idolaters who were convicted on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
- 10:32 After you had been enlightened: “enlightenment” is an ancient metaphor for baptism (cf. Eph 5:14; Jn 9:11), but see Hb 6:4 and the note there.
- 10:37–38 In support of his argument, the author uses Hb 2:3–4 in a wording almost identical with the text of the Codex Alexandrinus of the Septuagint but with the first and second lines of Hb 10:4 inverted. He introduces it with a few words from Is 26:20: after just a brief moment. Note the Pauline usage of Hb 2:4 in Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.