Hebrews 8
EasyEnglish Bible
Jesus helps us as God's special priest
8 The most important thing that we are saying is this: In Jesus, we do have this kind of special priest. He has now sat down to rule with God in heaven. He sits at the right side of God, who rules with all authority. 2 He serves as priest in heaven on our behalf. He is in God's very special place, near to God himself. That is like the special place in the tabernacle of long ago. But it is not a tent that people have made. The Lord himself has made this special place, and it is the true one.
3 It is the duty of every special priest to offer gifts and sacrifices to God. So Jesus, as our special priest, must also have something to offer. 4 If he was living on earth, then he would not be a priest. There are already priests on earth who offer gifts to God. They do this in the way that Moses' law tells them. 5 But the way that those Levite priests work is only like a picture of the true things in heaven. It is like a shadow of what would happen in heaven. Long ago, when Moses was ready to make the tabernacle, God warned him about it. God said to Moses, ‘Be careful to make everything just like the plan which I showed you on the mountain.’[a]
6 But now God has given Jesus a much better way to serve him as a priest. The new agreement that God makes with his people is possible because of Jesus. Because of Jesus' work on our behalf, the new agreement is better than the old one. It is much better because it started with better promises.
7 If there had been nothing wrong with that first agreement, then nobody would have needed a second agreement. 8 But God did find something wrong with it. As a result, he said this to his people:
‘Listen to this! The Lord says:
A time will come when I make a new agreement with my people.
That is, with Israel's people and with Judah's people.[b]
9 It will not be like the old agreement that I made with their ancestors.
At that time, I brought my people safely out of Egypt.
I led them like a father who takes his child's hand.
But they did not continue to obey my agreement with them.
So I turned away from them.
That is what the Lord says.
10 But now the Lord says this:
After the time of that old agreement
I will make a new agreement with Israel's people.
It will be like this:
I will put my laws into their thoughts.
I will write my laws deep inside them.
I will be their God and they will be my people.
11 As a result, nobody will have to teach their friends or their family about me.
They will never need to say, “You should know the Lord.”
This is because everyone will already know me.
The most important people will know me,
as well as the least important people.
12 I will be kind to them.
I will forgive them for the wicked things that they have done.
I will not continue to think about their sins.
That is what the Lord says.’[c]
13 We see that God was speaking about a new agreement. That shows that he has caused the first agreement to become old. And anything that is becoming old like that will soon finish.[d]
Footnotes
- 8:5 Many years ago, God met Moses on Sinai mountain. In that place, God gave Moses his laws. God told Moses to make a special tent, called the tabernacle. He told him everything about how he should make it. See Exodus 24:15-18; 25:40; 26:30.
- 8:8 Judah was one of Jacob's 12 sons. God gave Jacob the name Israel. When Jeremiah spoke this, Judah's people and Israel's people were two separate kingdoms. See Jeremiah 31:31-34.
- 8:12 God's prophet Jeremiah spoke this message from God long ago. See Jeremiah 31:31-34.
- 8:13 The old agreement that God made with his people included many rules. If the people obeyed all those rules, then their lives would be happy. See Deuteronomy 5:32-33; 8:1. But the people could not obey all the rules. Those rules could not really make them right with God. The rules could not make them become new people. The rules could not make them love God. So they needed a better agreement, that could make them different inside. Jesus has made that new agreement possible for us. We can become right with God and we can know him because of Jesus.
Hebrews 8
Christian Standard Bible
A Heavenly Priesthood
8 Now the main point of what is being said is this: We have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,(A) 2 a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man.(B) 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts(C) and sacrifices; therefore, it was necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he wouldn’t be a priest, since there are those[a] offering the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 These serve as a copy and shadow(D) of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For God said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.[b](E) 6 But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator(F) of a better covenant,(G) which has been established on better promises.(H)
A Superior Covenant
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one. 8 But finding fault with his people,[c] he says:[d]
See, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah—
9 not like the covenant
that I made with their ancestors
on the day I took them by the hand
to lead them out of the land of Egypt.
I showed no concern for them, says the Lord,
because they did not continue in my covenant.
10 For this is the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.(I)
11 And each person will not teach his fellow citizen,[e]
and each his brother or sister, saying, “Know the Lord,”
because they will all know me,
from the least to the greatest of them.(J)
12 For I will forgive their wrongdoing,
and I will never again remember their sins.[f][g] (K)
13 By saying a new covenant, he has declared that the first is obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old is about to pass away.(L)
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