A new covenant and a new High Priest1The reason we speak these things to you is simply this: We do have an eternal High Priest who has sat down at the right hand of the Majesty of God in heaven.2He is the One who serves eternally in the true sanctuary, the Holy of holies in heaven, created by God, not man.3Every high priest has to be appointed before he has the right to offer both gifts and sacrifices on behalf of others. For Jesus to be our High Priest He also had to offer a gift, to provide a sacrifice.4He could not be part of the earthly priesthood that was authorised to offer gifts according to the law.5They serve in a sanctuary that is only an imitation or shadow of the one in heaven. It was for this reason that God warned Moses when He ordered him to build the tabernacle: "Be sure that you make everything according to the plans I showed you on the mountain."6Yet the priestly ministry Jesus has received is so far superior to that of this earthly priesthood, just as the new covenant He has established is far superior to the old covenant, for it has been founded on better promises given by God.7If the first agreement God had made with His people had been perfect or complete, there would have been no need for a further agreement.8However, God was well aware of the people's failure to keep the old agreement with all its laws and said: "'A time is coming,' proclaims the Lord, 'when I will establish a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.9This will be different from the covenant I made with their forefathers when I led them by the hand out of the bondage of Egypt. For they did not remain faithful to that covenant, and so I turned away from them,' says the Lord.10This is the new agreement that I will make with My people Israel at the appointed time,' proclaims the Lord. 'I will place My laws in their minds and write them on their hearts, rather than on tablets of stone. I will be their personal God and they shall be My own people.11A man will no longer need to teach his neighbour or his brother to know Me, because they will all know Me personally, from the least of them to the greatest.12This will be possible because I will have forgiven them for their wickedness and decided that their sins will be blotted out, never to be remembered.'"13It is God who has called this His new covenant, and by doing so He has made the former covenant obsolete. So what is already obsolete will in due course disappear altogether.
Scripture quoted by permission. The passage above is taken from THE TRUTH VERSION. Copyright © 2009 by Colin Urquhart. All rights reserved worldwide. (The Truth New Testament)