A person might even say that Levi [the father of the priestly tribe] himself, who received tithes, paid tithes through Abraham [the father of all Israel and of all who believe],

If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

It is evident that, when the priest hood is changed, there is of necessity a change also of the law.

He, however, to whom that prophecy refers is associated with a different tribe, not one member of which has anything to do with the altar.

For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.

And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,

That is to say, not made by a law based on the flesh, but by the power of a life without end:

for that is the meaning of the declaration-- 'Thou art for all time a priest of the order of Melchizedek.'

Then the commandment that went afore, is disannulled, because of her weakness and unprofitableness.

And indeed it was not without the taking of an oath [that Christ was made priest]

(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

And for that cause was Jesus an establisher of a better testament.

And they indeed have been made priests many in number, because that by death they are hindered from continuing:

but Jesus remains for all time, and therefore the priesthood that he holds is never liable to pass to another.

Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

This was the High Priest that we needed--holy, innocent, spotless, withdrawn from sinners, exalted above the highest Heaven,

Who hath no daily necessity, like the high-priests, beforehand, over his own sins, to be offering sacrifices, after that, over those, of the people, - for, this, he did once for all when, himself, he offered up.

for the law doth appoint men chief priests, having infirmity, but the word of the oath that is after the law appointeth the Son -- to the age having been perfected.

Now in connexion with what we have been saying the chief point is that we have a High Priest who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God's Majesty in the heavens,

a minister in the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up.

For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.

For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:

Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree He is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been legally enacted on better promises.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, That I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;

Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

That first tabernacle verily had ordinances and servings of God, and worldly holiness.

for the disposition of the tabernacle was such, that in the first part named the sanctuary, were placed the candlestick, the table, and the shew-bread;

and after the second vail a tabernacle that is called 'Holy of holies,'

Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;

But the high priest alone enters the second room, and he does that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:

Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;

since they relate merely to food and drink and a variety of ablutions ??outward regulations for the body, that only hold till the period of the New Order.

But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

Nor was it with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, that he entered, once and for all, into the Sanctuary, and obtained our eternal deliverance.

For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh:

how much more will the blood of the Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead actions so that we may serve the living God!

And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

For where a testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him that made it.

For a testament is of force where there hath been death: for it doth never avail while he that made it liveth.

That is why even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood.

For of every commandment according to law that was spoken by Moses to all the people, after taking the blood of the calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, he sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,

saying, 'This is the blood of the covenant that God enjoined unto you,'

And in the same way he also sprinkled with the blood the Tabernacle and all the things that were used in public worship.

Indeed we may almost say that in obedience to the Law everything is sprinkled with blood, and that apart from the outpouring of blood there is no remission of sins.

It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

For the Messiah did not enter a sanctuary made with hands (only a model of the true one) but into heaven itself, so that He might now appear in the presence of God for us.

Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;

In that case Christ would have needed to suffer many times, from the creation of the world onwards; but as a matter of fact He has appeared once for all, at the Close of the Ages, in order to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

And just as it is appointed and destined for all men to die once and after this [comes certain] judgment,

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect them that draw nigh.

For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.

For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

That is why, when He comes into the world, He says, "Sacrifice and offering Thou has not desired, but a body Thou hast prepared for Me.

Then I said, 'Lo I come.' In the chiefest of the book it is written of me, that I should do thy will, o God."

Saying above, that Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and offerings for sin thou didst not will, neither wast well pleased with; whatsoever are offered according to law;

Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

It is through that divine will that we have been set free from sin, through the offering of Jesus Christ as our sacrifice once for all.

and every priest, indeed, hath stood daily serving, and the same sacrifices many times offering, that are never able to take away sins.

whereas Christ, having offered the one sacrifice [the all-sufficient sacrifice of Himself] for sins for all time, sat down [signifying the completion of atonement for sin] at the right hand of God [the position of honor],

from that time waiting until his enemies are made the footstool of his feet.

For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

Seeing, brethren, that by the means of the blood of Jesus, we may be bold to enter into that holy place,

By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

And seeing also that we have a high priest which is ruler over the house of God,

let us approach [God] with a true and sincere heart in unqualified assurance of faith, having had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

and let us consider one another that we may excite to love and good works,

and let us not forsake the fellowship that we have among ourselves, as the manner of some is: but let us exhort one another, and that so much the more, because ye see that the day draweth nigh.

For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that is about to consume the adversaries.

He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

How much severer punishment, think you, will he be held to deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, has not regarded as holy that Covenant-blood with which he was set free from sin, and has insulted the Spirit from whom comes grace?

For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

Call to remembrance the days that are passed in the which, after ye had received light, ye endured a great fight in adversities,

Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.

For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.

Do not, therefore, abandon the confidence that you have gained, for it has a great reward awaiting it.

For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

But it is by faith that My righteous servant shall live; and if he shrinks back, My soul takes no pleasure in him."

But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Now faith is a well-grounded assurance of that for which we hope, and a conviction of the reality of things which we do not see.

And it was for faith that the men of old were renowned.

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

By faith [with confidence in God and His word] Noah, being warned by God about events not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his family. By this [act of obedience] he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which comes by faith.

By faith Abraham, being called, did obey, to go forth to the place that he was about to receive for an inheritance, and he went forth, not knowing whither he doth go;

By [having] faith, he became an alien in the foreign country that had been promised to him. He lived in tents, along with Isaac [his son] and Jacob [his grandson], who [also] were to receive the same inheritance he had been promised.

For he was expecting the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder [is] God.

By faith also Sarah herself received strength for the conception of seed, and that beyond a seasonable age; since she counted him faithful who promised.