1The main point of what we are saying is this: We have a high priest like that, who sat down at the right side of the throne of God's majesty in heaven.
2He serves in the true sanctuary and tabernacle, which the Lord set up, not humans.
3Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. So, it was necessary for this high priest to also have something to offer.
4If he were on earth, he wouldn't even be a priest, because there are already priests who offer gifts according to the law.
5These priests serve in a copy and shadow of heavenly things. This is just as God warned Moses when he was about to build the tabernacle, saying, 'Be sure to make everything according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain.'
6But now, Jesus has received a more excellent ministry, just as he is the mediator of a better agreement, which is based on better promises.
7If the first agreement had been perfect, there would have been no need for a second one.
8But God found fault with the people and said, "Look, in the future, says the Lord, I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah.
9This new agreement will not be like the agreement I made with their ancestors. I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, but they did not keep my agreement, so I turned away from them, says the Lord.
10This is the agreement I will make with the people of Israel in the future, says 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.
11They will not teach each other or their relatives, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me.
12For I will forgive their wickedness and will no longer remember their sins or their lawless deeds.”
13By speaking of a “new covenant,” he has made the first one old. And anything that is old and outdated is about to disappear.