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71 THIS MELCHIZEDEK, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, met Abraham returning from the rout of the kings and blessed him; 2 and Abraham gave him a tithe of everything as his portion. His name, in the first place, means 'king of righteousness'; next he is king of Salem, that is, 'king of peace'. 3 He has no father, no mother, no lineage; his years have no beginning, his life no end. He is like the Son of God: he remains a priest for all time.
4 Consider now how great he must be for Abraham the patriarch to give him a tithe of the finest of the spoil. 5 The descendants of Levi who take the priestly office are commanded by the Law to tithe the people, that is, their kinsmen, although they too are descendants of Abraham. 6 But Melchizedek, though he does not trace his descent from them, has tithed Abraham himself, and given his blessing to the man who received the promises; 7 and beyond all dispute the lesser is always blessed by the greater. 8 Again, in the one instance tithes are received by men who must die; but in the other, by one whom Scripture affirms to be alive. 9 It might even be said that Levi, who receives tithes, has himself been tithed through Abraham; 10 for he was still in his ancestor's loins when Melchizedek met him.
11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for it is on this basis that the people were given the Law), what further need would there have been to speak of another priest arising, in the succession of Melchizedek, instead of the succession of Aaron? 12 For a change of priesthood must mean a change of law. 13 And the One here spoken of belongs to a different tribe, no member of which has ever had anything to do with the altar. 14 For it is very evident that our Lord is sprung from Judah, a tribe to which Moses made no reference in speaking of priests.
15 The argument becomes still clearer, if the new priest who arises is one like Melchizedek, 16 owing his priesthood not to a system of earth-bound rules but to the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. 17 For here is the testimony: 'Thou art a priest for ever, in the succession of Melchizedek.' 18 The earlier rules are cancelled as impotent and useless, 19 since the Law brought nothing to perfection; and a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
20 How great a difference it makes that an oath was sworn! 21 There was no oath sworn when those others were made priests; but for this priest an oath was sworn, as Scripture says of him: 'The Lord has sworn and will not go back on his word, "Thou art a priest for ever." ' 22 How far superior must the covenant also be of which Jesus is the guarantor! 23 Those other priests are appointed in numerous succession, because they are prevented by death from continuing in office; 24 but the priesthood which Jesus holds is perpetual, because he remains for ever. 25 That is why he is also able to save absolutely those who approach God through him; he is always living to plead on their behalf.
26 Such a high priest does indeed fit our condition - devout, guileless, undefiled, sePted from sinners, raised high above the heavens. 27 He has no need to offer sacrifices daily, as the high priests do, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; for this he did once and for all when he offered up himself. 28 The high priests made by the Law are men in all their frailty; but the priest appointed by the words of the oath which supersedes the Law is the Son, made perfect now for ever.
81 NOW THIS is my main point: just such a high priest we have, and he has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of Majesty in the heavens, 2 a ministrant in the real sanctuary, the tent pitched by the Lord and not by man. 3 Every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices: hence, this one too must have something to offer. 4 Now if he had been on earth, he would not even have been a priest, since there are already priests who offer the gifts which the Law prescribes, 5 though they minister in a sanctuary which is only a copy and shadow of the heavenly. This is implied when Moses, about to erect the tent, is instructed by God: 'See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.' 6 But in fact the ministry which has fallen to Jesus is as far superior to theirs as are the covenant he mediates and the promises upon which it is legally secured.
7 Had that first covenant been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second in its place. 8 But God, finding fault with them, says,
91 THE FIRST COVENANT indeed had its ordinances of divine service and its sanctuary, but a material sanctuary. 2 For a tent was prepared - the first tent - in which was the lamp-stand, and the table with the bread of the Presence; this is called the Holy Place. 3 Beyond the second curtain was the tent called the Most Holy Place. 4 Here was a golden altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant plated all over with gold, in which were a golden jar containing the manna, and Aaron's staff which once budded, and the tablets of the covenant; 5 and above it the cherubim of God's glory, overshadowing the place of expiation. On these we cannot now enlarge.
6 Under this arrangement, the priests are always entering the first tent in the discharge of their duties; 7 but the second is entered only once a year, and by the high priest alone, and even then he must take with him the blood which he offers on his own behalf and for the people's sins of ignorance. 8 By this the Holy Spirit signifies that so long as the earlier tent still stands, the way into the sanctuary remains unrevealed. 9 (All this is symbolic, pointing to the present time.) The offerings and sacrifices there prescribed cannot give the worshipper inward perfection. 10 It is only a matter of food and drink and various rites of cleansing-outward ordinances in force until the time of reformation.
11 But now Christ has come, high priest of good things already in being. The tent of his priesthood is a greater and more perfect one, not made by men's hands, that is, not belonging to this created world; 12 the blood of his sacrifice is his own blood, not the blood of goats and calves; and thus he has entered the sanctuary once and for all and secured an eternal deliverance. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkled ashes of a heifer have power to hallow those who have been defiled and restore their external purity, 14 how much greater is the power of the blood of Christ; he offered himself without blemish to God, a spiritual and eternal sacrifice; and his blood will cleanse our conscience from the deadness of our former ways and fit us for the service of the living God.
15 And therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, or testament, under which, now that there has been a death to bring deliverance from sins committed under the former covenant, those whom God has called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where there is a testament it is necessary for the death of the testator to be established. 17 A testament is operative only after a death: it cannot possibly have force while the testator is alive. 18 Thus we find that the former covenant itself was not inaugurated without blood. 19 For when, as the Law directed, Moses had recited all the commandments to the people, he took the blood of the calves, with water, scarlet wool, and marjoram, and sprinkled the law-book itself and all the people, 20 saying, 'This is the blood of the covenant which God has enjoined upon you.' 21 In the same way he also sprinkled the tent and all the vessels of divine service with blood. 22 Indeed, according to the Law, it might almost be said, everything is cleansed by blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23 If, then, these sacrifices cleanse the copies of heavenly things, those heavenly things themselves require better sacrifices to cleanse them. 24 For Christ has entered, not that sanctuary made by men's hands which is only a symbol of the reality, but heaven itself, to appear now before God on our behalf. 25 Nor is he there to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the sanctuary year by year with blood not his own. 26 If that were so, he would have had to suffer many times since the world was made. But as it is, he has appeared once and for all at the climax of history to abolish sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And as it is the lot of men to die once, and after death comes judgement, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the burden of men's sins, and will appear a second time, sin done away, to bring salvation to those who are watching for him.