Hebrews 8 : Easy-to-Read Version
Jesus Our High Priest
8 1Here is the point of what we are saying: We have a high priest* like we have been telling you about. That high priest now sits on the right side of God's throne in heaven. 2Our high priest serves in the Most Holy Place.* He serves in the true place of worship* that was made by God, not by people. 3Every high priest* has the work of offering gifts and sacrifices* to God. So our high priest must also offer something to God. 4If our high priest were now living on earth, then he would not be a priest. I say this because there are already priests here who follow the law by offering gifts to God. 5The work that these priests do is really only a copy and a shadow of the things that are in heaven. That is why God warned Moses* when Moses was ready to build the Holy Tent*: "Be sure to make everything exactly like the pattern I showed you on the mountain."* 6But the work that has been given to Jesus is much greater than the work that was given to those priests. In the same way, the new agreement* that Jesus brought from God to his people is much greater than the old one. And the new agreement is based on promises of better things. 7If there was nothing wrong with the first agreement, then there would be no need for a second agreement. 8But God found something wrong with the people. God said: "The time is coming, says the Lord, when I will give a new agreement to the people of Israel* and to the people of Judah.* 9It will not be like the agreement that I gave to their fathers. That is the agreement I gave when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They did not continue following the agreement I gave them, and I turned away from them, says the Lord. 10This is the new agreement I will give the people of Israel.* I will give this agreement in the future, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write my laws on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11Never again will a person have to teach his brother or God's other people. He will not need to tell them to know the Lord. Why? Because all people--the greatest people and the least important people-- will know me. 12And I will forgive the wrong things they do against me, and I will not remember their sins." Jeremiah 31:31-34
13God called this a new agreement,* so God has made the first agreement* old. And anything that is old and useless is ready to disappear.
high priest Most important priest for God's people. Most Holy Place Literally, "holies," for "holy of holies," the spiritual place where God lives and is worshiped. place of worship Literally, "tabernacle" or "tent." sacrifice(s) A sacrifice is a gift or offering to God. Jewish priests killed animals and offered them to God. Jesus Christ gave his own life as a sacrifice to pay for people's sins. Moses One of the most important leaders of the Jewish people during the time of the Old Testament. Holy Tent Or, "tabernacle." The special tent where God lived among his people and where the Jewish priests worshiped. "Be sure ... mountain" Quote from Exodus 25:40. agreement God gives a contract or agreement to his people. For the Jews, the agreement was the law of Moses. Now God has given a better agreement to his people through Christ. Israel First, Israel was the Jewish nation (people), but the name is also used to mean all of God's people. Judah The southern part of the Jewish nation. first agreement The contract God gave to the Jewish people when he gave them the law of Moses.