Hebrews 8

1 The main point of [all] that [I] have written is that we have a Supreme Priest like that. He has sat down to rule [MTY] with God [EUP] at the place of greatest honor in heaven.

Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;

2 He ministers in the Most Holy Place, that is, in the true place [of worship in heaven]. That is a place that [Moses’] tent [represented]. The Lord set up the true place of worship. No human [set it up].

A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

3 Every Supreme Priest was appointed {[God] appointed every Supreme Priest} to offer [to God] gifts and sacrifices [for people who sinned]. So, since [Christ became a Supreme Priest], he also had to offer something.

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

4 Since there are already [Jewish] priests who offer gifts as God’s laws [require], if Christ were [now living] on the earth, he would not be a Supreme Priest.

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

5 The [Jewish] priests perform rituals which are only a model [DOU] of [what Christ would do in heaven] [MTY]. What [God] told Moses when Moses was about to set up the tent [for worshipping him supports the idea that those rituals were only a model. God said], “Be sure that you [(sg)] make everything according to the model that I showed you on [Sinai] Mountain!”

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, says he, that you make all things according to the pattern showed to you in the mount.

6 But now as it is, [Christ] ministers in a more excellent way [than the Jewish priests do]. Likewise, the [new] covenant that he established [between God and people] is better [than the old one. When the new covenant was established] {[God established the new covenant]}, he promised us better things [than the laws that God gave Moses did].

But now has he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

7 If that first covenant had been perfectly adequate [LIT], God would not have thought that he needed another [covenant/agreement to replace it]. But [it was not adequate, so he needed a new one].

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

8 Because God declared [that the Israelites] were guilty [of not obeying the first covenant, he wanted a new covenant. This is what] ([a prophet/Jeremiah]) [wrote about that]: The Lord says, “Listen! There will soon be a time when I will make a new covenant with the people [MTY] of Israel and the people [MTY] of Judah.

For finding fault with them, he says, Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

9 That covenant will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I led them out of Egypt [MET] [like a father leads a child] by the hand. They did not continue to [obey] my covenant, so I rejected them,” says the Lord.

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, says the Lord.

10 “This is the covenant that I will make with the Israelites [MTY], after [the first covenant has ended] [MTY],” says the Lord: “I will enable them to understand my laws [MTY], and I will enable them to obey them (OR, truly know them) [MTY] sincerely. I will be their God, and they will be my people [DOU].

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says 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:

11 [As a result], no one will [need to] teach a fellow citizen or tell his fellow kinsmen, ‘[You need to] know the Lord,’ because all [my people] will know me: [My people] of every status [will know me].

And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

12 I will mercifully [forgive them for] the wicked things they have done. I will no longer [consider] that [they are guilty for] [DOU] [their] sins.”

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

13 Since God spoke about a new [covenant], he considered that the first [covenant] was no longer in use, and that it would soon disappear, just like [anything that] gets old [will disappear] [MET, DOU].

In that he says, A new covenant, he has made the first old. Now that which decays and waxs old is ready to vanish away.