Hebrews 9

1 [To continue]: In the first [covenant, God] regulated how people [should perform] rituals, and [he told them to make] [MTY] a sanctuary.

The former system had instructions as to how to worship, and an earthly sanctuary.

2 [That sanctuary] was a tent that [the Israelites] set up. In its outer room there was the lampstand and the table [on which they put] the bread that [the priests] presented [to God. That room] was called ‘the holy place’.

The first room in the Tabernacle housed the candlestick, the table, and the sacred bread. This was called the Holy Place.

3 Behind the curtain inside [the holy place] there was [another] room. That was called ‘the very holy place’.

Past the second veil in the Tabernacle was the room called the Most Holy Place.

4 It had an altar, [made from] gold, [for burning] incense. [It also had the chest which they called] the chest of the covenant. All its sides were covered with gold. In it was the golden pot which contained [pieces of the food they called] manna. [That was the food with which God miraculously fed the people before they entered the promised land]. In the chest there was also Aaron’s walking stick that budded [to prove that he was God’s true priest]. In the chest were also the stone tablets [on which God had written] the Ten Commandments.

This contained the golden altar of incense, the gold-covered “agreement chest.” Inside this were the golden pot containing manna, Aaron's rod that had produced buds, and the stone inscriptions of the agreement.

5 On top of [the chest] were [figures of] winged creatures [that symbolized God’s] glory. Their [wings] overshadowed the chest’s lid where [the high priest sprinkled the blood] (to [atone for/to forgive]) [those who had sinned. I] do not [need] to write about these things in detail now.

Above this were the glorious angel cherubim covering the place of reconciliation. We can't discuss all of this in detail now.

6 After all those things were prepared {After they had prepared all those things like that} [in the two rooms of the tent], the [Jewish] priests habitually went into the outer [room of the] tent to perform their rituals.

Once all of this had been set up, the priests would go in regularly to the first room of the Tabernacle to perform their duties.

7 But into the inner room, only the Supreme Priest [went], once a year. He always took [LIT] the blood [of animals that they had slaughtered]. He offered them [to God] for his own [sins] and for the sins that other people had committed. They included sins that they did not realize [were sinful].

But only the high priest went into the second room, and only once a year. Even then he had to make a sacrifice involving blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins of ignorance.

8 By those things the Holy Spirit indicated that [just like God] did not reveal the way [for ordinary people] to enter into the inner room while the outer room still existed [MET], [similarly he did not reveal the way for ordinary people to enter the presence of God while the Jewish system of offering sacrifices was in effect].

By this the Holy Spirit indicated that the way into the true Most Holy Place hadn't been revealed while the first Tabernacle still existed.

9 [The things that the priests did inside the outer room] [MTY] symbolized [what was true] during the time [when the first covenant was in effect]. According to [the first covenant] (OR, [In that outer room]), [priests] offered gifts and other sacrifices to God. But [by offering them], the people who brought them were unable to make themselves feel that they were no longer guilty for having sinned.

This is an illustration for us in the present, showing us that the gifts and sacrifices that are offered can't make the worshiper's conscience clear.

10 [They brought those gifts and made those sacrifices] according to [regulations concerning] things to eat and drink, and [according to rules that required people to] wash various things. [God] declared that those regulations about our bodies were to be in effect until [he put into effect the new covenant]; that was a better system.

They're just religious regulations—about food and drink, and various ceremonies involving washing—which were put in place until the time of God's new way of relating to him.

11 But when Christ came as our Supreme Priest, [he brought] the good things that are now available. When he appeared, [he went into God’s presence in heaven. That is like a] [MET] very great and perfect tent not made by humans {which no human made} [SYN]; that is, it is not part of the world [God] created. It was better [than the tent Moses set up here on earth].

Christ has come as a high priest of all the good experiences we now have. He went into the greater, more complete Tabernacle that wasn't made by human hands—not part of this created world.

12 [When a Supreme Priest goes into the inner room in the tent each year, he takes] goats’ blood and calves’ blood [to offer as a sacrifice]. But Christ did not [do that. It was as though] he went into that very holy place only once, taking his own blood with him. By doing that, he eternally redeemed us. (aiōnios g166)

He didn't enter through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood. He entered once, for all time, into the Most Holy Place, setting us free forever. (aiōnios g166)

13 The priests sprinkle on people goats’ blood and bulls’ blood and [the water that has been filtered through] the ashes of a [red] heifer that has been [completely burned. By performing that ritual, they can ritually] cleanse the bodies of those who are [ceremonially] unclean. Furthermore, performing those rituals enabled people to have fellowship with God again.

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a cow sprinkled on those who are ritually unclean make the body ceremonially clean,

14 [So, because we know what] Christ [accomplished when] his blood flowed [when he died for us] [PRS, MTY], we will be very certain that we are not guilty [of having] done those things [that those who are spiritually] dead do. [As a result], we can serve God, who is all-powerful. [The priests always offer to God animals] with no defects. Similarly, when Christ offered himself [as a sacrifice] to God, he was sinless [MET]. He did that as a result of [God’s] eternal Spirit [helping him]. (aiōnios g166)

how much more does the blood of Christ—who offered himself in his sinless life to God through the eternal Spirit—clean your consciences from your past sinful lives so you can serve the living God? (aiōnios g166)

15 [By] dying [for us], [Christ] ([redeemed/] free from the penalty for their sins) even those who disobeyed the [conditions of] (OR, [during the time of]) the first covenant. So, [because] no [one could be made perfect by obeying the old covenant], now Christ establishes [between God and people] a new covenant. He does that in order that those whom God has chosen may eternally have [the blessings that God] has promised them. (aiōnios g166)

This is why he is the mediator of a new agreed relationship. Since a death has occurred to set them free from the sins committed under the first agreed relationship, now those who are called can receive the promise of an eternal inheritance. (aiōnios g166)

16 A covenant [is like a will. In the case of a will], [in order to put its provisions into effect], someone must prove that the one who made it has died.

For a will to be implemented, the person who made it must be dead.

17 A will goes into effect [only when the one who makes the will] has died. It is not in effect when the one who made it is still alive.

A will is only valid when there's been a death—and is never applied while the person who made it is still alive.

18 And so [God] put the first covenant into effect only [LIT] by means of [animals’] blood that was shed [when they were slaughtered].

That's why the first agreement was established with blood.

19 After Moses had declared to all the Israelites everything that God commanded in the laws [that God gave him], he took calves’ and goats’ blood [mixed] with water. He [dipped into it] scarlet wool [that he tied around] a sprig of hyssop. Then he sprinkled [with some of the blood] the scroll itself containing God’s laws. Then he sprinkled [more of that blood on all the] people,

After Moses had given all the commandments of the law to everyone, he took the blood of calves and goats, and together with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, sprinkled the book itself and all the people.

20 saying to them, “This is the blood [which brings into effect] the covenant that God commanded that you [obey].”

He said to them, “This is the blood of the agreed relationship that God has told you he wants with you.”

21 Likewise, he sprinkled with that blood the tent and every object that they used in performing rituals.

Moses sprinkled the blood in the same way on the Tabernacle and everything used in worship.

22 It was by [sprinkling] blood that they [ritually] cleansed almost everything. That was what [was stated in] God’s laws. If blood is not shed [when people offer a sacrifice, God] cannot forgive [the person who is making the sacrifice].

According to ceremonial law, almost everything is made clean with blood, and without shedding blood nothing is made ritually free from the stain of sin.

23 So, by rituals like that, it was necessary for [the priests] to cleanse the things that symbolized what Christ does [MTY] in heaven. But God has to [consecrate] the [people who will enter] [MTY] heaven [by means of] better sacrifices than those.

So if the copies of what is in heaven needed to be cleansed in this way, the things in heaven needed cleansing by better sacrifices.

24 Christ did not enter a sanctuary that humans made. That one only represented the true [sanctuary]. Instead, he entered heaven itself, in order to now be in God’s presence [to plead with] God for us.

For Christ hasn't entered a Most Holy Place constructed by human beings that is only a pattern of the original. He has entered heaven itself, and now appears on our behalf, speaking for us in God's presence.

25 The [Jewish] Supreme Priest enters the very holy place once every year, taking blood that is not his own, [to offer it as a sacrifice]. But when Christ entered heaven, it was not in order to offer himself repeatedly like that.

This was not to repeatedly offer himself, like a high priest has to enter the Most Holy Place year after year, offering blood that is not his own.

26 [If that were so], he would have needed to suffer [and shed his blood] repeatedly since [the time when God] created the world. But instead, in this final age, [Christ] has appeared once in order that by sacrificing himself he could cause [that people] no longer will be [punished for their] sins. (aiōn g165)

Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. No: just this one time at the end of the present age he came to remove sin by sacrificing himself. (aiōn g165)

27 All people must die once, and after that [God] will judge them [for their sins].

Just as human beings die only once, and then are judged,

28 Likewise, when Christ [died], [God] offered him once to be a sacrifice, to punish him instead of the many [people who had] sinned. He will come [to earth] a second time, not [in order to sacrifice himself again for those who] have sinned, but in order to [complete] his saving those who expectantly wait for him.

so too for Christ—having been sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people, he will come again, not to deal with sin, but to save those who wait for him.