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.

Now indeed even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service 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’.

For a tabernacle was prepared. In the first part were the lamp stand, the table, and the show bread, which is called the Holy Place.

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

After the second veil was the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies,

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.

having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which was a golden pot holding the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;

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.

and above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, of which things we can’t speak now in detail.

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.

Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests go in continually into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the services,

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 into the second the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people.

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].

The Holy Spirit is indicating this, that the way into the Holy Place wasn’t yet revealed while the first tabernacle was still standing.

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 a symbol of the present age, where gifts and sacrifices are offered that are incapable, concerning the conscience, of making the worshiper perfect,

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.

being only (with foods and drinks and various washings) fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation.

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].

But Christ having come as a high priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,

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)

nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption. (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 heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh,

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 will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to 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)

For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, that those who have been called may receive the promise of the 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 where a last will and testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him who made it.

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.

For a will is in force where there has been death, for it is never in force while he who made it lives.

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

Therefore even the first covenant has not been dedicated without 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,

For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both 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].”

saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.”

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

He sprinkled the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry in the same way with the blood.

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 the law, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.

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.

It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

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 into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

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.

nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year with blood 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)

or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (aiōn g165)

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

Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment,

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 Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.