< 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.
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’.
3 Behind the curtain inside [the holy place] there was [another] room. That was called ‘the very 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.
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.
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.
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].
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].
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.
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.
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].
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 )
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.
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 )
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 )
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.
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.
18 And so [God] put the first covenant into effect only [LIT] by means of [animals’] blood that was shed [when they were slaughtered].
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,
20 saying to them, “This is the blood [which brings into effect] the covenant that God commanded that you [obey].”
21 Likewise, he sprinkled with that blood the tent and every object that they used in performing rituals.
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].
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.
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.
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.
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 )
27 All people must die once, and after that [God] will judge them [for their sins].
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.
