8:1 Now the main point about the things being said: we have such a High Priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a servant of the holy places and of the true tent,[1] which the Lord set up, and not[2] man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary for this one also to have something he should offer. 4 For[3] if indeed He were on earth, He would not even be a priest, there being those priests[4] offering the gifts according to the[5] law, 5 who serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was[6] warned,[7] being about to erect the tent. For He says,
“See that you make all things according to the pattern that had been shown to you on the mountain.”[8]
6 But now[9] He has obtained a more excellent service, as much as also He is a mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no place would have been sought for a second. 8 For finding fault, He says to them,[10]
“Behold, days are coming,” says the Lord,
“and I will consummate for the house of Israel
and for the house of Judah a new covenant;
9 not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers
in the day of My taking hold of their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt,
because they did not remain in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make[11] with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord:
giving My laws into their minds, I will inscribe them upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.
11 And no, not at all shall they teach each one his fellow citizen,[12]
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for all will know Me, from the least of them[13] to the greatest of them.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,
and their sins and their lawlessness[14] I shall no longer remember.”
13 In saying “New,” He has made obsolete the first covenant. Now what is becoming obsolete and is growing old is near to disappearing.
[1] Verse 2 – Or, dwelling; traditionally, tabernacle. See also verse 5.
[2] Verse 2 – Byz, M & TR read καὶ οὐκ, and not. Tisch, WH, NU, following a half dozen or more Grk MSS, omit καὶ.
[3] Verse 4 – Byz, M & TR read γὰρ, For. Tisch, WH & NU, following a half dozen or so Grk MSS, read οὖν, Therefore.
[4] Verse 4 – Byz, M & TR read ἱερέων τῶν, those priests. Tisch, WH & NU, following no more than half a dozen Grk MSS, omit ἱερέων τῶν.
[5] Verse 4 – Byz, M & TR read τὸν, the. Tisch, WH & NU, following no more than half a dozen Grk MSS, omit τὸν.
[6] Verse 5 – Literally, has been.
[7] Verse 5 – Or, commanded, or instructed.
[8] Verse 5 – Exodus 25:40.
[9] Verse 6 – Byz, M, TR & Tisch read Νυνὶ, now. WH, following just three Grk MSS, reads the less emphatic νῦν, now. NU reads νυν[ὶ], thus showing the two possible readings, casting νυνὶ in doubt and favoring WH.
[10] Verse 8 – Byz, M &TR read αὐτοῖς (dative case), them. Tisch, WH & NU, following nearly twenty Grk MSS, read αὐτοὺς (accusative), them.
[11] Verse 10 – Literally, I will covenant.
[12] Verse 11 – Byz, M, Tisch, WH & NU read πολίτην, fellow citizen. TR, following a few Grk MSS in the LXX & more than a dozen NT Grk MSS, reads πλησίον, neighbor.
[13] Verse 11 – Byz, M & TR read αὐτῶν, of them, after μικροῦ, least. Tisch, WH & NU, following a dozen or so Grk MSS, omit αὐτῶν after μικροῦ.
[14] Verse 12 – Byz, M & TR read καὶ τῶν ἀνομιῶν αὐτῶν. Tisch, WH & NU, following some Grk MSS of the LXX and about half a dozen NT Grk MSS, omit the phrase.