Hebrews 5:11-10:18
New Catholic Bible
Christ, the One True Priest[a]
Deepen the Christian Life.[b] We have much to say about this subject, but it is difficult to explain because you have been slow in learning. 12 By this time you should have been teachers, yet you still need to have someone explain to you the basic elements of God’s words.You need milk, not solid food. 13 Anyone who lives on milk is still an infant and is ignorant of the word of righteousness. 14 But solid food is for adults whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish between good and evil.
Chapter 6
1 [c]Therefore, let us leave behind the basic teaching about Christ and advance toward maturity. We must not be forever laying the foundation: repentance for actions that lead to death, faith in God, 2 instruction about baptisms and the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And we will do so, if God permits.
4 [d]For when people have once been enlightened and have experienced the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then in spite of all this have fallen away, it is impossible to restore them again to repentance. For they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves once again and are holding him up to contempt.
7 When the soil drinks in the rain that repeatedly falls on it and produces a crop that is useful to those for whom it was cultivated, it receives a blessing from God. 8 However, if it brings forth thorns and thistles, it is worthless, and a curse hangs over it. It will end by being burned.
9 But, beloved, in spite of what we have just said, we are convinced that your status is far superior as you proceed to salvation. 10 For God would not be so unjust as to ignore your work and the love that you have shown for his name by the services you have rendered to the saints and still continue to render.
11 However, we desire that each one of you will show the same diligence until you have achieved the ultimate fulfillment of your hope. 12 We do not want you to allow yourselves to become sluggish; rather, we want you to become imitators of those who through faith and patience are now heirs of the promises.
13 Cling Tightly to Hope.[e] When God made his promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply your descendants.” 15 And so, after waiting patiently, he obtained the promise.
16 Human beings swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath given as confirmation puts an end to all argument. 17 Likewise, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of his promise the unalterable nature of his purpose, he confirmed it by an oath.
18 Therefore, by these two unchangeable acts in which it was impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge in his protection have been strongly encouraged to grasp firmly the hope that has been held out to us. 19 We have this hope as the anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the sanctuary behind the veil,[f] 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
A Different Kind of High Priest[g]
Chapter 7
Melchizedek.[h] 1 This Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, met Abraham as he was returning from his defeat of the kings, and he blessed him. 2 Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. His name first means “king of righteousness,” and then “king of Salem,” that is, “king of peace.” 3 Without father, or mother, or genealogy, and without beginning of days or end of life, thus bearing a resemblance to the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.
4 Just consider now how great this man must have been for the patriarch Abraham to give him a tenth of his spoils. 5 The descendants of Levi who succeed to the priestly office are required by the Law to collect tithes from the people, that is, from their fellow countrymen, although they too are descended from Abraham. 6 However, Melchizedek, who was not of the same ancestry, received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had received the promises.
7 It is indisputable that a lesser person is blessed by one who is greater. 8 In the one case, it is ordinary mortal men who receive tithes; in the other, the recipient is one of whom it is attested that he is alive. 9 One could even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, actually paid tithes through Abraham, 10 inasmuch as he was still in his father’s loins when Melchizedek met Abraham.
11 Another High Priest according to the Order of Melchizedek.[i] If perfection was therefore achieved through the Levitical priesthood, on the basis of which the Law was given to the people, what need would there have been for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek rather than one according to the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is any change in the priesthood, there must also be a change in the Law.
13 Now the one about whom these things were said belonged to a different tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe about which Moses said nothing in regard to priests.
15 This becomes even more obvious now that another priest has arisen, one like Melchizedek, 16 who was one not through a legal requirement concerning physical descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is attested of him:
“You are a priest forever,
according to the order of Melchizedek.”
18 The earlier commandment is abrogated because of its weakness and ineffectiveness, 19 since the Law brought nothing to perfection. On the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw nearer to God.
20 This was confirmed by an oath. When others became priests, no oath was required, 21 but this one became a priest with the swearing of an oath by the one who said to him,
“The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent:
‘You are a priest forever.’ ”
22 Accordingly, Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant.
23 Furthermore, the former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from remaining in office. 24 However, Jesus holds a perpetual priesthood because he remains forever. 25 Therefore, he has the full power to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to intercede for them.
26 The High Priest That We Needed.[j] It was fitting that we should have such a high priest—holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and raised high above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people. He accomplished this once for all when he offered himself. 28 The Law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the Law, appointed the Son who has been made perfect forever.
A New Kind of Priesthood[k]
Chapter 8
Another Sanctuary.[l] 1 The main point of what we have been saying is this: we have such a high priest. He has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and he is a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle established by the Lord and not by human beings.
3 Every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices, and so it is necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 Actually, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are already others who offer gifts according to the Law,[m] 5 although the sanctuary in which they offer worship is only a shadow and a reflection of the heavenly one. This is the reason why, when Moses was about to erect the tabernacle, he was warned, “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”
Another Covenant.[n] 6 But Jesus has now received a ministry that is far superior, for he is the mediator of a far better covenant that has been established on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no necessity to establish a second one to replace it. 8 [o]However, God finds fault with his people, and he says,
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will establish a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
that I made with their ancestors
on the day when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and therefore I abandoned them, says the Lord.
10 This is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord.
I will plant my laws in their minds
and inscribe them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 And they shall not teach one another,
each saying to his neighbor and his brother,
‘Know the Lord.’
For they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12 I shall forgive them for their wicked deeds,
and I shall remember their sins no more.”
13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete. And anything that is obsolete and aging will shortly disappear.
Chapter 9
The Ancient Worship.[p] 1 Now the first covenant also had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tabernacle was constructed. In the outer section, called the Holy Place, were located the lampstand, the table, and the consecrated bread.
3 Behind the second veil was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies 4 in which stood the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold. In that ark were the gold jar containing the manna, and Aaron’s staff that had sprouted buds, and the tablets of the covenant. 5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the place of atonement (but we cannot discuss these things in detail now). 6 With these arrangements for worship having been made, the priests continually enter the first tabernacle to carry out their ritual duties. 7 However, the high priest alone enters the second tabernacle, and he can do so only once a year, and not without the blood that he offers for himself and for the errors that the people had committed.
8 By this the Holy Spirit reveals to us that as long as the first tabernacle remains standing, the way into the sanctuary has not been disclosed. 9 This is a symbol of the present time, during which the gifts and sacrifices that are offered are unable to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper. 10 They deal only with food and drink and various ceremonial washings, regulations in regard to the body that are imposed until the coming of the new order.
11 Christ Has Come.[q] But now Christ has arrived as the high priest of the good things that have come. He has passed through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by human hands, that is, not a part of this creation, 12 and he has entered once for all into the sanctuary not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
13 The blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of ashes of a heifer sanctify those who have been defiled and restore bodily purity. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from acts that lead to death so that we may worship the living God.
15 A Covenant Sealed with the Blood of Christ.[r] For this reason, he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who have been called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since his death has served to redeem the sins that were committed under the first covenant.
16 Now when a will is involved, it is obligatory to prove the death of the one who made it. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it has no force while the one who made it is still alive.
18 Hence, not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when all the commandments of the Law had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, together with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded you to observe.”
21 And in the same way, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the liturgical vessels. 22 Indeed, under the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23 Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves required still greater sacrifices.
24 Once and for All.[s] For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, so that he now appears in the presence of God on our behalf.
25 Nor was it his purpose to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters into the sanctuary year after year with the blood that is not his own. 26 For then he would have had to suffer over and over again since the creation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once and for all at the end of the ages to abolish sin by sacrificing himself.
27 And just as human beings are destined to die but once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Chapter 10
A Unique Sacrifice[t]
The Law Was a Shadow. 1 The Law contains little more than a shadow of the good things to come and not the true image of them. These sacrifices that are offered year after year can never bring the worshipers to perfection. 2 If they could, those sacrifices would no longer be offered, for the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all and would no longer feel guilty for sins.
3 However, in these sacrifices sins are brought to mind year after year, 4 because sins cannot be taken away by the blood of bulls and goats.
One Sacrifice for Sins. 5 That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you have prepared for me.
6 You took no delight
in holocausts and sin offerings.
7 Then I said, ‘As it is written of me in the scroll,
behold, I have come to do your will, O God.’ ”
8 First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in,” even though they are offered according to the Law. 9 Then he adds, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He thus abolishes the first to establish the second. 10 And it was by this “will” that we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 [u]Day after day every priest stands to perform his ministry, offering over and over again the same sacrifices that can never remove sins. 12 But Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, and then took his seat at the right hand of God, 13 where he now waits until his enemies are made his footstool. 14 Therefore, by a single offering he has made perfect forever those who are being sanctified.
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For he first says,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord.
I will place my laws in their hearts
and inscribe them on their minds.”
17 Then he also asserts,
“Their sins and their lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
18 When these have been forgiven, there are no longer any offerings for sins.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 5:11 This is the central part of the letter. Its themes center around a single great idea: Christ, “high priest of the good things that have come” (Heb 9:11), or “that are to come.” The vision starts with the past and with a reflection on all the religious situations already experienced, then leaves them and focuses on their fulfillment: the future of humanity with God, in and with Christ. Proofs are piled up to show that this new priesthood transcends all the ancient institutions, brings them to fulfillment, and renders them things of the past.
11
The word “priest” is taken here in the sense used by the Old Testament and by religions of the time: the man of worship, the man who represents his brothers and sisters in ritual actions that will enable them to be purified and have access to the divinity. Jesus Christ appears as the only one who is the presence of the forgiveness of God, the one who gives access to God, the representative of all that humanity expects from God. Every other priesthood and all other sacrifices are only a sketch, sign, shadow, prefiguration, and expectation. They are now surpassed. The ancient words and hopes are evoked to say more than they could have suggested without the faith in Christ. - Hebrews 5:11 The author warns his readers against regressing spiritually and morally. They must become “perfect”—what we would call “adults” or “mature.” That is, they must not be content with the rudiments of faith but must deepen their faith by reflection. Six basic teachings are enumerated and apostasy is condemned. Finally, a note of hope is given. A life marked by love cannot be insignificant; and this love has a concrete expression: the service of the saints (Heb 6:10), i.e., the sustenance of the poor of the Jerusalem community (see Rom 15:25-31; 2 Cor 8:4; 9:1-15).
- Hebrews 6:1 Six basic teachings are mentioned. (1) Repentance: turning away from the darkness of sin and useless rituals. (2) Faith in God: i.e., turning to the light of God. (3) Instruction about baptisms: e.g., Jewish initiation rites for proselytes, John the Baptist’s baptism, and the Baptism commanded by Jesus. (4) Laying on of hands: a rite connected with ordaining or commissioning (see Acts 6:6; 13:3; 1 Tim 5:22; 2 Tim 1:6), with healing the sick (see Mk 6:5; 16:18; Lk 4:40; Acts 28:8), and with bestowal of blessings (see Mt 19:13-15). (5) Resurrection of the dead: the resurrection of all people in the end time (see Jn 5:25-29). (6) Eternal judgment: the lot of those who reject God.
- Hebrews 6:4 The author asserts that repentance for apostates is impossible. However, he may be using hyperbole to impress on his readers that abandoning Christ is most serious.
- Hebrews 6:13 In the beginning, before any law and any institution of worship, there were two immutable realities: God’s promise and his oath. There were also two figures: Abraham and Melchizedek. The author wishes to stress one solid point: God committed himself radically to the future and salvation of human beings, a future and a salvation that become realities forever through Christ—as the following chapters will explain.
- Hebrews 6:19 The veil separated the two most sacred parts of the Jewish temple.
- Hebrews 7:1 A mysterious figure made his appearance in the story of Abraham: Melchizedek (see Gen 14:17-20), and Ps 110—which held a special place in Israel’s meditation on the Messiah—speaks of a mysterious priesthood of the kind exercised by Melchizedek (v. 4). The Letter to the Hebrews says that those passages foretell the priesthood of Christ. Yet the priesthood of Christ cannot be measured by the same standard as the Jewish priesthood, because it renders the latter obsolete.
- Hebrews 7:1 The figure of Melchizedek is full of symbols. His name means “king of righteousness”; his reign was one of “peace.” Most unusually, the Bible gives us no chronological or genealogical information about him, naming neither his ancestors nor his descendants. His priesthood does not seem to be connected in any way with a hereditary line of priests, but only with his own person, as though it were something everlasting. And Abraham, to whom is given all the power to bless and the promises for Israel, receives a blessing from Melchizedek and offers him a tithe. All the more, then, does this priest stand above all the descendants of the Patriarch, and especially Levi, from whom descends all the Jewish priests whose standing the people acknowledge by paying them a tithe (see Lev 27:30-33; Num 18:21f). In the person of Abraham, they all bowed down to the mysterious priesthood of Melchizedek, who prefigured Jesus.
- Hebrews 7:11 Jesus Christ, foretold by the person of Melchizedek, does not have a place in the priestly genealogies that were set up after Moses; his priesthood is based on the commitment of God himself, on the divine oath (vv. 20-22). He is the definitive mediator between God and humanity.
- Hebrews 7:26 A first conclusion rises as a chant of freedom and a beautiful hymn to Christ. Perishable offerings are no longer anything but a symbol of self-giving already completed in reality: Christ alone can commit himself completely to God, become an offering, and in his very person be the representative of human beings before God. The Son who has been made perfect forever: Jesus, the Son, is God, and he shares the divine attributes, e.g., holiness (see v. 26; Jn 8:46; 2 Cor 5:21); eternity (see Mic 5:2; Jn 1:1; 8:58; 17:5, 24; Col 1:17); omnipotence (see Heb 1:3; Mt 28:18; Rev 1:8); omniscience (see Mt 9:4; Jn 6:64; 16:30; Col 2:3); immutability (see Heb 1:11f; 13:8); omnipresence (see Mt 28:20; Jn 3:13; Eph 1:23); creative power (see Heb 1:8, 10; Jn 1:3; 1 Cor 8:6; Col 1:16f); power to forgive sins (see Mk 2:5, 7-10; Lk 24:47; Jn 1:29; Acts 10:43; 1 Jn 1:7); the right to be worshiped (see Mt 8:2; Phil 2:10).
- Hebrews 8:1 Speaking about a high priest means speaking about worship, the Covenant, the sanctuary, and sacrifices. Point by point, the author describes the practices of Jewish worship; in doing so his aim is to draw a radical contrast between them and the immense newness of Christ. Jesus not only excelled the Levitical priests in dignity; he also accomplished the true worship that surpasses all prestige from the ceremonial codified in the Law of Moses.
- Hebrews 8:1 The author recalls some passages of the Bible (Ps 110:1-4; Num 24:6; Ex 25:40) to show that both the sanctuary in the wilderness and the sanctuary in Jerusalem were signs pointing to true worship, which consists in having access to God. As priest, Jesus acts at that level of reality and not at the level of signs.
- Hebrews 8:4 By his human birth Jesus belonged to the tribe of Judah (see Heb 7:12-14), whereas priests were taken from the tribe of Levi (see Deut 18:1). Some scholars take the present tense of the verb “offer” as an indication that the temple was still standing in Jerusalem and so the Letter must have been written before A.D. 70 when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.
- Hebrews 8:6 Israel was known as the people of the Covenant, the Covenant that was expressed in the Law and in worship. A text had been in circulation since the time of Jeremiah that was critical of the past and full of hope for a new future: it was the prophecy of the New Covenant, with which everyone was familiar (see Jer 31:31-34). The author cites it in its entirety (vv. 8-12). In this New Covenant the relationship between God and human beings will no longer be based on laws and institutions, but will have as its basis the person of Jesus Christ, mediator of a life-giving relationship with God (see 1 Tim 2:5).
The priesthood of Christ has given rise to the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood and the common priesthood of the faithful, which differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, and each of which is a participation in the royal priesthood of Christ: “The ministerial priest, by the sacred power he enjoys, teaches and rules the priestly people; acting in the person of Christ, he makes present the Eucharistic Sacrifice and offers it to God in the name of all the people. But the faithful, in virtue of their royal priesthood, join in the offering of the Eucharist. They likewise exercise that priesthood in receiving the Sacraments, in prayer and thanksgiving, in the witness of a holy life, and in self-denial and active charity” (Vatican II: The Church, no. 10). - Hebrews 8:8 The New Covenant is superior to the old because of the following: (1) God’s laws are inner principles (v. 10a) enabling his people to carry out his will (see Ezek 36:26f; Rom 8:2-4). (2) God and his people enjoy an intimate fellowship (v. 10b). (3) There will nevermore be sinful ignorance of God (v. 11). (4) Forgiveness of sins will last forever (v. 12).
- Hebrews 9:1 Once a year, on the Day of Atonement (see Lev 16:2-19; Ex 30:10), the high priest entered alone into the innermost part of the temple, the Holy of Holies. He poured blood on the altar to obtain forgiveness of sins. (For more details on the worship in the temple, see Ex 25–31 and 35–40.)
- Hebrews 9:11 The whole of Jewish hope, which was revived on the Day of Atonement, now finds its definitive fulfillment in the Passover of Christ. His is the true sacrifice. This time, a human being sheds his own blood, i.e., willingly gives his life to God for the benefit of his brothers and sisters; this time, a human being purifies the human conscience from within by his obedience; this time, a human being has access to God. The risen Christ remains in this relationship of giving and presence, once and for all, definitively and eternally. There is no longer any other sacrifice to perform. This is the future, filled with “the good things that have come” (v. 11).
- Hebrews 9:15 In the Jewish mind sacrifice and blood were reminders of atonement and Covenant (see Ex 24). The New Covenant is accomplished by the Paschal Mystery of Christ. In Greek, the word diathêkê signified both “covenant” and “testament”; it was easy to move from the one meaning to the other, as the author does in vv. 15 and 16.
- Hebrews 9:24 Everything that could envisage priesthood, rites, and cults, without in fact obtaining them, is now a reality in Christ: sin is forgiven, access to God is available, reconciliation is realized, and the Paschal event is living, efficacious, and eternal. Christ, who offered himself, is at God’s right hand for the benefit of human beings. There is no need of new sacrifices, and so he will not return for that but for the complete fulfillment of his promise of life and love.
- Hebrews 10:1 The great, endless act of self-giving that extends through the entire existence of Christ is the authentic priestly act, the authentic sacrifice of Christ. He takes away sin and restores the bond with God in his own person, in his own living experience. He founds the New Covenant, the new people who have access to God.
- Hebrews 10:11 Every priest stands to perform his ministry . . . Jesus . . . took his seat: members of the Levitical priesthood always “stood” because their work was never finished; Jesus “took his seat” because his work was completed.
