Font Size
Hebrews 8
Contemporary English Version
Hebrews 8
Contemporary English Version
A Better Promise
8 (A) What I mean is we have a high priest who sits at the right side[a] of God's great throne in heaven. 2 He also serves as the priest in the most holy place[b] inside the real tent there in heaven. This tent of worship was set up by the Lord, not by humans.
3 Since all priests must offer gifts and sacrifices, Christ also needed to have something to offer. 4 If he were here on earth, he would not be a priest at all, because here the Law appoints other priests to offer sacrifices. 5 (B) But the tent where they serve is just a copy and a shadow of the real one in heaven. Before Moses made the tent, he was told, “Be sure to make it exactly like the pattern you were shown on the mountain!” 6 Now Christ has been appointed to serve as a priest in a much better way, and he has given us much assurance of a better agreement.
7 If the first agreement with God had been all right, there would not have been any need for another one. 8 (C) But the Lord found fault with it and said,
“I tell you the time will come,
when I will make
a new agreement
with the people of Israel
and the people of Judah.
9 It won't be like the agreement
that I made
with their ancestors,
when I took them by the hand
and led them out of Egypt.
They broke their agreement
with me,
and I stopped caring
about them!
10 “But now I tell the people
of Israel
this is my new agreement:
‘The time will come
when I, the Lord,
will write my laws
on their minds and hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be
my people.
11 Not one of them
will have to teach another
to know me, their Lord.’
“All of them will know me,
no matter who they are.
12 I will treat them with kindness,
even though they are wicked.
I will forget their sins.”
13 When the Lord talks about a new agreement, he means that the first one is out of date. And anything that is old and useless will soon disappear.
Hebrews 8
New International Version
Hebrews 8
New International Version
The High Priest of a New Covenant
8 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest,(A) who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,(B) 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle(C) set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.
3 Every high priest(D) is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices,(E) and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer.(F) 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law.(G) 5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy(H) and shadow(I) of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned(J) when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”[a](K) 6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant(L) of which he is mediator(M) is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.
7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.(N) 8 But God found fault with the people and said[b]:
“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant(O)
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors(P)
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.
10 This is the covenant(Q) I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.(R)
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.(S)
11 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,(T)
from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.(U)”[c](V)
13 By calling this covenant “new,”(W) he has made the first one obsolete;(X) and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 8:5 Exodus 25:40
- Hebrews 8:8 Some manuscripts may be translated fault and said to the people.
- Hebrews 8:12 Jer. 31:31-34
Hebrews 8
King James Version
Hebrews 8
King James Version
8 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.
4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.