Updated on

Read Hebrews Chapter 8

Up and down arrows move from one verse to the next.

1Now 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;

2A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

3For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.

4For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:

5Who 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.

6But 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.

7For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

8For 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:

9Not 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.

10For 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:

11And 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.

12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

13In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

You are readingKing James Version

Explanation

Hebrews 8

In short

The writer argues that Jesus is a better priest than the Jewish priests because he serves in heaven itself, not in an earthly building. He mediates a new agreement between God and people, one based on God writing his laws directly into human hearts rather than on stone tablets.

What the text says

Verse 1 states the main point: believers have a high priest seated at God's right hand in heaven. Verses 2 to 5 explain what a priest does. Every high priest must offer gifts and sacrifices. The old earthly priests served according to a pattern shown to Moses, which the writer calls an "example and shadow" of heavenly things.

Verses 6 to 7 claim Jesus has a "more excellent ministry" because he mediates a "better covenant" established on better promises. If the first covenant were complete, there would be no need for a second.

Verses 8 to 12 quote God's words about a new covenant. The old covenant, made when God led Israel out of Egypt, failed because the people did not keep it. The new covenant will be different: God will write his laws into people's minds and hearts, all will know God personally, and God will forget their sins.

Verse 13 concludes that by calling a covenant "new," the text makes the first one old and ready to disappear.

Takeaways

  • Jesus serves as priest in heaven itself, not in a copy of the true sanctuary.
  • The new agreement with God changes how his laws are known, written on hearts instead of external objects.
  • An older system's replacement by something better signals the older one's end.

Explanation written with the help of AI. The Bible text above is not changed. Context and interpretation are flagged as such; always come back to the text itself.