¹For this  ²Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

To whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all; first being interpreted  ¹king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is  ¹king of peace;

Being  ¹without father, without mother, without genealogy; having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but likened to the Son of God, abides a priest perpetually.

And consider how  ¹great this one was, to whom the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the choice spoils.

And they of the sons of Levi, who received the priestly service, have a commandment to take tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brothers, though they have come forth from the loins of Abraham.

But he whose genealogy is not counted from them has taken tithes from Abraham and has  ¹blessed him who has the promises.

But without any dispute the  ¹lesser is blessed by the  ²greater.

And here men, who die, receive tithes; but there, one of whom it is testified that he lives.

And, so to speak, through Abraham,  ¹Levi also, he who receives tithes, has been made to pay tithes,

For he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

If indeed then perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people have received the law), what need was there still that a different  ¹Priest should arise according to the order of Melchizedek and that He should not be said to be according to the order of Aaron?

For since the priesthood is  ¹transferred, of necessity there comes into being a  ²transfer of law also.

For He of whom these things are said  ¹belongs to a different tribe, from which no one has attended to the altar.

For it is evident that our Lord has  ¹risen out of  ²Judah, concerning which tribe Moses spoke nothing about priests.

And it is still more abundantly evident since it is according to the likeness of Melchizedek that a different Priest arises,

Who has been appointed not according to the law of a fleshy commandment but according to the power of an  ¹indestructible life.

For it is testified, “You are a Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

For there is, on the one hand, the  ¹setting aside of the preceding commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness

(For the law  ¹perfected nothing), and, on the other hand, the bringing in  ²thereupon of a  ³better hope, through which we draw near to God.

And inasmuch as He was not made a Priest without the taking of an oath

(For they are appointed priests without the taking of an oath, but He, with the taking of an oath by Him who said to Him, “The Lord has sworn and will not regret it, You are a Priest forever”),

By so much Jesus has also become the  ¹surety of a better covenant.

And they are appointed priests many in number because death prevents them from continuing;

But He, because He abides forever, has His priesthood unalterable.

Hence also He is able to save  ¹to the uttermost those who come forward to God through Him, since He lives always to  ²intercede for them.

For such a High Priest was also fitting to us, holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners and having become  ¹higher than the heavens,

Who does not have daily need, as the high priests do, to offer up sacrifices first for his own sins and then for those of the people; for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

For the law establishes men as high priests who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which was after the law, establishes the Son,  ¹perfected forever.

Now in the things which are being said the chief point is this: We have such a High Priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the  ¹heavens,

A  ¹Minister of the  ²holy places, even of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.

For every high priest is established for the offering of both  ¹gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary that this One also have something which He may offer.

Now then if He were on earth, He would not be a Priest at all, there being those who offer the gifts according to the law,

Who serve the  ¹example and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to complete the tabernacle; for, “See,” He said, “that you make all things according to the pattern that was shown to you in the mountain.”

But now He has obtained a more excellent  ¹ministry inasmuch as He is also the  ²Mediator of a  ³better covenant, which has been  ⁴enacted upon  ⁵better promises.

For if that  ¹first covenant had been faultless, no  ²place would have been sought for a second.

For finding fault with them He says, "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will consummate a new covenant upon the house of Israel and upon the house of Judah,

Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.

For this is the covenant which I will covenant with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will impart My  ¹laws into their  ²mind, and on their hearts I will  ³inscribe them; and  ⁴I will be God to them, and  ⁵they will be a people to Me.

And they shall by no means each teach his fellow citizen and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all will  ¹know Me from the little one to the great one among them.

For I will be  ¹propitious to their unrighteousnesses, and their sins I shall by no means remember anymore.”

In saying, A new covenant, He has made the  ¹first old. But that which is becoming old and growing decrepit is near to disappearing.

Now then the first covenant also had ordinances of service, and its  ¹sanctuary was of this world.

For a tabernacle was prepared, the first, in which were the lampstand and the table and the loaves that were set forth, which is called the Holy Place;

And after the second veil, a tabernacle, which is called the Holy of Holies,

 ¹Having a golden  ²altar and the ark of the covenant covered about everywhere with gold, in which were the golden  ³pot that had the manna and Aaron's rod that budded and the tablets of the covenant,

And above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the  ¹propitiation place, concerning which it is not now the time to speak in detail.

Now these things having been thus prepared, into the first tabernacle the priests enter continually, accomplishing their worship;

But into the second, only the high priest enters, once a year and not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the  ¹sins of ignorance of the people,

The Holy Spirit thus making this clear, that the  ¹way of the Holy of Holies has not yet been manifested while the first tabernacle still has its standing,

Which is a  ¹figure for the present time. According to this tabernacle both  ²gifts and sacrifices are offered, which are unable to perfect, according to conscience, him who worships,

Consisting only of foods and drinks and various  ¹washings, being ordinances of the flesh, imposed until the time of  ²setting things right.

But Christ, having come as a High Priest of  ¹the good things that have come into being, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not of this creation,

And not through the blood of goats and calves but through His own blood, entered once for all into the Holy of Holies,  ¹obtaining an eternal  ²redemption.

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who are  ¹defiled sanctify to the purity of the flesh,

How much more will the  ¹blood of Christ, who through the  ²eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our  ³conscience from  ⁴dead works to serve the  ⁵living God?

And because of this He is the Mediator of a new covenant, so that, death having taken place for redemption of the  ¹transgressions under the first covenant, those who have been called might receive the  ²promise of the  ³eternal inheritance.

For where there is a  ¹testament, the death of him who made the testament must of necessity be established.

For a  ¹testament is confirmed  ²in the case of the dead, since it never has force when he who made the testament is living.

Hence neither was the first covenant  ¹initiated without blood;

For when every commandment according to the law had been spoken by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the scroll of the covenant itself and all the people,

Saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded to you.”

And both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the service he sprinkled in like manner with the blood.

And almost all things are purified by blood according to the law, and  ¹without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

It was necessary therefore for the examples of the things in the heavens to be purified by these, but the  ¹heavenly things themselves, by  ²better sacrifices than these.

For Christ did not enter into a  ¹holy place made by hands, a  ²figure of the true, but into heaven itself, to appear now before the face of God for us;

Nor in order that He might offer Himself often, just as the high priest enters into the Holy of Holies year by year by the blood of other creatures;

Since then He would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the  ¹consummation of the ages He has been manifested for the putting away of sin through the sacrifice of Himself.

And inasmuch as it is  ¹reserved for men to die  ²once, and after this comes judgment,

So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time to those who eagerly await Him,  ¹apart from sin, unto  ²salvation.