Hebrews 8 - Amplified Bible(AMP)

A Better Ministry

1Now the main point of what we have to say is this: we have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty (God) in heaven,

2a Minister (Officiating Priest) in the holy places and in the true tabernacle, which is erected not by man, but by the Lord.

3For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is essential for this One also to have something to offer.

4Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, for there are priests who offer the gifts in accordance with the Law.

5They serve as a pattern and foreshadowing of the heavenly things (sanctuary). For when Moses was about to erect the tabernacle, he was warned by God, saying, “See that you make it all according to the pattern which was shown to you on the mountain.”

6But as it is, Christ has acquired a ministry which is more excellent, for He is the Mediator (Arbiter) of a better covenant, which has been enacted and rests on better promises.

A New Covenant

7For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one or an attempt to institute another one.

8However, God finds fault with them when He says,

“Behold, the days will come, says the Lord,

When I will make and ratify a new covenant

With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;

9Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers

On the day when I took them by the hand

To lead them out of the land of Egypt;

For they did not abide in My covenant,

And so I withdrew My favor and disregarded them, says the Lord.

10“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

After those days, says the Lord:

I will imprint My laws upon their minds,

And engrave them upon their hearts.

And I will be their God,

And they shall be My people.

11“And it will not be for each one to teach his fellow citizen,

Or each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

For all will know Me,

From the least to the greatest of them.

12“For I will be merciful and gracious toward their wickedness,

And I will remember their sins no more.”

13When God speaks of “A new covenant,” He makes the first one obsolete. And whatever is becoming obsolete (out of use, annulled) and growing old is ready to disappear.