(Exodus 40:1–33; Acts 7:44–47)
1
It had, indeed, then (even the first dwelling place) ordinances of service, also a worldly sanctuary,
2
for a dwelling place was prepared, the first, in which was both the lampstand, and the table, and the Bread of the Presentation—which is called “Holy”;
3
and after the second veil a dwelling place that is called “Holy of Holies,”
4
having a golden censer, and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid all over with gold, in which [is] the golden pot having the manna, and the rod of Aaron that budded, and the tablets of the covenant,
5
and over it cherubim of the glory, overshadowing the propitiatory covering, concerning which we are not to particularly speak now.
6
And these things having been thus prepared, into the first dwelling place, indeed, the priests go in at all times, performing the services,
7
and into the second, once in the year, only the chief priest, not apart from blood, which he offers for himself and the errors of the people.
8
By this the Holy Spirit was making evident that the way of the holy [places] has not yet been revealed, the first dwelling place yet having a standing,
9
which [is] an allegory in regard to the present time, in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which are not able, in regard to conscience, to make perfect him who is serving,
10
only on the basis of food, and drinks, and different immersions, and fleshly ordinances—until the time of reformation imposed on [them].
Redemption through His Blood
11
But Christ having come, Chief Priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect dwelling place not made with hands—that is, not of this creation—
12
neither through blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, entered in once into the holy places, having obtained continuous redemption;
13
for if the blood of bulls, and goats, and ashes of a heifer, sprinkling those defiled, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh,
14
how much more will the blood of the Christ (who through the perpetual Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God) purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15
And because of this, He is mediator of a new covenant, that [His] death having come for redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, those called may receive the promise of the continuous inheritance,
16
for where a covenant [is], [it is] necessary to establish the death of the [one] having made [it],
17
for a covenant is affirmed at death, since it is not in force at all when the [one] having made [it] lives,
18
for which reason, not even the first has been initiated apart from blood,
19
for every command having been spoken, according to law, by Moses, to all the people, having taken the blood of the calves and goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, he sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people,
20
saying, “This [is] the blood of the covenant that God enjoined to you,”
21
and he sprinkled both the Dwelling Place and all the vessels of the service with blood in like manner,
22
and with blood almost all things are purified according to the Law, and forgiveness does not come apart from blood-shedding.
23
[It is] necessary, therefore, the pattern indeed of the things in the heavens to be purified with these, and the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these;
24
for the Christ did not enter into holy places made with hands—figures of the true—but into Heaven itself, now to be manifested in the presence of God for us;
25
nor that He may offer Himself many times, even as the chief priest enters into the holy places every year with blood of others,
26
otherwise it was necessary for Him to suffer many times from the foundation of the world, but now He has been revealed once, at the full end of the ages, for [the] annulling of sin through His sacrifice;
27
and as it is reserved for men to die once, and after this—judgment,
28
so also the Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, apart from a sin-offering, for salvation to those waiting for Him!
Copyright © 2020 Covenant Press and the CCC - licensed under CC BY-SA