Hebrews 9
1 Now that first covenant did indeed have regulations for divine service and the earthly sanctuary.
[To continue]: In the first [covenant, God] regulated how people [should perform] rituals, and [he told them to make] [MTY] a sanctuary.
2 Yes, a tabernacle was set up: the first part, which is called the Holy Place, in which were the lamp stand, the table and the showbread;
[That sanctuary] was a tent that [the Israelites] set up. In its outer room there was the lampstand and the table [on which they put] the bread that [the priests] presented [to God. That room] was called ‘the holy place’.
3 and behind the second curtain an area called the Holy of Holies,
Behind the curtain inside [the holy place] there was [another] room. That was called ‘the very holy place’.
4 having a golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold—in it were a golden jar holding the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant;
It had an altar, [made from] gold, [for burning] incense. [It also had the chest which they called] the chest of the covenant. All its sides were covered with gold. In it was the golden pot which contained [pieces of the food they called] manna. [That was the food with which God miraculously fed the people before they entered the promised land]. In the chest there was also Aaron’s walking stick that budded [to prove that he was God’s true priest]. In the chest were also the stone tablets [on which God had written] the Ten Commandments.
5 while above it were cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat (this is not the place to go into detail about them).
On top of [the chest] were [figures of] winged creatures [that symbolized God’s] glory. Their [wings] overshadowed the chest’s lid where [the high priest sprinkled the blood] (to [atone for/to forgive]) [those who had sinned. I] do not [need] to write about these things in detail now.
6 Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests continually went into the first part, performing the divine services,
After all those things were prepared {After they had prepared all those things like that} [in the two rooms of the tent], the [Jewish] priests habitually went into the outer [room of the] tent to perform their rituals.
7 but into the second one only the high priest could go, once a year and only with blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins of ignorance;
But into the inner room, only the Supreme Priest [went], once a year. He always took [LIT] the blood [of animals that they had slaughtered]. He offered them [to God] for his own [sins] and for the sins that other people had committed. They included sins that they did not realize [were sinful].
8 the Holy Spirit was making clear that the way into the Most Holy Place was not yet open to the public while the first tabernacle was still in existence.
By those things the Holy Spirit indicated that [just like God] did not reveal the way [for ordinary people] to enter into the inner room while the outer room still existed [MET], [similarly he did not reveal the way for ordinary people to enter the presence of God while the Jewish system of offering sacrifices was in effect].
9 It was a figure during the time then present, a time when both gifts and sacrifices were being offered that were incapable of clearing the conscience of the worshiper—
[The things that the priests did inside the outer room] [MTY] symbolized [what was true] during the time [when the first covenant was in effect]. According to [the first covenant] (OR, [In that outer room]), [priests] offered gifts and other sacrifices to God. But [by offering them], the people who brought them were unable to make themselves feel that they were no longer guilty for having sinned.
10 they were only about foods and drinks and various ceremonial washings and physical regulations, things imposed until the time of restructuring.
[They brought those gifts and made those sacrifices] according to [regulations concerning] things to eat and drink, and [according to rules that required people to] wash various things. [God] declared that those regulations about our bodies were to be in effect until [he put into effect the new covenant]; that was a better system.
11 But Christ entered once for all into the real Holy Places, having obtained eternal redemption—He had come as High Priest of the good things that are about to be, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,
But when Christ came as our Supreme Priest, [he brought] the good things that are now available. When he appeared, [he went into God’s presence in heaven. That is like a] [MET] very great and perfect tent not made by humans {which no human made} [SYN]; that is, it is not part of the world [God] created. It was better [than the tent Moses set up here on earth].
[When a Supreme Priest goes into the inner room in the tent each year, he takes] goats’ blood and calves’ blood [to offer as a sacrifice]. But Christ did not [do that. It was as though] he went into that very holy place only once, taking his own blood with him. By doing that, he eternally redeemed us. (aiōnios g166)
13 For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who had been ceremonially defiled, restored ceremonial purity to the body,
The priests sprinkle on people goats’ blood and bulls’ blood and [the water that has been filtered through] the ashes of a [red] heifer that has been [completely burned. By performing that ritual, they can ritually] cleanse the bodies of those who are [ceremonially] unclean. Furthermore, performing those rituals enabled people to have fellowship with God again.
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the Holy Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (aiōnios g166)
[So, because we know what] Christ [accomplished when] his blood flowed [when he died for us] [PRS, MTY], we will be very certain that we are not guilty [of having] done those things [that those who are spiritually] dead do. [As a result], we can serve God, who is all-powerful. [The priests always offer to God animals] with no defects. Similarly, when Christ offered himself [as a sacrifice] to God, he was sinless [MET]. He did that as a result of [God’s] eternal Spirit [helping him]. (aiōnios g166)
15 For this reason He is mediator of a new covenant, so that those who have been called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant. (aiōnios g166)
[By] dying [for us], [Christ] ([redeemed/] free from the penalty for their sins) even those who disobeyed the [conditions of] (OR, [during the time of]) the first covenant. So, [because] no [one could be made perfect by obeying the old covenant], now Christ establishes [between God and people] a new covenant. He does that in order that those whom God has chosen may eternally have [the blessings that God] has promised them. (aiōnios g166)
16 Now where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be established;
A covenant [is like a will. In the case of a will], [in order to put its provisions into effect], someone must prove that the one who made it has died.
17 because a will is in force after men are dead, since it never takes effect while the one who made it lives.
A will goes into effect [only when the one who makes the will] has died. It is not in effect when the one who made it is still alive.
18 Therefore, not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood;
And so [God] put the first covenant into effect only [LIT] by means of [animals’] blood that was shed [when they were slaughtered].
19 because when every commandment of the Law had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people,
After Moses had declared to all the Israelites everything that God commanded in the laws [that God gave him], he took calves’ and goats’ blood [mixed] with water. He [dipped into it] scarlet wool [that he tied around] a sprig of hyssop. Then he sprinkled [with some of the blood] the scroll itself containing God’s laws. Then he sprinkled [more of that blood on all the] people,
20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has decreed to you.”
saying to them, “This is the blood [which brings into effect] the covenant that God commanded that you [obey].”
21 Then he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the divine service with the blood in the same way.
Likewise, he sprinkled with that blood the tent and every object that they used in performing rituals.
22 In fact, according to the Law nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
It was by [sprinkling] blood that they [ritually] cleansed almost everything. That was what [was stated in] God’s laws. If blood is not shed [when people offer a sacrifice, God] cannot forgive [the person who is making the sacrifice].
23 So then, it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with such, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than those.
So, by rituals like that, it was necessary for [the priests] to cleanse the things that symbolized what Christ does [MTY] in heaven. But God has to [consecrate] the [people who will enter] [MTY] heaven [by means of] better sacrifices than those.
24 For Christ did not enter into Holy Places made by hands, mere copies of the true ones, but into Heaven itself, now to appear in God's presence on our behalf;
Christ did not enter a sanctuary that humans made. That one only represented the true [sanctuary]. Instead, he entered heaven itself, in order to now be in God’s presence [to plead with] God for us.
25 but not in order to offer Himself repeatedly, like the high priest who entered the Most Holy Place year by year with another's blood
The [Jewish] Supreme Priest enters the very holy place once every year, taking blood that is not his own, [to offer it as a sacrifice]. But when Christ entered heaven, it was not in order to offer himself repeatedly like that.
26 —otherwise He would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world; but now, once for all at the end of the ages, He has been revealed to nullify sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (aiōn g165)
[If that were so], he would have needed to suffer [and shed his blood] repeatedly since [the time when God] created the world. But instead, in this final age, [Christ] has appeared once in order that by sacrificing himself he could cause [that people] no longer will be [punished for their] sins. (aiōn g165)
27 Also, inasmuch as men are destined to die but once, after which the judgment,
All people must die once, and after that [God] will judge them [for their sins].
28 so the Christ also, having been offered once for all to bear the sins of many—He will appear a second time to those who are eagerly waiting for Him, apart from sin, into salvation.
Likewise, when Christ [died], [God] offered him once to be a sacrifice, to punish him instead of the many [people who had] sinned. He will come [to earth] a second time, not [in order to sacrifice himself again for those who] have sinned, but in order to [complete] his saving those who expectantly wait for him.
