Hebrews 8 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Here's the main point of everything we've been saying: we have exactly this kind of high priest — one who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.

He serves in the true sacred space — the real tent of meeting that was set up by the Lord himself, not by any human being.

Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, so it was necessary for this one to also have something to offer.

Now if he were on earth, he wouldn't even be a priest, since there are already priests who offer the gifts required by the law.

These priests serve in a place that's just a copy and shadow of the heavenly reality. That's why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tent of meeting: "Make sure you build everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain."

But as it is, The One has been given a far superior priestly role, just as the covenant he mediates is better — because it's been established on better promises.

Because if that first covenant had been without flaws, there would have been no need to look for a second one.

But God found fault with the people and said: "Look — the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the people of Israel and the people of Judah."

"It won't be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They didn't stay faithful to my covenant, so I turned away from them, says the Lord."

"This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my instructions inside their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people."

"No one will need to teach their neighbor or their brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because every single one of them will know me — from the least significant to the most important."

"Because I will be merciful toward their failures, and I will never hold their wrongs against them again."

By calling it "new," he made the first one obsolete. And anything that's obsolete and aging is about to disappear.