Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law.

For he was still in his ancestor Abraham’s loins when Melchizedek met him.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain,

For it is clear that our Lord is descended from Judah, yet Moses said nothing about priests in connection with that tribe.

a minister in the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up.

by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,

In fact, the scene was so terrifying that Moses said, “I shudder with fear.”

For indeed he who makes holy and those being made holy all have the same origin, and so he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,

This was a symbol for the time then present, when gifts and sacrifices were offered that could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper.

(the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth.

So if perfection had in fact been possible through the Levitical priesthood – for on that basis the people received the law – what further need would there have been for another priest to arise, said to be in the order of Melchizedek and not in Aaron’s order?

“This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws on their hearts and I will inscribe them on their minds,”

“It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.

“For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people.