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¹ THEN verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary.² For the first tabernacle which was made, had in it the candlestick, and the table and the shewbread; and it was called the sanctuary.³ But the inner tabernacle, which is within the veil of the second door, was called the Holy of Holies.⁴ And there was in it the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant all overlaid with gold, and in it was the golden pot containing the manna, and Aaron''s rod which sprouted, and the tablets of the covenant;⁵ And over it the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat; now is not the time to describe how these things were made.⁶ The priests always entered into the outer tabernacle and performed their service of worship;⁷ But into the inner tabernacle, the high priest entered alone, once every year, with the blood which he offered for himself, and for the faults of the people.

⁸ By this the Holy Spirit revealed that the way of the saints would not yet be made known, so long as the old tabernacle remained;⁹ Which was the symbol for that time, now past, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, which could not make perfect the conscience of him who offered them,¹⁰ But which served only for food and drink, and in divers ablutions, which are ordinances of the flesh and which were imposed until the time of reformation.¹¹ But Christ, who had come, became the high priest of the good things which he wrought; and he entered into a greater and more perfect tabernacle which was not made by hands, and was not of this world;¹² And he did not enter with the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, and obtained for us everlasting redemption.¹³ For if the blood of goats and calves, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled on those who were defiled, sanctified them even to the cleansing of their flesh;¹⁴ How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works so that we may serve the living God?

¹⁵ For this cause he became the mediator of the new testament and by his death he became redemption for those who transgressed the old covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance.¹⁶ For where a testament is, it is proved after the death of its maker.¹⁷ For a testament is of force after men are dead, otherwise it is useless so long as its maker lives.¹⁸ For this reason not even the first covenant was confirmed without blood.¹⁹ For when Moses had given every precept to all the people according to the law, Moses took the blood of a heifer with water, and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled it on the books and on all the people,²⁰ Saying, This is the blood of the testament, which has been ordained for you by God.²¹ That very blood he also sprinkled on the tabernacle and on all the vessels used for worship;²² Because nearly everything, according to the law, is purified with the blood: and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

²³ It is necessary, therefore, that the patterns of things which are heavenly should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves, with sacrifices better than these.²⁴ For Christ has not entered into the holy place made with hands, which is the symbol of the true one; but he entered into heaven itself to appear before the presence of God for our sakes.²⁵ Not so that he should offer himself many times, as did the high priest who enters into the holy place every year with blood which is not his own;²⁶ And if not so, then he would have been obliged to suffer many times from the very beginning of the world: but now at the end of the world, only once, by his sacrifice, did he offer himself to abolish sin.²⁷ And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after their death, the judgment;²⁸ So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; so that at his second coming, he shall appear without our sins for the salvation of those who look for him.