7. But only the high priest enters the second tent once a year. He never does this without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins the people committed in ignorance.
8. With this, the Holy Spirit is showing that the way into the holy place hadn’t been revealed yet while the first tent was standing.
9. This is a symbol for the present time. It shows that the gifts and sacrifices that are being offered can’t perfect the conscience of the one who is serving.
10. These are superficial regulations that are only about food, drink, and various ritual ways to wash with water. They are regulations that have been imposed until the time of the new order.
11. But Christ has appeared as the high priest of the good things that have happened. He passed through the greater and more perfect meeting tent, which isn’t made by human hands (that is, it’s not a part of this world).
12. He entered the holy of holies once for all by his own blood, not by the blood of goats or calves, securing our deliverance for all time.
13. If the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkled ashes of cows made spiritually contaminated people holy and clean,
14. how much more will the blood of Jesus wash our consciences clean from dead works in order to serve the living God? He offered himself to God through the eternal Spirit as a sacrifice without any flaw.
15. This is why he’s the mediator of a new covenant (which is a will): so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance on the basis of his death. His death occurred to set them free from the offenses committed under the first covenant.
16. When there is a will, you need to confirm the death of the one who made the will.
17. This is because a will takes effect only after a death, since it’s not in force while the one who made the will is alive.
18. So not even the first covenant was put into effect without blood.