12. He used his own blood, not the blood of goats and bulls, for the sacrifice. He went into the most holy place and offered this sacrifice once and for all to free us forever.
13. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of cows sprinkled on unclean people made their bodies holy and clean.
14. The blood of Christ, who had no defect, does even more. Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself to God and cleansed our consciences from the useless things we had done. Now we can serve the living God.
15. Because Christ offered himself to God, he is able to bring a new promise from God. Through his death he paid the price to set people free from the sins they committed under the first promise. He did this so that those who are called can be guaranteed an inheritance that will last forever.
16. In order for a will to take effect, it must be shown that the one who made it has died.
17. A will is used only after a person is dead because it goes into effect only when a person dies.
18. That is why even the first promise was made with blood.
19. As Scripture tells us, Moses told all the people every commandment. Then he took the blood of calves and goats together with some water, red yarn, and hyssop and sprinkled the scroll and all the people.
20. He said, “Here is the blood that seals the promise God has made to you.”
21. In the same way, Moses sprinkled blood on the tent and on everything used in worship.
22. As Moses’ Teachings tell us, blood was used to cleanse almost everything, because if no blood is shed, no sins can be forgiven.
23. The copies of the things in heaven had to be cleansed by these sacrifices. But the heavenly things themselves had to be cleansed by better sacrifices.
24. Christ didn’t go into a holy place made by human hands. He didn’t go into a model of the real thing. Instead, he went into heaven to appear in God’s presence on our behalf.