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Hebrews 9

1Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. 2For a tent was prepared, the first part, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the presentation of the loaves; this is called the Holy Place. 3Behind the second curtain was the tent called the Holy of Holies, 4having a golden incense altar and the ark of the covenant covered all around with gold, in which were a golden jar containing the manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the tablets of the covenant. 5Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the atonement cover. We cannot speak about these things in detail now.

6With these things prepared in this way, the priests enter the first tent continually, carrying out the acts of worship. 7But into the second, only the high priest enters, once a year, not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the people's sins of ignorance. 8By this the Holy Spirit makes clear that the way into the sanctuary has not yet been disclosed while the first tent still has its standing. 9It is a symbol for the present time, in keeping with which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot bring the worshiper to completion with respect to conscience. 10They concern only foods and drinks and various washings, regulations for the flesh imposed until the time of setting things right.

11But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come, he went through the greater and more complete tent, not made by hands, that is, not of this creation, 12and entered the sanctuary once for all, not through the blood of goats and calves but through his own blood, having secured eternal redemption. 13For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are defiled make them holy for the cleansing of the flesh, 14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!

15And for this reason he is mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has occurred for redemption from the transgressions under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. 16For where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17For a will is firm when people have died, since it never takes effect while the one who made it lives. 18Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19For after Moses had spoken every command according to the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21And he likewise sprinkled the tent and all the vessels of service with the blood. 22And according to the law, almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

23It was therefore necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by hands, a counterpart of the true one, but heaven itself, now to appear before God's face on our behalf. 25Nor did he enter to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the sanctuary each year with another's blood, 26for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now, once at the completion of the ages, he has appeared to set aside sin through his sacrifice. 27And just as people are appointed to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation to those who eagerly await him.

Translation notes 6

9:1–5 — Sanctuary furnishings. “Covenant” is supplied in verse 1 from the preceding argument. The golden incense altar is associated with the inner tent here; Exodus places it before the curtain. “Having” preserves Hebrews' wording without moving the altar to harmonize the accounts. “Censer” is a significant alternative meaning of the Greek word. The jar, staff, and tablets are said to be in the ark. “Atonement cover,” traditionally “mercy seat,” is the ark's cover associated with the atonement rite; it is not an ordinary chair. Cherubim are the winged figures above it.

9:6–10 — Entry, standing, and conscience. “Once a year” describes the annual high-priestly rite. “Sins of ignorance” renders the author's characterization without inserting a full classification of which sins the rite covered. “First tent” may indicate the outer chamber or, more broadly, the earlier sanctuary arrangement. Its “standing” may mean continuing existence or continuing status. “Present time” is retained without supplying a precise historical endpoint. “Flesh” concerns bodily ritual cleansing, contrasted with conscience.

9:11–14 — What has come. The base reads “the good things that have come”; another well-attested reading is “the good things to come.” Both note a new priestly reality, but they should not be blended. “Through his own blood” connects Jesus' entrance to his death without adding a description of physically transporting blood in heaven. “Eternal Spirit” is provisionally capitalized as a reference to the Holy Spirit; Christ's own spirit is another interpretation. The base reads “our conscience,” with “your” a textual alternative. “Dead works” repeats 6:1.

9:15–18 — Covenant and will. One Greek word can mean both covenant and a will disposing of an inheritance. The draft understands verses 16–17 as an analogy with a will, before returning to covenant inauguration. A competing reading keeps “covenant” throughout and relates death to covenant-making sacrifices. The reference to the maker remaining alive favors the will analogy, but the argument's exact movement is disputed. “Established” means the death must be brought forward or demonstrated.

9:19–22 — Blood and sprinkling. The account recalls Exodus 24:3–8 but includes details beyond that narrative; they are retained without harmonization. The base has calves at verse 19; many witnesses add goats. “Almost” is not removed from the statement about cleansing. The claim about forgiveness belongs to this sacrificial argument rather than an added account of every biblical use of forgiveness.

9:23–28 — Heavenly cleansing and the second appearance. The claim that heavenly things need cleansing is retained without explaining away its difficulty. The plural “better sacrifices” belongs to the comparison; the following verses insist on Christ's single offering. “Before God's face” means in God's presence. “Apart from sin” at the second appearance most naturally means without another sin-bearing task, not that the first appearance involved personal sin. The image of bearing sins recalls Isaiah 53:12.