Connect With God Through Conversation | 7-Day Devotional

IHCC Daily Bible Reading Plan - March

What God Won't Do

A People Set Apart

199 Prayers for My Wife

Acts 10:9-33 | When God Has a New Way

Every Tribe, Every Tongue: 7 Days to Praying for the Nations

House of David

In Anticipation of the Glory That Is to Come

Chasing God, Not Approval

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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 <div class="chapter ch7" data-usfm="HEB.7">
 <div class="label">7</div><div class="s1">Melchizedek the Priest</div><div class="p"> 1This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means &#8220;king of righteousness&#8221;; then also, &#8220;king of Salem&#8221; means &#8220;king of peace.&#8221; 3Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.</div><div class="p"> 4Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! 5Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people&#8212;that is, from their fellow Israelites&#8212;even though they also are descended from Abraham. 6This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. 8In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. 9One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.</div><div class="s1">Jesus Like Melchizedek</div><div class="p"> 11If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood&#8212;and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood&#8212;why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? 12For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. 13He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17For it is declared:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;You are a priest forever,</div><div class="q2">in the order of Melchizedek.&#8221;#7:17 Psalm 110:4</div><div class="p"> 18The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.</div><div class="p"> 20And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;The Lord has sworn</div><div class="q2">and will not change his mind:</div><div class="q2">&#8216;You are a priest forever.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;#7:21 Psalm 110:4</div><div class="m"> 22Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.</div><div class="p"> 23Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25Therefore he is able to save completely#7:25 Or forever those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.</div><div class="p"> 26Such a high priest truly meets our need&#8212;one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.</div>
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 <div class="chapter ch8" data-usfm="HEB.8">
 <div class="label">8</div><div class="s1">The High Priest of a New Covenant</div><div class="p"> 1Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.</div><div class="p"> 3Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: &#8220;See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.&#8221;#8:5 Exodus 25:40 6But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.</div><div class="p"> 7For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8But God found fault with the people and said#8:8 Some manuscripts may be translated fault and said to the people.:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;The days are coming, declares the Lord,</div><div class="q2">when I will make a new covenant</div><div class="q1">with the people of Israel</div><div class="q2">and with the people of Judah.</div><div class="q1"> 9It will not be like the covenant</div><div class="q2">I made with their ancestors</div><div class="q1">when I took them by the hand</div><div class="q2">to lead them out of Egypt,</div><div class="q1">because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,</div><div class="q2">and I turned away from them,</div><div class="q4">declares the Lord.</div><div class="q1"> 10This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel</div><div class="q2">after that time, declares the Lord.</div><div class="q1">I will put my laws in their minds</div><div class="q2">and write them on their hearts.</div><div class="q1">I will be their God,</div><div class="q2">and they will be my people.</div><div class="q1"> 11No longer will they teach their neighbor,</div><div class="q2">or say to one another, &#8216;Know the Lord,&#8217;</div><div class="q1">because they will all know me,</div><div class="q2">from the least of them to the greatest.</div><div class="q1"> 12For I will forgive their wickedness</div><div class="q2">and will remember their sins no more.&#8221;#8:12 Jer. 31:31-34</div><div class="p"> 13By calling this covenant &#8220;new,&#8221; he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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 <div class="chapter ch9" data-usfm="HEB.9">
 <div class="label">9</div><div class="s1">Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle</div><div class="p"> 1Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 2A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. 3Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, 4which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron&#8217;s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.</div><div class="p"> 6When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. 7But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. 9This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. 10They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings&#8212;external regulations applying until the time of the new order.</div><div class="s1">The Blood of Christ</div><div class="p"> 11But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here,#9:11 Some early manuscripts are to come he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining#9:12 Or blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,#9:14 Or from useless rituals so that we may serve the living God!</div><div class="p"> 15For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance&#8212;now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.</div><div class="p"> 16In the case of a will,#9:16 Same Greek word as covenant; also in verse 17 it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20He said, &#8220;This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.&#8221;#9:20 Exodus 24:8 21In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.</div><div class="p"> 23It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God&#8217;s presence. 25Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkHEB">
 <div class="chapter ch10" data-usfm="HEB.10">
 <div class="label">10</div><div class="s1">Christ&#8217;s Sacrifice Once for All</div><div class="p"> 1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming&#8212;not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.</div><div class="p"> 5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,</div><div class="q2">but a body you prepared for me;</div><div class="q1"> 6with burnt offerings and sin offerings</div><div class="q2">you were not pleased.</div><div class="q1"> 7Then I said, &#8216;Here I am&#8212;it is written about me in the scroll&#8212;</div><div class="q2">I have come to do your will, my God.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;#10:7 Psalm 40:6-8 (see Septuagint)</div><div class="m"> 8First he said, &#8220;Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them&#8221;&#8212;though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9Then he said, &#8220;Here I am, I have come to do your will.&#8221; He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.</div><div class="p"> 11Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.</div><div class="p"> 15The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:</div><div class="q1"> 16&#8220;This is the covenant I will make with them</div><div class="q2">after that time, says the Lord.</div><div class="q1">I will put my laws in their hearts,</div><div class="q2">and I will write them on their minds.&#8221;#10:16 Jer. 31:33</div><div class="m"> 17Then he adds:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Their sins and lawless acts</div><div class="q2">I will remember no more.&#8221;#10:17 Jer. 31:34</div><div class="m"> 18And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.</div><div class="s1">A Call to Persevere in Faith</div><div class="p"> 19Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another&#8212;and all the more as you see the Day approaching.</div><div class="p"> 26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, &#8220;It is mine to avenge; I will repay,&#8221;#10:30 Deut. 32:35 and again, &#8220;The Lord will judge his people.&#8221;#10:30 Deut. 32:36; Psalm 135:14 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.</div><div class="p"> 32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.</div><div class="p"> 36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37For,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;In just a little while,</div><div class="q2">he who is coming will come</div><div class="q2">and will not delay.&#8221;#10:37 Isaiah 26:20; Hab. 2:3</div><div class="m"> 38And,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;But my righteous#10:38 Some manuscripts But the righteous one will live by faith.</div><div class="q2">And I take no pleasure</div><div class="q2">in the one who shrinks back.&#8221;#10:38 Hab. 2:4 (see Septuagint)</div><div class="m"> 39But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.</div>
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