World English Bible · Under Rome
Hebrews 8
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Now in the things which we are saying, the main point is this: we have such a , who sat down on of of the Majesty in , a and of the true which pitched, not man. For every is appointed to offer both gifts and . Therefore it is necessary that this also have something to offer. For if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are priests who offer the gifts according to , who a copy and shadow of the things, even as was warned by when he was about to make the , for he said, "See, you shall make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain." But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as he is also the mediator of a better , which on better promises has been given as law. For if that first had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. For finding fault with them, he said, "Behold, the days are coming", , "that I will make a with the and with the house of Judah; not according to that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of ; for they didn't continue in my , and I disregarded them," . "For this is that I will make with the after those days," : "I will put my laws into their ; I will also write them on their . I will be their , and they will be my people. They will not teach every man his fellow citizen and every man his brother, saying, 'Know ,' for all will know me, from their least to their greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. I will remember their and lawless deeds no more." In that he says, "A ", he has made the first obsolete. But that which is becoming obsolete and grows aged is near to vanishing away.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.