1እያንዳንዱ ሊቀ ካህናት ከሰዎች መካከል ይመረጣል፤ የእግዚአብሔርም በሆነው ነገር ላይ ሰዎችን በመወከል ለኀጢአት የሚሆነውን መባንና መሥዋዕትን ለማቅረብ ይሾማል። 2እርሱ ራሱ ድካም ያለበት በመሆኑ፣ አላዋቂ ለሆኑትና ለሚባዝኑት ሊራራላቸው ይችላል። 3ስለ ራሱ ኀጢአትና ስለ ሌሎች ሰዎች ኀጢአት መሥዋዕት ማቅረብ የተገባው በዚሁ ምክንያት ነው።
4አሮን እንደ ተጠራ በእግዚአብሔር መጠራት አለበት እንጂ፣ ይህን ክብር ለራሱ የሚወስድ ማንም የለም። 5እንዲሁም ክርስቶስ ሊቀ ካህናት የመሆንን ክብር ለራሱ አልወሰደም፤ ነገር ግን እግዚአብሔር፣
"አንተ ልጄ ነህ፤
እኔ ዛሬ አባት ሆንሁህ"5፥5 ወይም ወልጄሃለሁ አለው።
6እንዲሁም በሌላ ስፍራ፣
"እንደ መልከጼዴቅ ሹመት፣
አንተ ለዘላለም ካህን ነህ" ይላል።
7ኢየሱስ በዚህ ምድር በኖረበት ዘመን ከሞት ሊያድነው ወደሚችለው ጸሎትንና ልመናን ከታላቅ ጩኸትና ከእንባ ጋር አቀረበ፤ ፍጹም ትሑት ሆኖ በመታዘዙም ጸሎቱ ተሰማለት። 8የእግዚአብሔር ልጅ ቢሆንም እንኳ፣ ከተቀበለው መከራ መታዘዝን ተማረ፤ 9በዚህም ፍጹም ሆኖ ከተገኘ በኋላ፣ እርሱን ለሚታዘዙ ሁሉ የዘላለም ድነት ምክንያት ሆነላቸው፤ 10እንደ መልከጸዴቅ ሹመትም ሊቀ ካህናት ተብሎ በእግዚአብሔር ተሾመ።
በእምነት ስላለመጽናት የተሰጠ ማስጠንቀቂያ
11ስለዚህ ጉዳይ የምንናገረው ብዙ ነገር አለን፤ ነገር ግን ለመማር ዳተኛ ስለ ሆናችሁ ለማስረዳት አስቸጋሪ ነው። 12በዚህ ጊዜ አስተማሪዎች ልትሆኑ ሲገባችሁ፣ ገና የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል የመጀመሪያ ትምህርት የሚያስተምራችሁ ሰው ያስፈልጋችኋል፤ የሚያስፈልጋችሁም ጠንካራ ምግብ ሳይሆን ወተት ነው። 13ወተት የሚጋት ሁሉ ሕፃን ስለ ሆነ፣ ከጽድቅ ትምህርት ጋር ገና አልተዋወቀም። 14ጠንካራ ምግብ ግን መልካሙን ከክፉው ለመለየት ራሳቸውን ላስለመዱ፣ ለበሰሉ ሰዎች ነው።
1Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. 4And no-one takes this honour on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.
5In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
'You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.'5:5 Psalm 2:7
6And he says in another place,
'You are a priest for ever,
in the order of Melchizedek.'5:6 Psalm 110:4
7During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Warning against falling away
11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.