Hebrews 7:16-24

16Jesus did not become a priest because of a law about which family he came from. He became God's priest because of his powerful life that nothing could ever destroy.

17The Bible speaks about him as a priest like this: ‘You will be a priest for ever, in the same way that Melchizedek was God's priest.’

18So the old law about priests no longer has authority. It was weak and it could not help people.

19God's Laws that he gave to Moses could not make anything completely right. But now God has brought us something better to hope for. And in that way, we ourselves can come near to God.

20Also, when God said that Jesus would be his special priest, he made a strong promise. When the Levites became priests, he did not make a strong promise like that.

21But when Jesus became God's priest, God made a strong promise. God said: ‘The Lord God has promised this strongly. He will not change his mind. You will be a priest for ever.’

22Because God promised that to Jesus, we know that his new agreement with his people is very strong. It is a much better agreement than the old one.

23In the old way, there were many Levite priests. Each one of them died, so that they could not continue to serve God as priests.

24But Jesus lives for ever, so he will never stop being a priest.