¹⁶ and said, “I swear by myself,^(A) declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,^(B)

¹³ The blood of goats and bulls^(A) and the ashes of a heifer^(B) sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴ How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit^(C) offered himself^(D) unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences^(E) from acts that lead to death,^[a](F) so that we may serve the living God!^(G)

¹⁵ For this reason Christ is the mediator^(H) of a new covenant,^(I) that those who are called^(J) may receive the promised^(K) eternal inheritance^(L)—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.^(M)

¹⁶ In the case of a will,^[b] it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, ¹⁷ because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.