Hebrews 5 New English Translation

5 For every high priest is taken from among the people^[a] and appointed^[b] to represent them before God,^[c] to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. ²He is able to deal compassionately with those who are ignorant and erring, since he also is subject to weakness, ³and for this reason he is obligated to make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people. ⁴And no one assumes this honor^[d] on his own initiative,^[e] but only when called to it by God,^[f] as in fact Aaron was. ⁵So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming high priest, but the one who glorified him was God,^[g] who said to him, “You are my Son! Today I have fathered you,”^[h] ⁶as also in another place God^[i] says, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”^[j] ⁷During his earthly life^[k] Christ^[l] offered^[m] both requests and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his devotion. ⁸Although he was a son, he learned obedience through the things he suffered.^[n] ⁹And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, ¹⁰and he was designated^[o] by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.^[p]

The Need to Move on to Maturity

¹¹On this topic we have much to say^[q] and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish^[r] in hearing. ¹²For though you should in fact be teachers by this time,^[s] you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances.^[t] You have gone back to needing^[u] milk, not^[v] solid food. ¹³For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.

Footnotes

Hebrews 5:1 tn Grk “from among men,” but since the point in context is shared humanity (rather than shared maleness), the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anthrōpōn) has been translated “people.”
Hebrews 5:1 tn Grk “who is taken from among people is appointed.”
Hebrews 5:1 tn Grk “appointed on behalf of people in reference to things relating to God.”
Hebrews 5:4 sn Honor refers here to the honor of the high priesthood.
Hebrews 5:4 tn Grk “by himself, on his own.”
Hebrews 5:4 tn Grk “being called by God.”
Hebrews 5:5 tn Grk “the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Hebrews 5:5 tn Grk “I have begotten you”; see Heb 1:5.sn A quotation from Ps 2:7.
Hebrews 5:6 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Hebrews 5:6 sn A quotation from Ps 110:4.
Hebrews 5:7 tn Grk “in the days of his flesh.”
Hebrews 5:7 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Hebrews 5:7 tn Grk “who…having offered,” continuing the description of Christ from Heb 5:5-6.
Hebrews 5:8 sn There is a wordplay in the Greek text between the verbs “learned” (ἔμαθεν, emathen) and “suffered” (ἔπαθεν, epathen).
Hebrews 5:10 tn Grk “having been designated,” continuing the thought of Heb 5:9.
Hebrews 5:10 sn The phrase in the order of Melchizedek picks up the quotation from Ps 110:4 in Heb 5:6.
Hebrews 5:11 tn Grk “concerning which the message for us is great.”
Hebrews 5:11 tn Or “dull.”
Hebrews 5:12 tn Grk “because of the time.”
Hebrews 5:12 tn Grk “the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God.”
Hebrews 5:12 tn Grk “you have come to have a need for.”
Hebrews 5:12 tc ‡ Most texts, including some early and significant ones (א² A B* D Ψ 0122 0278 1881 M sy Cl), have καί (kai, “and”) immediately preceding οὐ (ou, “not”), but other equally significant witnesses (P⁴⁶ א* B² C 33 81 1739 lat Or Did) lack the conjunction. As it was a natural tendency for scribes to add a coordinating conjunction, the καί appears to be a motivated reading. On balance, it is probably best to regard the shorter reading as authentic. NA²⁸ has καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

New English Translation (NET)