Letter to the Hebrews 7

¹ You remember that Melchizedek, king of Salem, a priest of God Most High, went to meet Abraham who was on his way back after defeating the kings, and blessed him;

² and also that it was to him that Abraham gave a tenth of all that he had. By the interpretation of his name, he is, first, ‘king of righteousness’ and also king of Salem, that is, ‘king of peace’;

³ he has no father, mother or ancestry, and his life has no beginning or ending; he is like the Son of God. He remains a priest for ever.

⁴ Now think how great this man must have been, if the patriarch Abraham paid him a tenth of the treasure he had captured. [*b]

⁵ We know that any of the descendants of Levi who are admitted to the priesthood are obliged by the Law to take tithes from the people, and this is taking them from their own brothers although they too are descended from Abraham.

⁶ But this man, who was not of the same descent, took his tenth from Abraham, and he gave his blessing to the holder of the promises.

⁷ Now it is indisputable that a blessing is given by a superior to an inferior.

⁸ Further, in the one case it is ordinary mortal men who receive the tithes, and in the other, someone who is declared to be still alive.

⁹ It could be said that Levi himself, who receives tithes, actually paid them, in the person of Abraham,

¹⁰ because he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek came to meet him.

¹¹ Now if perfection had been reached through the levitical priesthood because the Law given to the nation rests on it, why was it still necessary for a new priesthood to arise, one of the same order as Melchizedek[*c] not counted as being ‘of the same order as’ Aaron?

¹² But any change in the priesthood must mean a change in the Law as well.

¹³ So our Lord, of whom these things were said, belonged to a different tribe, the members of which have never done service at the altar;

¹⁴ everyone knows he came from Judah, a tribe which Moses did not even mention when dealing with priests.

¹⁵ This[*d] becomes even more clearly evident when there appears a second Melchizedek, who is a priest

¹⁶ not by virtue of a law about physical descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.

¹⁷ For it was about him that the prophecy was made: You are a priest of the order of Melchizedek, and for ever.

¹⁸ The earlier commandment is thus abolished, because it was neither effective nor useful,

¹⁹ since the Law could not make anyone perfect; but now this commandment is replaced by something better – the hope that brings us nearer to God.

²⁰ What is more, this was not done without the taking of an oath. The others, indeed, were made priests without any oath;

²¹ but he with an oath sworn by the one who declared to him: The Lord has sworn an oath which he will never retract: you are a priest, and for ever.[*e]

²² And it follows that it is a greater covenant for which Jesus has become our guarantee.

²³ Then there used to be a great number of those other priests, because death put an end to each one of them;

²⁴ but this one, because he remains for ever, can never lose his priesthood.

²⁵ It follows, then, that his power to save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him.

²⁶ To suit us, the ideal high priest would have to be holy, innocent and uncontaminated, beyond the influence of sinners, and raised up above the heavens;

²⁷ one who would not need to offer sacrifices every day, as the other high priests do for their own sins and then for those of the people, because he has done this once and for all by offering himself.

²⁸ The Law appoints high priests who are men subject to weakness; but the promise on oath, which came after the Law, appointed the Son who is made perfect for ever.