Hebrews 7:1-17

New Living Translation

Melchizedek Is Greater Than Abraham

7 This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. ² Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” ³ There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.

⁴ Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle. ⁵ Now the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi, must collect a tithe from the rest of the people of Israel,^[a] who are also descendants of Abraham. ⁶ But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God. ⁷ And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed.

⁸ The priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on. ⁹ In addition, we might even say that these Levites—the ones who collect the tithe—paid a tithe to Melchizedek when their ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to him. ¹⁰ For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.

¹¹ So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?^[b]

¹² And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. ¹³ For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. ¹⁴ What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.

Jesus Is like Melchizedek

¹⁵ This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. ¹⁶ Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. ¹⁷ And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied,