1 F or this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

2 t o whom also Abraham divided a tenth part of all (being first, by interpretation, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace;

3 w ithout father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God), remains a priest continually.

4 N ow consider how great this man was, to whom even Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth out of the best plunder.

5 T hey indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brothers, though these have come out of the body of Abraham,

6 b ut he whose genealogy is not counted from them has accepted tithes from Abraham, and has blessed him who has the promises.

7 B ut without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater.

8 H ere people who die receive tithes, but there one receives tithes of whom it is testified that he lives.

9 W e can say that through Abraham even Levi, who receives tithes, has paid tithes,

10 f or he was yet in the body of his father when Melchizedek met him.

11 N ow if there were perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people have received the law), what further need was there for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

12 F or the priesthood being changed, there is of necessity a change made also in the law.

13 F or he of whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar.

14 F or it is evident that our Lord has sprung out of Judah, about which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.

15 T his is yet more abundantly evident, if after the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another priest,

16 w ho has been made, not after the law of a fleshly commandment, but after the power of an endless life:

17 f or it is testified, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”

18 F or there is an annulling of a foregoing commandment because of its weakness and uselessness

19 ( for the law made nothing perfect), and a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

20 I nasmuch as he was not made priest without the taking of an oath

21 ( for they indeed have been made priests without an oath), but he with an oath by him that says of him, “The Lord swore and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.’”

22 B y so much, Jesus has become the collateral of a better covenant.

23 M any, indeed, have been made priests, because they are hindered from continuing by death.

24 B ut he, because he lives forever, has his priesthood unchangeable.

25 T herefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make intercession for them.

26 F or such a high priest was fitting for us: holy, guiltless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

27 w ho doesn’t need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. For he did this once for all, when he offered up himself.

28 F or the law appoints men as high priests who have weakness, but the word of the oath which came after the law appoints a Son forever who has been perfected.