Hebrews 7:1–10

The Greatness of Melchizedek

7For this Melchizedek—

King of Salem, priest of the Most High God,

who met Abraham and blessed him

as he returned from defeating the kings,

²and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything;

first, his name means king of righteousness,

then also, king of Salem,

meaning king of peace;

³without father, mother, or genealogy,

having neither beginning of days nor end of life,

but resembling the Son of God ^j—

remains a priest forever.

⁴Now consider how great this man was—even Abraham the patriarch ^kgave a tenth of the plunder to him! ⁵The sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have a command according to the law to collect a tenth from the people ^l—that is, from their brothers—though they have also descended from Abraham. ^m6But one without this ⁿlineage collected tenths from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. ^o7Without a doubt, ^pthe inferior is blessed by the superior. ⁸In the one case, men who will die receive tenths, but in the other case, Scripture testifies that he lives. ^q9And in a sense Levi himself, who receives tenths, has paid tenths through Abraham, ¹⁰for he was still within his ancestor ^rwhen Melchizedek met him.