7For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham as he^* was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,^a ²to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth of everything^b—in the first place, his name is translated “king of righteousness,” and then also “king of Salem,” that is, “king of peace”; ³without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God—he remains a priest for all time.

⁴But see how great this man was, to whom Abraham^c the patriarch gave a tenth from the spoils! ⁵And indeed those of the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood have a commandment to collect a tenth from the people according to the law, that is, from their brothers, although they are descended from Abraham^d. ⁶But the one who did not trace his descent from them collected tithes from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. ⁷Now without any dispute the inferior is blessed by the more prominent. ⁸And in this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case it is testified that he lives. ⁹And, so to speak^e, even Levi, the one who receives tithes, has paid tithes through Abraham. ¹⁰For he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

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Footnotes

*Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“was returning”) which is understood as temporal
aThis verse contains a number of quotations from Gen 14:17–19
bA quotation from Gen 14:20
cSome manuscripts have “even Abraham”
dLiterally “coming forth from the loins of Abraham”
eLiterally “as if to say a word”