7Melchizedek ⁿ was the king of Salem and a priest for God Most High. He met Abraham when Abraham was coming back after defeating the kings. When they met, Melchizedek blessed Abraham, ²and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything he had brought back from the battle. First, Melchizedek’s name means “king of goodness,” and he is king of Salem, which means “king of peace.” ³No one knows who Melchizedek’s father or mother was, ⁿ where he came from, when he was born, or when he died. Melchizedek is like the Son of God; he continues being a priest forever.

⁴You can see how great Melchizedek was. Abraham, the great father, gave him a tenth of everything that he won in battle. ⁵Now the law says that those in the tribe of Levi who become priests must collect a tenth from the people—their own people—even though the priests and the people are from the family of Abraham. ⁶Melchizedek was not from the tribe of Levi, but he collected a tenth from Abraham. And he blessed Abraham, the man who had God’s promises. ⁷Now everyone knows that the more important person blesses the less important person. ⁸Priests receive a tenth, even though they are only men who live and then die. But Melchizedek, who received a tenth from Abraham, continues living, as the Scripture says. ⁹We might even say that Levi, who receives a tenth, also paid it when Abraham paid Melchizedek a tenth. ¹⁰Levi was not yet born, but he was in the body of his ancestor when Melchizedek met Abraham.

¹¹The people were given the law ⁿ concerning the system of priests from the tribe of Levi, but they could not be made perfect through that system. So there was a need for another priest to come, a priest like Melchizedek, not Aaron. ¹²And when a different kind of priest comes, the law must be changed, too. ¹³We are saying these things about Christ, who belonged to a different tribe. No one from that tribe ever served as a priest at the altar. ¹⁴It is clear that our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests belonging to that tribe.

Jesus Is like Melchizedek

¹⁵And this becomes even more clear when we see that another priest comes who is like Melchizedek. ⁿ ¹⁶He was not made a priest by human rules and laws but through the power of his life, which continues forever. ¹⁷It is said about him,

“You are a priest forever,

a priest like Melchizedek.”

¹⁸The old rule is now set aside, because it was weak and useless. ¹⁹The law of Moses could not make anything perfect. But now a better hope has been given to us, and with this hope we can come near to God. ²⁰It is important that God did this with an oath. Others became priests without an oath, ²¹but Christ became a priest with God’s oath. God said:

“The Lord has made a promise

and will not change his mind.

‘You are a priest forever.’ ”

²²This means that Jesus is the guarantee of a better agreement ⁿ from God to his people.

²³When one of the other priests died, he could not continue being a priest. So there were many priests. ²⁴But because Jesus lives forever, he will never stop serving as priest. ²⁵So he is able always to save those who come to God through him because he always lives, asking God to help them.

²⁶Jesus is the kind of high priest we need. He is holy, sinless, pure, not influenced by sinners, and he is raised above the heavens. ²⁷He is not like the other priests who had to offer sacrifices every day, first for their own sins, and then for the sins of the people. Christ offered his sacrifice only once and for all time when he offered himself. ²⁸The law chooses high priests who are people with weaknesses, but the word of God’s oath came later than the law. It made God’s Son to be the high priest, and that Son has been made perfect forever.

Jesus Is Our High Priest

8Here is the point of what we are saying: We have a high priest who sits on the right side of God’s throne in heaven. ²Our high priest serves in the Most Holy Place, the true place of worship that was made by God, not by humans.

³Every high priest has the work of offering gifts and sacrifices to God. So our high priest must also offer something to God. ⁴If our high priest were now living on earth, he would not be a priest, because there are already priests here who follow the law by offering gifts to God. ⁵The work they do as priests is only a copy and a shadow of what is in heaven. This is why God warned Moses when he was ready to build the Holy Tent: “Be very careful to make everything by the plan I showed you on the mountain.” ⁿ ⁶But the priestly work that has been given to Jesus is much greater than the work that was given to the other priests. In the same way, the new agreement that Jesus brought from God to his people is much greater than the old one. And the new agreement is based on promises of better things.

⁷If there had been nothing wrong with the first agreement, ⁿ there would have been no need for a second agreement. ⁸But God found something wrong with his people. He says: ⁿ

“Look, the time is coming, says the Lord,

when I will make a new agreement

with the people of Israel

and the people of Judah.

⁹It will not be like the agreement

I made with their ancestors

when I took them by the hand

to bring them out of Egypt.

But they broke that agreement,

and I turned away from them, says the Lord.

¹⁰This is the agreement I will make

with the people of Israel at that time, says the Lord.

I will put my teachings in their minds

and write them on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

¹¹People will no longer have to teach their neighbors and relatives

to know the Lord,

because all people will know me,

from the least to the most important.

¹²I will forgive them for the wicked things they did,

and I will not remember their sins anymore.”

¹³God called this a new agreement, so he has made the first agreement old. And anything that is old and worn out is ready to disappear.

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Footnotes

nMelchizedek A priest and king who lived in the time of Abraham. (Read Genesis 14:17–24.)
nNo … was Literally, “Melchizedek was without father, without mother, without genealogy.”
nThe … law This refers to the people of Israel who were given the Law of Moses.
nMelchizedek A priest and king who lived in the time of Abraham. (Read Genesis 14:17–24.)
nagreement God gives a contract or agreement to his people. For the Jews, this agreement was the Law of Moses. But now God has given a better agreement to his people through Christ.
n“Be … mountain.” Quotation from Exodus 25:40.
nfirst agreement The contract God gave the Jewish people when he gave them the Law of Moses.
nBut … says Some Greek copies read “But God found something wrong and says to his people.”