Hebrews 7:1-10 ▼

1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, met Abraham and blessed him as he returned from defeating the kings,

2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means king of righteousness, then also, king of Salem, meaning king of peace.

3 Without father, mother, or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

4 Now consider how great this man was: even Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the plunder to him.

5 The sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have a command according to the law to collect a tenth from the people —that is, from their brothers and sisters—though they have also descended from Abraham.

6 But one without this lineage collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.

7 Without a doubt, the inferior is blessed by the superior.

8 In the one case, men who will die receive a tenth, but in the other case, Scripture testifies that he lives.

9 And in a sense Levi himself, who receives a tenth, has paid a tenth through Abraham,

10 for he was still within his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.