7. Unquestionably, a lesser person is blessed by a greater.
8. In the one case, mortal men receive tithes; in the other, a man of whom it is testified that he lives on.
9. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, was tithed through Abraham,
10. for he was still in his father’s loins when Melchizedek met him.
11. If, then, perfection came through the levitical priesthood, on the basis of which the people received the law, what need would there still have been for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not reckoned according to the order of Aaron?
12. When there is a change of priesthood, there is necessarily a change of law as well.
13. Now he of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, of which no member ever officiated at the altar.
14. It is clear that our Lord arose from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.
15. It is even more obvious if another priest is raised up after the likeness of Melchizedek,
16. who has become so, not by a law expressed in a commandment concerning physical descent but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.
17. For it is testified:“You are a priest foreveraccording to the order of Melchizedek.”
18. On the one hand, a former commandment is annulled because of its weakness and uselessness,
19. for the law brought nothing to perfection; on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
20. And to the degree that this happened not without the taking of an oath—for others became priests without an oath,
21. but he with an oath, through the one who said to him:“The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent:‘You are a priest forever’”—
22. to that same degree has Jesus [also] become the guarantee of an [even] better covenant.