6. But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God.
7. And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed.
8. The priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on.
9. In addition, we might even say that these Levites—the ones who collect the tithe—paid a tithe to Melchizedek when their ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to him.
10. For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.
11. So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?
12. And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it.
13. For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests.
14. What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.
15. This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared.
16. Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.