1. For this Malkitseḏeq, sovereign of Shalĕm, priest of the Most High Elohim, who met Aḇraham returning from the slaughter of the sovereigns and blessed him,
2. to whom also Aḇraham gave a tenth part of all, his name being translated, indeed, first, ‘sovereign of righteousness,’ and then also sovereign of Shalĕm, that is, ‘sovereign of peace,’
3. without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but having been made like the Son of Elohim, remains a priest for all time.
4. Now see how great this one was, to whom even the ancestor Aḇraham gave a tenth of the choicest booty.
5. And truly, those who are of the sons of Lĕwi, who receive the priesthood, have a command to receive tithes from the people according to the Torah, that is, from their brothers, though they have come from the loins of Aḇraham,
6. however, the one whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Aḇraham, and blessed the one who held the promises.
7. And it is beyond all dispute that the lesser is blessed by the better.
8. And here it is men who die that receive tithes, but there it is someone of whom it is witnessed that he lives.
9. And one might say that through Aḇraham even Lĕwi, who received tithes, gave tithes,
10. for he was still in the loins of his father when Malkitseḏeq met him.
11. Truly, then, if perfection were through the Lĕwitical priesthood – for under it the people were given the Torah – why was there still need for another priest to arise according to the order of Malkitseḏeq, and not be called according to the order of Aharon?
12. For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also.
13. For He of whom this is said belongs to another tribe, from which no one had attended at the altar.
14. For it is perfectly clear that our Master arose from Yehuḏah, a tribe about which Mosheh never spoke of concerning priesthood,
15. and this is clearer still, if another priest arises in the likeness of Malkitseḏeq,
16. who has become, not according to the Torah of fleshly command, but according to the power of an endless life,