Melchizedek

17Abram came back from beating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him. Then the king of Sodom went out to meet him. They met in the Valley of Shaveh, which is called the King's Valley.

And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.

18Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of the Most High God.

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

NoteA priest was a person whose job was to serve God and pray for people.

19Melchizedek blessed Abram. He said, "May the Most High God bless Abram. God owns the heavens and the earth."

And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

NoteTo bless someone means to ask God to be good to them.

20"And blessed be the Most High God. He has handed your enemies over to you." Then Abram gave Melchizedek one part out of every ten that he had.

And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

NoteAbram had ten of something, so he gave one away. That kind of gift to God is called a tithe.

21The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people. You may keep the goods for yourself."

And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.

NoteThe people were the ones taken away from Sodom. The king wanted them home again.

22Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted my hand to the LORD and made a promise. He is the Most High God, and he owns the heavens and the earth."

And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,

NoteLong ago a person lifted one hand up to show a promise was serious.

23"I will not take even a thread from you, or a strap from a sandal. I will not take anything at all that is yours. Then you can never say, 'I made Abram rich.'"

That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:

NoteA thread and a sandal strap are tiny, cheap things. Abram means he will not take even the smallest thing.

24"I will take only the food my young men have already eaten. And the men who went with me may take their share. Those men are Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their part."

Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

NoteAfter a fight, the men who helped usually kept some of what they brought back. Abram let his friends do that.

1God said to my Lord, "Sit at my right side. That is the seat of honor. Sit there until I put your enemies under your feet."

The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

NoteIn the King James, the first "LORD" in big letters means God. The second "Lord" means a king God chose. So one is God, and one is a man God picked to rule. A "footstool" is a low stool you rest your feet on. Long ago, a winning king would put his feet on the ones he beat. It was a picture of winning completely.

2God will send out your strong staff from Zion, the city of Jerusalem. God says, "Rule right in the middle of your enemies."

The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

NoteThe King James says "rod." That means a king's special stick, called a scepter. A king held it to show that he was in charge.

3Your people will gladly follow you on the day you fight. They will be dressed in holy beauty. Like fresh dew in the early morning, your young men will come to you.

Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.

NoteDew is the tiny drops of water on the grass early in the morning. There is so much of it, and it is fresh and new each day. The song says the king will have that many young men helping him.

4God made a promise, and he will not change his mind. He said, "You are a priest forever, like Melchizedek was."

The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

NoteA priest was a person whose job was helping people come to God. Priests prayed for people and brought their gifts to God. Melchizedek was a man long ago, when Abraham lived. He was both a king and a priest at the same time. That was unusual, because most people were only one or the other. The King James says God "will not repent." Back then that just meant God will not change his mind.

5The Lord stands at your right side. On the day he is angry, he will crush kings.

The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.

6He will judge the nations. He will leave the dead lying in heaps. He will crush the leaders of many lands.

He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.

NoteThe King James says "heathen." That word meant people in other countries who did not worship God.

7He will stop and drink from a stream beside the road. Because of that, he will lift his head high.

He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

NoteThis is a picture of a king chasing his enemies. He stops for a quick drink at a stream, then keeps going. "Lift up the head" was a way of saying he wins and is glad.

1Every high priest is chosen from among people. A high priest is someone who speaks to God for others. He brings God gifts and offerings for the wrong things people do.

For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:

NoteAn offering was a gift people brought to God. It was often an animal or some grain. Bringing it was their way of saying sorry.

2He can be gentle with people who do not know better. He is gentle with people who have wandered off the right path. He can be gentle because he is weak himself.

Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.

3Because he is weak, he must bring offerings for his own sins too. He does this for himself and also for the people.

And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.

4No one can give himself this honor. God must call him, just as God called Aaron.

And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.

NoteAaron was Moses' brother. God picked him to be the very first high priest. That was a long, long time before Jesus.

5Christ did not make himself a high priest. God gave him that honor. God said to him, "You are my Son. Today I have become your Father."

So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.

NoteChrist is not a last name. It is a title. It means the special one God chose and sent. These words, "Thou art my Son," come from an old song in the Bible.

6In another place God says, "You are a priest forever, in the same way as Melchisedec."

As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

NoteMelchisedec was a king and a priest long, long ago. He lived in the time of Abraham. His name sounds like mel-KIZ-eh-dek.

7When Jesus lived here on earth, he prayed and begged God. He cried out loud, with tears. He prayed to God, who was able to save him from death. God listened to him, because Jesus honored God so deeply.

Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

NoteThis talks about the night before Jesus died. He prayed in a garden and cried out to God.

8He was God's Son. Even so, he learned to obey through the pain he went through.

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

9He was made complete. Now he saves forever everyone who obeys him.

And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Note"Made complete" does not mean Jesus had done wrong before. It means he finished all he came here to do.

10God named him a high priest, in the same way as Melchisedec.

Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

13When God made his promise to Abraham, he wanted to prove it was true. There was no one greater than himself to use, so he used his own name.

For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,

NoteAbraham lived a very long time ago. God promised him a huge family and a land of his own. To swear by someone means using their name to show you really mean it.

14He said, "I will surely bless you. I will surely give you many children and grandchildren."

Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.

NoteThe King James says "blessing I will bless thee." Saying the word twice was an old way of saying "for sure."

15So Abraham waited patiently. And then he received what God had promised.

And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

16When people make a serious promise, they use the name of someone greater than themselves. That promise settles the matter, and the arguing stops.

For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.

NoteAn oath is a very serious promise. Long ago, people made one in front of others to end an argument.

17God's plan can never change. He wanted the people who get his promise to see this very clearly. So he added a serious promise on top of it.

Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:

NoteHeirs are the people who will get what was promised, the way children get things from their family.

18So there are two things that can never change: God's promise and his oath. God cannot lie. We ran for safety, to take hold of the hope he holds out to us. So we can be strongly comforted.

That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

NoteThe King James says they "fled for refuge." A refuge is a safe place you run to when you are in danger.

19This hope is like an anchor for us inside. It is strong, and it will not slip. It reaches all the way inside, behind the curtain.

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

NoteAn anchor is a heavy weight on a rope. Sailors drop it so their boat cannot drift away. In the place where God's people worshiped, a thick curtain hung across one room. Behind the curtain was the most holy room of all.

20Jesus went in there ahead of us, for us. He became our high priest forever, the same kind of priest as Melchisedec.

Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

NoteA forerunner is someone who goes first so that others can follow. The high priest was the top priest. He was the one who spoke to God for all the people. Melchisedec was a king and a priest who lived back in Abraham's time.

1Melchizedek was the king of a city called Salem. He was also a priest of God Most High. Abraham was coming home from beating some kings in battle. Melchizedek met him and blessed him.

For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;

NoteA priest was someone who helped people come close to God. Priests brought people's gifts to God for them. God Most High is a name for God. It means God is greater than everything else. Abraham lived a very long time ago. God made big promises to him and his family. To bless someone means to ask God to do good things for them.

2Abraham gave him a tenth of everything he had taken. The name Melchizedek means "king who does what is right." And king of Salem means "king of peace."

To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;

NoteGiving a tenth means giving one thing out of every ten. People long ago gave a tenth back to God.

3He had no father, no mother, and no family line. His days had no beginning, and his life had no end. In this way he is like the Son of God. He stays a priest for always.

Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

NoteBack then, a priest had to show which family he came from. The Bible never tells us Melchizedek's family. The Son of God is a name for Jesus. A family line is the list of a person's parents and the parents before them.

4Think how great this man was. Even Abraham gave him a tenth of what he won in battle. Abraham was the father of God's people long ago.

Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.

5God's law told the priests from Levi's family to collect a tenth. They collected it from their own people. Those people came from Abraham too, just like the priests did.

And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:

NoteLevi was one of Abraham's great-grandsons. All the priests came from Levi's family. God's law means the rules God gave to his people. The tenth was food and animals. It paid for the priests to live.

6Melchizedek did not come from Levi's family at all. Still, he took a tenth from Abraham. And he blessed the man God had made his promises to.

But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.

7No one can argue with this. The greater person is the one who gives the blessing.

And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.

8The priests from Levi are men who die. But the Bible speaks of Melchizedek as one who still lives.

And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.

9You could even say that Levi paid a tenth as well. He paid it through Abraham. Levi's family is the family that collects a tenth.

And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.

10Levi had not been born yet. He would come later from Abraham's family. That is where he was when Melchizedek met Abraham.

For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.

NotePeople long ago counted a whole family as one group. So what a grandfather did counted for his family too.

11The priests from Levi's family were part of God's law. But they could not make anything perfect. If they could, why did God send a new kind of priest? This new priest is like Melchizedek, not like Aaron. Aaron was the first priest in Levi's family.

If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

NoteAaron was Moses' brother. He was the very first priest for God's people. Perfect here means finished and just right, with nothing missing.

12When the priests change, the rules must change too.

For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

13The one we are talking about came from a different family group. No one from that group ever served at God's altar.

For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.

NoteA family group is also called a tribe. God's people had twelve tribes, one from each of Jacob's sons. An altar was a special stone table. Gifts for God were burned on it.

14It is plain that our Lord Jesus came from the family of Judah. Moses never said that priests would come from Judah.

For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.

NoteMoses led God's people long ago and gave them God's rules. Judah was one of the twelve family groups.

15This becomes even clearer. Another priest has come who is like Melchizedek.

And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,

16He did not become a priest because of a rule about family. He became a priest by the power of a life that never ends.

Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

17God says about him, "You are a priest forever, like Melchizedek."

For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

NoteThese words come from an old song in the Bible, a psalm.

18So the old rule is set aside. It was weak and it did not help.

For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.

19The law never made anything perfect. Now something better has come, a hope we can hold on to. Because of it we can come close to God.

For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

20None of this happened without a promise from God. Other men became priests with no such promise.

And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:

21But God made a strong promise to Jesus. He said, "The Lord has promised and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever."

(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

NoteA promise this strong is called an oath. Saying he will not change his mind means he will never take it back.

22Because of that promise, Jesus makes a better agreement sure. God's new agreement with people is better than the old one.

By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

NoteThe old word for this agreement is covenant. It is a promise between God and his people.

23There were many priests before, one after another. They died, so they could not keep doing the work.

And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:

24But Jesus lives forever. So his work as priest will never pass to anyone else.

But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.

25He can save completely everyone who comes to God through him. He is always alive. He always speaks to God for them.

Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

NoteSpeaking to God for them means asking God to help them. It is like a friend who talks to someone for you.

26This is just the kind of high priest we needed. A high priest is the leader of all the priests. He is holy. He never did anything wrong. There is no sin in him. He is set apart from people who sin. God lifted him higher than the heavens.

For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

NoteHoly means belonging to God and away from anything wrong. Sin means doing what is wrong against God. The heavens means the sky and everything above it.

27Other high priests gave offerings to God every day. First they gave one for their own sins. Then they gave one for the people's sins. Jesus does not need to do that. He gave himself one time, and that was enough.

Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

NoteAn offering was a gift given to God. Often it was an animal, burned on the altar. Priests gave offerings to say sorry for sin.

28The law chooses weak men to be high priests. But God's promise came later than the law. It chooses the Son, who is made perfect forever.

For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.