1 For this Melechizedek was king of Salem, kohen of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him,
2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth of everything. First, by the translation of his name, he is “King of Righteousness”; and then also King of Salem, which is “King of Shalom.”
3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life but made like Ben-Elohim, he remains a kohen for all time.
4 Now see how great this man is! Even Abraham the patriarch gave him a tenth out of the plunder.
5 Indeed, those sons of Levi who receive the priesthood have, according to Torah, a command to collect a tithe from the people—that is, from their kin, although they have come out of the loins of Abraham.