Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the community of the Israelites, and say to them, ‘You must be holy, because I, Yahweh your God, am holy. Each of you must revere your mother and your father, and you must keep my Sabbaths; I am Yahweh your God. You must not turn to idols, and you must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal; I am Yahweh your God.

“‘And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to Yahweh, you must sacrifice it for your acceptance. It must be eaten on the day of your sacrifice and the next day; but the remainder must be burned up in the fire by the third day. And if it is indeed eaten on the third day, it is unclean meat; it shall not be regarded as accepted. And the one who eats it shall bear his guilt, because he has profaned Yahweh’s holiness, and that person shall be cut off from his people.

“‘And at your reaping the harvest of your land you must not finish reaping the edge of your field, and you must not glean the remnants of your harvest. And you must not glean your vineyard, and you must not gather your vineyard’s fallen grapes; you must leave them behind for the needy and for the alien; I am Yahweh your God.

“‘You shall not steal, and you shall not deceive, and you shall not lie to one another; and you shall not swear falsely in my name, and so one of you profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

“‘You shall not exploit your neighbor, and you shall not rob him; a hired worker’s wage you shall not withhold overnight until morning. You shall not curse the deaf, and you shall not put a stumbling block before a blind person, but you shall revere your God; I am Yahweh.

“‘You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not show partiality to the powerless; you shall not give preference to the powerful; you shall judge your fellow citizen with justice. You shall not go about with slander among your people; you shall not endanger your neighbor’s life; I am Yahweh.

“‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall surely rebuke your fellow citizen, so that you do not incur sin along with him. You shall not seek vengeance, and you shall not harbor a grudge against your fellow citizens; and you shall love your neighbor like yourself; I am Yahweh.

“‘You must keep my statutes: as for your domestic animals, you shall not cause two differing kinds to breed; as for your field, you shall not sow two differing kinds of seed; and, a garment of two differing kinds of woven material should not be worn on you.

“‘And when a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen and she is a female slave promised to a man, but she indeed has not been ransomed or freedom has not be given to her, there shall be an obligation to compensate; they shall not be put to death, because she has not been freed. And he shall bring his guilt offering to Yahweh at the tent of assembly’s entrance: a ram for a guilt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh with the ram of the guilt offering for his sin that he committed, and so his sin that he committed shall be forgiven him.

“‘And when you have come into the land and you plant any tree for food, you shall regard its fruit as unharvestable; for three years it shall be forbidden for you; it shall not be eaten. But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, offerings of praise for Yahweh. And in the fifth year you shall eat its fruit to increase its yield for you; I am Yahweh your God.

“‘You must not eat anything with the blood; you shall not practice divination, nor shall you interpret signs. You shall not round off the corner hair of your head, and you shall not trim the corner of your beard. And you shall not make a slash in your body for a dead person, nor shall you make on yourselves a tattoo’s mark; I am Yahweh.

“‘You shall not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land be prostituted and the land fill up with depravity. You shall keep my Sabbaths, and you shall revere my sanctuary; I am Yahweh.

“‘You shall not turn to the mediums and to the soothsayers; you shall not seek them to become unclean with them; I am Yahweh your God.

“‘Before old age you shall get up, and you shall show respect for an old person; and you shall revere your God; I am Yahweh.

“‘And when an alien dwells with you in your land, you shall not oppress him. The alien who is dwelling with you shall be like a native among you, and you shall love him like yourself, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.

“‘You shall not commit injustice in regulation, in measurement, in weight, or volume. You must have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin; I am Yahweh your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt.

“‘Thus you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations, and you shall do them; I am Yahweh.'”

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “And to the Israelites you shall say, ‘If there is anyone from the Israelites or from the alien who is dwelling in Israel, who gives any of his offspring to Molech, he must surely be put to death; the people of the land must stone him with stones. And I myself will set my face against that man, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, because he has given some of his offspring to Molech, so that he makes my sanctuary unclean and profanes my holy name. And if the people of the land ever shut their eyes from that man at his giving some of his offspring to Molech, not putting him to death, then I myself will set my face against that man and against his clan, and I will cut him off and all those from the midst of their people who prostitute after Molech. As for the person who turns to the mediums and the soothsayers to prostitute after them, I will set my face against that person, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people.

“‘And you shall consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy, because I am Yahweh your God. And you shall keep my statutes, and you shall do them; I am Yahweh who consecrates you.

“‘If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father and his mother—his blood is upon him.

“‘As for a man who commits adultery with a man’s wife, who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the man who commits adultery and the woman who commits adultery shall surely be put to death. As for a man who lies with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness; both of them shall be put to death—their blood is on them. As for a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; they have committed a perversion—their blood is on them.

“‘As for the man who lies with a male as lying with a woman, they have committed a detestable thing; they shall surely be put to death—their blood is on them.

“‘As for a man who marries a woman and her mother, that is depravity; they shall burn him and them, so that it shall not become depravity in the midst of you all.

“‘As for a man who has sexual relations with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you must kill the animal. As for a woman who approaches any animal to copulate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death—their blood is on them.

“‘As for a man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and he sees her nakedness and she herself sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off before the eyes of their people; he has exposed his sister’s nakedness—he must bear his guilt. As for a man who lies with a menstruating woman, he exposes her nakedness—her source he exposes and she herself reveals her blood’s source—both of them shall be cut off from the midst of their people. And you shall not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister, and you shall not expose your father’s sister, because such a person has dishonored his close relative—they must bear their guilt. As for a man who lies with his aunt, he has exposed his uncle’s nakedness—they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. As for a man who marries his brother’s wife, it is an abomination; he has exposed his brother’s nakedness—they shall be childless.

“‘And you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations, and you shall do them, so that the land, to which I am bringing you to inhabit it, shall not vomit you out. And you shall not follow the statutes of the nation that I am driving out from before you, because they did all these things, and I detested them. So I said to you, “You yourselves shall take possession of their land, and I myself shall give it to you to possess it—a land flowing with milk and honey”; I am Yahweh your God, who has set you apart from the nations. And you shall distinguish between the clean and the unclean animal and between the unclean and the clean bird; and you shall not defile yourselves with the animal or with the bird or with anything that moves along the ground that I have set apart for you as unclean. And you shall be holy for me, because I, Yahweh, am holy, and I have singled you out from the nations to be mine.

“‘And a man or a woman, if a spirit of the dead or a spirit of divination is in them, they shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones—their blood is on them.'”

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth of everything—in the first place, his name is translated “king of righteousness,” and then also “king of Salem,” that is, “king of peace”; without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God—he remains a priest for all time.

But see how great this man was, to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth from the spoils! And indeed those of the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood have a commandment to collect a tenth from the people according to the law, that is, from their brothers, although they are descended from Abraham. But the one who did not trace his descent from them collected tithes from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. Now without any dispute the inferior is blessed by the more prominent. And in this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case it is testified that he lives. And, so to speak, even Levi, the one who receives tithes, has paid tithes through Abraham. For he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

Thus if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood, for on the basis of it the people received the law, what further need is there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek and not said to be according to the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood changes, of necessity there is a change of the law also. For the one about whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe from which no one has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord is a descendant of Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses said nothing concerning priests. And it is still more clear, if another priest according to the likeness of Melchizedek arises, who has become a priest not according to a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life. For it is testified,

“You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

For on the one hand a preceding commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect), but on the other hand there is the introduction of a better hope through which we draw near to God. And by as much as this was not without an oath (for these on the one hand have become priests without an oath, but he with an oath by the one who said to him,

“The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind,

‘You are a priest forever'”),

by so much more Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

And indeed many have become priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he, because he continues forever, holds the priesthood permanently. Therefore also he is able to save completely those who draw near to God through him, because he always lives in order to intercede on their behalf.

For a high priest such as this indeed is fitting for us, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and having become exalted above the heavens, who does not need every day like the former high priests to offer up sacrifices for his own sins and then for the sins of the people, because he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men as high priests who have weakness, but the statement of the oath, after the law, appoints a Son, who is made perfect forever.

Until next time, keep meditating on the word of God.

Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.