For it is clear that he did not come to help angels. No, he came to help Abraham's descendants,

For when God made his promise to Abraham, he swore an oath by himself, since he had no one greater to swear by.

Now this man Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, met Abraham and blessed him when he was returning from defeating the kings.

Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything. In the first place, his name means "king of righteousness," and then he is also king of Salem, that is, "king of peace."

Just look at how great this man was! Even Abraham the patriarch himself gave him a tenth of what he had captured!

The descendants of Levi who accept the priesthood have a commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their own brothers, even though they are also descendants of Abraham.

But this man, whose descent is not traced from them, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the man who had received the promises.

One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham,

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

Abraham was as good as dead, yet from this one man came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered Isaac he who had received the promises was about to offer his unique son in sacrifice,

Abraham was certain that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did get Isaac back in this way.