Melchizedek king of Salem (ancient Jerusalem) brought out bread and wine [for them]; he was the priest of God Most High.

And Melchizedek blessed Abram and said,

“Blessed (joyful, favored) be Abram by God Most High,
Creator and Possessor of heaven and earth;

And blessed, praised, and glorified be God Most High,
Who has given your enemies into your hand.”

And Abram gave him a tenth of all [the treasure he had taken in battle].

But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand and sworn an oath to the Lord God Most High, the Creator and Possessor of heaven and earth,

You shall hang the veil from the hooks [that connect the curtains together], and you shall bring the ark of the Testimony there within the veil. The veil shall separate for you the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the Testimony in the Holy of Holies.

For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar [of burnt offering] and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar must be holy (set apart for God’s service).

Once a year Aaron shall make atonement [for sin] on its horns. He shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”

You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them must be holy (set apart for God).

You shall crush some of it [into a] very fine [powder], and put some of it before the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you.

You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, and the altar shall be most holy.

What is left of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings to the Lord by fire.

What is left of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings to the Lord by fire.

It shall not be baked with leaven [which represents corruption or sin]. I have given it as their share of My offerings by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.

“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: the sin offering shall be killed before the Lord in the [same] place where the burnt offering is killed; it is most holy.

Every male among the priests may eat this offering; it is most holy.

‘This is the law of the guilt offering; it is most holy.

Every male among the priests may eat it; it shall be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy.

Then Moses said to Aaron, and to his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that is left over from the offerings by fire to the Lord, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy.

“Why did you not eat the sin offering in the holy place? For it is most holy; and God gave it to you to remove the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord.

Then Aaron said to Moses, “This very day they have [obediently] presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, but [such terrible things] as these have happened to me [and to them]; if I [and my sons] had eaten a sin offering today would it have been acceptable and pleasing in the sight of the Lord?”

He shall kill the male lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the sacred place [the courtyard of the tabernacle]; for the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy.

He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things,

Outside the veil of the Testimony [between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place] in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron shall always keep the lamps burning before the Lord from evening until morning; it shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations.

The bread of the Presence shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a sacred place, for it is for Aaron a most holy portion of the offerings by fire to the Lord, his portion forever.”

‘But nothing that a man sets apart [that is, devotes as an offering] to the Lord out of all that he has, of man or of animal or of the fields of his own property, shall be sold or redeemed. Anything devoted to destruction (banned, cursed) is most holy to the Lord.

This is the work and responsibility of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle): the most holy things.

“Do not cut off (eliminate, destroy) the tribe of the families of the Kohathites [who are only Levites and not priests], from among the Levites [by exposing them to the sin of touching the most holy things].

But deal with them in this way, so that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his [specific] work and to his load [to be carried on the march].

But bring with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father (ancestor), so that they may join with you and serve you [as assistants], while you and your sons with you are before the Tent of the Testimony [the Holy Place where only priests may go, and the Most Holy Place which only the high priest may enter].

This shall be yours of the most holy things, [reserved] from the fire: every offering of the people, every grain offering and sin offering and guilt offering, which they shall render (give) to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons.

You shall eat it as the most holy thing; every male [of your family] shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.

The oracle of him who hears the words of God
And knows the knowledge of the Most High,
Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, but having his eyes open and uncovered:

The man who is most refined and well-bred among you will be cruel and hostile toward his brother and toward the wife he cherishes and toward the rest of his children who remain,

The most refined and well-bred woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and pampered, will be cruel and hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter,

“When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
When He separated the sons of man,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
According to the number of the sons of Israel.

Now the lot (allotment) for the tribe of the sons of Judah according to their families reached [southward to] the border of Edom, southward to the wilderness of Zin at its most southern part.

Now it happened in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that a certain Levite living [as an alien] in the most remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah.

So it happened that as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew the [enemy’s] valiant men were positioned.

“The Lord thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice.

He was the most honored of the thirty, so he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the [greatness of the] three.

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built!

Now he said to Gehazi, “Say to her now, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us; what can I do for you? Would you like to be mentioned to the king or to the captain of the army?’” She answered, “I live among my own people [in peace and security and need no special favors].”

select the best and most capable of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s [royal] house.”

He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza [the most distant city] and its borders, from the [isolated] lookout tower to the [populous] fortified city.

‘Through your messengers you have taunted and defied the Lord,
And have said [boastfully], “With my many chariots
I came up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon;
I cut down its tall cedar trees and its choicest cypress trees.
I entered its most distant lodging, its densest forest.

The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to consecrate him as most holy, he and his sons forever, to burn incense before the Lord, attend to His service, and to bless [worshipers] in His name forever.

Now he made the room of the Holy of Holies: its length equaling the width of the house was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with 600 talents of fine gold.

And in the Holy of Holies he made two sculptured cherubim, and overlaid them with gold.

He made the veil [between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies] of blue, purple, and crimson colors, and fine linen, and embroidered cherubim on it.

and the snuffers, the basins, the dishes [for incense], and the firepans, of pure gold; and for the entrance of the house (temple), the inner doors for the Holy of Holies and the doors of the Holy Place (main room), were of gold.

Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, keeper of the East Gate, was in charge of the voluntary offerings to God, to apportion the contributions for the Lord and the most holy things.

The governor told them that they should not eat of the most holy things [the priests’ food] until a priest stood up with Urim and Thummim [who by consulting these articles in his breastplate could determine God’s will in the matter].

The governor told them that they should not eat any of the most holy food until a priest arose with Urim and Thummim [to determine God’s will in the matter].

and let the robe and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let him dress the man whom the king delights to honor [in the royal robe] and lead him on horseback through the open square of the city, and proclaim before him, ‘This is what shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.’”

“But you smear me with lies [you defame my character most untruthfully];
You are all worthless physicians and have no remedy to offer.

I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness and justice,
And I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

I will rejoice and exult in you;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.

For the king [confidently] trusts in the Lord,
And through the lovingkindness (faithfulness, goodness) of the Most High he will never be shaken.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.

For the Lord Most High is to be feared [and worshiped with awe-inspired reverence and obedience];
He is a great King over all the earth.

“Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving
And pay your vows to the Most High;

My enemies have trampled upon me all day long,
For they are many who fight proudly against me.

I will cry to God Most High,
Who accomplishes all things on my behalf [for He completes my purpose in His plan].

They say, “How does God know?
Is there knowledge [of us] with the Most High?”

And I said, “This is my grief,
That the right hand of the Most High has changed [and His lovingkindness is withheld].”

Yet they still continued to sin against Him
By rebelling against the Most High in the desert.

And they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer.

Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies (laws).

I said, “You are gods;
Indeed, all of you are sons of the Most High.

That they may know that You alone, whose name is the Lord,
Are the Most High over all the earth.

But of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her,”
And the Most High Himself will establish her.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty [whose power no enemy can withstand].

You will only [be a spectator as you] look on with your eyes
And witness the [divine] repayment of the wicked [as you watch safely from the shelter of the Most High].

Because you have made the Lord, [who is] my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

It is a good and delightful thing to give thanks to the Lord,
To sing praises to Your name, O Most High,

Because they had rebelled against the precepts of God
And spurned the counsel of the Most High.

There is gold, and an abundance of pearls,
But the lips of knowledge are a vessel of preciousness [the most precious of all].

By patience and a calm spirit a ruler may be persuaded,
And a soft and gentle tongue breaks the bone [of resistance].

The Song of Songs [the best of songs], which is Solomon’s.

(The Shulammite Bride)“Under the apple tree I awakened you [to my love];
There your mother was in labor with you,
There she was in labor and gave you birth.

“Put me like a seal on your heart,
Like a seal on your arm;
For love is as strong as death,
Jealousy is as severe and cruel as Sheol (the place of the dead).
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
[A most vehement flame] the very flame of the Lord!

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw [in a vision] the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted, with the train of His royal robe filling the [most holy part of the] temple.

‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’

“Through your servants you have taunted and defied the Lord,
And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars and its choicest cypress trees;
And I will go to its remotest height, its most luxuriant and thickest forest.

“Then I said,

‘How [gloriously and honorably] I would set you among My children
And give you a pleasant land—a wonderful heritage,
The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’
And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father
And not turn away from following Me.’

O daughter of my people [says Jeremiah],
Clothe yourself in sackcloth and wallow in ashes;
Mourn [aloud] as for an only son,
A most bitter cry [of sorrow and regret],
For suddenly the destroyer will come upon us [on both prophet and people].

“Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord
And whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord.

“Is not My word like fire [that consumes all that cannot endure the test]?” says the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks the [most stubborn] rock [in pieces]?

Jerusalem and the cities of Judah [being most guilty because their privileges were greatest], its kings and princes, to make them a horror, a ruin, a hissing and a curse, as it is to this day;

And I will bring Israel [home] again to his pasture and he will graze on [the most fertile lands of] Carmel [in the west] and Bashan [in the east], and his soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.

We are perplexed and ashamed, for we have heard reproach;
Disgrace has covered our faces,
For foreigners [from Babylon] have come
Into the [most] sacred parts of the sanctuary of the Lord [even those places forbidden to all but the appointed priest].

To deprive a man of justice
In the presence of the Most High,

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That both adversity (misfortune) and good (prosperity, happiness) proceed?

How dark and dim the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones [of the temple] are poured out and scattered
At the head of every street.

But you shall speak My words to them whether they will listen or refuse [to listen], for they are [most] rebellious.

She lusted after the Assyrians—governors and officials, her neighbors, magnificently clothed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.

Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers (Babylonians) upon you,
The most ruthless and violent of the nations.
And they will draw their swords
Against the beauty of your wisdom [O Tyre]
And defile your splendor.

“He and his people with him,
The most violent and ruthless of the nations,
Will be brought in to destroy the land,
And they will draw their swords against Egypt
And fill the land with the slain.

Alien tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; its foliage has fallen on the mountains and in all the valleys and its branches have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the nations of the earth have come from under its shade and have left it.