Prophecy Against Ammon

25 The word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (A)“Son of man, ^(B)set your face toward ^(C)the Ammonites and prophesy against them. ³ Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God: ^(D)Thus says the Lord God, Because you said, ^(E)‘Aha!’ over my ^(F)sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile, ⁴ therefore behold, I am handing you over to ^(G)the people of the East for a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings in your midst. They shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. ⁵ I will make ^(H)Rabbah a ^(I)pasture for camels and Ammon^{[a] (J)}a fold for flocks. ^(K)Then you will know that I am the Lord. ⁶ For thus says the Lord God: Because ^(L)you have clapped your hands ^(M)and stamped your feet and ^(N)rejoiced with all the ^(O)malice within your soul against the land of Israel, ⁷ therefore, behold, ^(P)I have stretched out my hand against you, and ^(Q)will hand you over as plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

Prophecy Against Moab and Seir

⁸ “Thus says the Lord God: Because ^(R)Moab and ^(S)Seir^[b] said, ‘Behold, the ^(T)house of Judah is like all the other nations,’ ⁹ therefore ^(U)I will lay open the flank of Moab from the cities, from its cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, ^(V)Beth-jeshimoth, ^(W)Baal-meon, and ^(X)Kiriathaim. ¹⁰ I will give it ^(Y)along with the Ammonites ^(Z)to the people of the East as a possession, ^(AA)that the Ammonites may be remembered no more among the nations, ^11 (AB)and I will execute judgments upon Moab. ^(AC)Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Prophecy Against Edom

¹² “Thus says the Lord God: Because ^(AD)Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended ^(AE)in taking vengeance on them, ¹³ therefore thus says the Lord God, ^(AF)I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate; from ^(AG)Teman even to ^(AH)Dedan they shall fall by the sword. ¹⁴ And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom ^(AI)by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and ^(AJ)they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord God.

Prophecy Against Philistia

¹⁵ “Thus says the Lord God: Because ^(AK)the Philistines ^(AL)acted revengefully and took vengeance ^(AM)with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity, ¹⁶ therefore thus says the Lord God, ^(AN)Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off ^(AO)the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast. ¹⁷ I will execute great vengeance on them ^(AP)with wrathful rebukes. ^(AQ)Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon them.”

The Priestly Order of Melchizedek

7 For this ^(A)Melchizedek, king of ^(B)Salem, priest of ^(C)the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, ² and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. ³ He is without father or mother ^(D)or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

⁴ See how great this man was to whom Abraham ^(E)the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! ⁵ And ^(F)those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers,^[a] though these also are descended from Abraham. ⁶ But this man ^(G)who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed ^(H)him who had the promises. ⁷ It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. ⁸ In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one ^(I)of whom it is testified that ^(J)he lives. ⁹ One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, ¹⁰ for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

Jesus Compared to Melchizedek

^11 (K)Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? ¹² For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. ¹³ For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. ¹⁴ For it is evident that our Lord was descended ^(L)from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.

¹⁵ This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, ¹⁶ who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷ For it is witnessed of him,

¹⁸ For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside ^(N)because of its weakness and uselessness ¹⁹ (for ^(O)the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, ^(P)a better hope is introduced, through which ^(Q)we draw near to God.

²⁰ And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, ²¹ but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:

²² This makes Jesus the guarantor of ^(S)a better covenant.

²³ The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, ²⁴ but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues ^(T)forever. ²⁵ Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost^{[b] (U)}those who draw near to God ^(V)through him, since he always lives ^(W)to make intercession for them.

²⁶ For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, ^(X)holy, innocent, unstained, ^(Y)separated from sinners, and ^(Z)exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, ^(AA)first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this ^(AB)once for all when he offered up himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints men ^(AC)in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made ^(AD)perfect forever.