Lot’s Captivity and Rescue

14 In the days of King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim,^{(A) 2} these kings made war with King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar.^{(B) 3} All these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim, that is, the Dead Sea.^{[a](C) 4} Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵ In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and subdued the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,^{(D) 6} and the Horites in the hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the edge of the wilderness;^{(E) 7} then they turned back and came to En-mishpat, that is, Kadesh, and subdued all the country of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.^{(F) 8} Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar, went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim ⁹ with King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Shinar, and King Arioch of Ellasar, four kings against five. ¹⁰ Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country. ¹¹ So the enemy took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions and went their way;^{(G) 12} they also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who lived in Sodom, and his goods and departed.^(H)

¹³ Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks^[b] of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner; these were allies of Abram.^{(I) 14} When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.^{(J) 15} He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶ Then he brought back all the goods and also brought back his nephew Lot with his goods and the women and the people.^(K)

Abram Blessed by Melchizedek

¹⁷ After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh, that is, the King’s Valley.^{(L) 18} And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.^{[c](M) 19} He blessed him and said,

And Abram gave him one-tenth of everything.^{(O) 21} Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” ²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to God^[f] Most High,^[g] maker of heaven and earth,^{(P) 23} that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, so that you might not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’^{(Q) 24} I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten and the share of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their share.”

Mediator of a Better Covenant

8 Now the main point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,^{(A) 2} a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent^[a] that the Lord, and not any mortal, has set up.^{(B) 3} For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.^{(C) 4} Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are already those^[b] who offer gifts according to the law. ⁵ They offer worship in a sanctuary that is^[c] a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one, just as Moses was warned when he was about to erect the tent.^[d] For, God^[e] said, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”^{(D) 6} But Jesus^[f] has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on the basis of better promises.^{(E) 7} For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one.^(F)

⁸ God^[g] finds fault with them when he says:

¹³ In speaking of a new covenant, he has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and growing old will soon disappear.^(K)

Jesus Returns to Galilee

⁴³ When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee^{(A) 44} (for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet’s own country).^{(B) 45} When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival, for they, too, had gone to the festival.^(C)

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

⁴⁶ Then he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum.^{(D) 47} When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.^{(E) 48} Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you^[a] see signs and wonders you will not believe.”^{(F) 49} The official said to him, “Sir,^[b] come down before my little boy dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.”^[c] The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. ⁵¹ As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. ⁵² So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.” ⁵³ The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.”^[d] So he himself believed, along with his whole household.^{(G) 54} Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.^(H)