⁴ Just look at how great this man was! Even Abraham—the patriarch himself—gave him a tenth of what he had captured! ⁵ 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. ⁶ But this man, whose descent is not traced from them, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the man who had received the promises. ⁷ It is beyond dispute that the less important person is blessed by the more important person. ⁸ Mortal men collect tithes, but we are informed by Scripture^[a] that^[b] Melchizedek^[c] keeps on living. ⁹ One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, ¹⁰ because Levi^[d] was still inside his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.