⁹ The ^(A)word of the Lord also came to me, saying, ¹⁰ “^(B)Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah; and you shall go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have arrived from Babylon.

The Symbolic Crowns

¹¹ Also take silver and gold, make an ornate ^(C)crown, and set it on the head of ^(D)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ¹² Then say to him, ‘The Lord of armies says this: “Behold, there is a Man whose name is ^[a](E)Branch, for He will ^[b](F)branch out from where He is; and He will ^(G)build the temple of the Lord. ¹³ Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, and He who will ^(H)bear the majesty and sit and ^(I)rule on His throne. So He will be a ^(J)priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two ^[c]offices.”’ ¹⁴ Now the ^(K)crown will become a reminder in the temple of the Lord to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and ^[d]Hen the son of Zephaniah. ^15 (L)Those who are far away will come and ^[e]build the temple of the Lord.” Then you will ^(M)know that the Lord of armies has sent me to you. And it will take place if you completely ^(N)obey ^[f]the Lord your God.

7 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^(A)Chislev. ² Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and ^[a]their men to ^[b](B)seek the favor of the Lord, ³ speaking to the ^(C)priests who belong to the house of the Lord of armies, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the ^(D)fifth month ^[c]and fast, as I have done these many years?” ⁴ Then the word of the Lord of armies came to me, saying, ⁵ “Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months ^[d]these ^(E)seventy years, was it actually for ^(F)Me that you fasted? ⁶ And when you eat and drink, ^[e]do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? ⁷ Are these not the words which the Lord ^(G)proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ^(H)carefree along with its cities around it, and the ^[f](I)Negev and the ^[g]foothills were inhabited?’”

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹ “This is what the Lord of armies has said: ‘^(J)Dispense true justice and practice ^(K)kindness and compassion each to his brother; ¹⁰ and ^(L)do not oppress the widow or the ^[h]orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do ^(M)not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ ¹¹ But they ^(N)refused to pay attention, and ^[i](O)turned a stubborn shoulder and ^[j](P)plugged their ears from hearing. ¹² They also made their ^(Q)hearts as hard as ^(R)a diamond ^[k]so that they could not hear the Law and the ^(S)words which the Lord of armies had sent by His Spirit through the ^(T)former prophets; therefore great ^(U)wrath came from the Lord of armies. ¹³ And just as ^(V)He called and they would not listen, so ^(W)they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of armies; ¹⁴ “but I ^[l](X)scattered them with a ^(Y)storm wind among all the nations whom they did not know. So the land was ^(Z)desolated behind them ^[m]so that ^(AA)no one went back and forth, since they ^(AB)made the pleasant land desolate.”

Melchizedek’s Priesthood like Christ’s

7 For this ^(A)Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the ^(B)Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, ² to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. ³ Without father, without mother, ^(C)without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like ^(D)the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.

⁴ Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the ^(E)patriarch, ^(F)gave a tenth of the choicest spoils. ⁵ And those indeed of ^(G)the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have a commandment ^[a]in the Law to collect ^[b]a tenth from the people, that is, from their countrymen, although they ^[c]are descended from Abraham. ⁶ But the one ^(H)whose genealogy is not traced from them ^(I)collected ^[d]a tenth from Abraham and ^[e](J)blessed the one who ^(K)had the promises. ⁷ But without any dispute the lesser person is blessed by the greater. ⁸ In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, ^(L)of whom it is witnessed that he lives on. ⁹ And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, has paid tithes, ¹⁰ for he was still in the loins of his ^[f]forefather when Melchizedek met him.

^11 (M)So if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it ^(N)the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise ^(O)according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron? ¹² For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. ¹³ For ^(P)the one about whom ^(Q)these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. ¹⁴ For it is evident that our Lord ^[g]was ^(R)descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses said nothing concerning priests. ¹⁵ And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, ¹⁶ who has become a priest not on the basis of a law of ^[h](S)physical requirement, but according to the power of ^(T)an indestructible life. ¹⁷ For it is attested of Him,

¹⁸ For, on the one hand, there is the nullification of a former commandment ^(V)because of its weakness and uselessness ¹⁹ (for ^(W)the Law made nothing perfect); on the other hand, there is the introduction of a better ^(X)hope, through which we ^(Y)come near to God. ²⁰ And to the extent that it was not without an oath ²¹ (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him,

²² by the same extent Jesus also has become the ^[i](AC)guarantee of ^(AD)a better covenant.

^23 [j]The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing; ^24 [k]Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues ^(AE)forever, holds His priesthood permanently. ²⁵ Therefore He is also able to ^(AF)save ^[l]forever those who ^(AG)come to God through Him, since He always lives to ^(AH)make intercession for them.

²⁶ For it was fitting for us to have such a ^(AI)high priest, ^(AJ)holy, ^(AK)innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and ^(AL)exalted above the heavens; ²⁷ who has no daily need, like those high priests, to ^(AM)offer up sacrifices, ^(AN)first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because He did this ^(AO)once for all time when He ^(AP)offered up Himself. ²⁸ For the Law appoints men as high priests ^(AQ)who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints ^(AR)a Son, who has been ^(AS)made perfect forever.