The Command to Crown Joshua

⁹ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ¹⁰ “Receive the gift from the captives—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have come from Babylon—and go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah. ¹¹ Take the silver and gold, make ^(A)an^[a] elaborate crown, and set it on the head of ^(B)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ¹² Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying:

¹⁴ “Now the ^[d]elaborate crown shall be ^(H)for a memorial in the temple of the Lord ^[e]for Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah. ¹⁵ Even ^(I)those from afar shall come and build the temple of the Lord. Then you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. And this shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

Obedience Better than Fasting

7 Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev, ² when ^[a]the people sent ^[b]Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to ^[c]the house of God, ^[d]to pray before the Lord, ³ and to ^(A)ask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in ^(B)the fifth month and ^[e]fast as I have done for so many years?”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ⁵ “Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you ^(C)fasted and mourned in the fifth ^(D)and seventh months ^(E)during those seventy years, did you really fast ^(F)for Me—for Me? ^6 (G)When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? ⁷ Should you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the ^(H)former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and ^(I)the ^[f]South and the Lowland were inhabited?’ ”

Disobedience Resulted in Captivity

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts:

¹¹ “But they refused to heed, ^(M)shrugged^[h] their shoulders, and ^(N)stopped^[i] their ears so that they could not hear. ¹² Yes, they made their ^(O)hearts like flint, ^(P)refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. ^(Q)Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. ¹³ Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so ^(R)they called out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts. ¹⁴ “But ^(S)I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.”

The King of Righteousness^(A)

7 For this ^(B)Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, ² to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” ³ without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

⁴ Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the ^[a]spoils. ⁵ And indeed ^(C)those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; ⁶ but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham ^(D)and blessed ^(E)him who had the promises. ⁷ Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. ⁸ Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, ^(F)of whom it is witnessed that he lives. ⁹ Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, ¹⁰ for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

Need for a New Priesthood^(G)

^11 (H)Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? ¹² For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. ¹³ For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has ^[b]officiated at the altar.

¹⁴ For it is evident that ^(I)our Lord arose from ^(J)Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning ^[c]priesthood. ¹⁵ And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest ¹⁶ who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. ¹⁷ For ^[d]He testifies:

¹⁸ For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of ^(L)its weakness and unprofitableness, ¹⁹ for ^(M)the law made nothing ^[e]perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of ^(N)a better hope, through which ^(O)we draw near to God.

Greatness of the New Priest

²⁰ And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath ²¹ (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:

²² by so much more Jesus has become a ^[g]surety of a ^(Q)better covenant.

²³ Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. ²⁴ But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore He is also ^(R)able to save ^[h]to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives ^(S)to make intercession for them.

²⁶ For such a High Priest was fitting for us, ^(T)who is holy, ^[i]harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, ^(U)and has become higher than the heavens; ²⁷ who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His ^(V)own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.