The Coronation of the Branch

⁹ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁰ “Collect silver and gold^[a] from the exiles—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah—who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.^{(A) 11} Take the silver and gold and make a crown^[b] and set it on the head of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak;^{(B) 12} say to him: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Here is a man whose name is Branch, for he shall branch out in his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord.^{(C) 13} It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord; he shall bear royal honor and shall sit upon his throne and rule. There shall be a priest by his throne, with peaceful understanding between the two of them.^{(D) 14} And the crown^[c] shall be in the care of Heldai,^[d] Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah^[e] son of Zephaniah, as a memorial in the temple of the Lord.

¹⁵ “Those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the Lord, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”^(E)

Hypocritical Fasting Condemned

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 Chislev.^{(A) 2} Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the Lord^{(B) 3} and to ask the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, “Should I mourn and practice abstinence in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”^{(C) 4} Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: ⁵ “Say to all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth month and in the seventh for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted?^{(D) 6} And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink only for yourselves? ⁷ Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, along with the towns around it, and when the Negeb and the Shephelah were inhabited?”

Punishment for Rejecting God’s Demands

⁸ The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying: ⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another;^{(E) 10} do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.^{(F) 11} But they refused to listen and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears in order not to hear.^{(G) 12} They made their hearts adamant in order not to hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.^{(H) 13} Just as, when I^[a] called, they would not hear, so, when they called, I would not hear, says the Lord of hosts,^{(I) 14} and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and a pleasant land was made desolate.”^(J)

The Priestly Order of Melchizedek

7 This “Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him,”^{(A) 2} and to him Abraham apportioned “one-tenth of everything.” His name, in the first place, means “king of righteousness”; next, he is also king of Salem, that is, “king of peace.” ³ Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.^(B)

⁴ See how great he is! Even^[a] Abraham the patriarch gave him a tenth of the spoils.^{(C) 5} And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to collect tithes^[b] from the people, that is, from their kindred, though these also are descended from Abraham.^{(D) 6} But this man, who does not belong to their ancestry, collected tithes^[c] from Abraham and blessed him who had received the promises.^{(E) 7} It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. ⁸ In the one case, tithes are received by those who are mortal; in the other, by one of whom it is testified that he lives.^{(F) 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.

Another Priest, Like Melchizedek

¹¹ Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood—for the people received the law under this priesthood—what further need would there have been to speak of another priest arising according to the order of Melchizedek rather than one according to the order of Aaron?^{(G) 12} For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. ¹³ Now 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 from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.^(H)

¹⁵ It is even more obvious when another priest arises, resembling Melchizedek, ¹⁶ one who has become a priest, not through a legal requirement concerning physical descent but through the power of an indestructible life.^{(I) 17} For it is attested of him,

¹⁸ There is, on the one hand, the abrogation of an earlier commandment because it was weak and ineffectual^{(K) 19} (for the law made nothing perfect); there is, on the other hand, the introduction of a better hope through which we approach God.^(L)

²⁰ This was confirmed with an oath, for others have become priests without an oath, ²¹ but this one became a priest with an oath because of the one who said to him,

²² accordingly Jesus has also become the guarantor of a better covenant.^(N)

²³ Furthermore, 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 forever. ²⁵ Consequently, he is able for all time to save^[e] those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.^(O)

²⁶ For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.^{(P) 27} Unlike the other^[f] high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself.^{(Q) 28} For the law appoints as high priests humans, who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.^(R)