⁴ You can see how great Melchizedek was. Abraham, the ·great father [patriarch], gave him a tenth of ·everything that he won in battle [the spoils/booty/plunder]. ⁵ Now the law ·says [authorizes; commands] that those ·in the tribe [^Lof the sons/descendants] of Levi who become priests must collect a ·tenth [tithe] from the people—their ·own people [^Lbrothers (and sisters)]—even though ·the priests and the people [^Lthey] ·are from the family [are also descendants; ^Lhave come from the loins/body] of Abraham. ⁶ [^LBut] Melchizedek was not ·from the tribe of Levi [^Ldescended from them; v. 3; ^Che was not from the Levitical line of priests], but he collected a ·tenth [tithe] from Abraham. And he blessed Abraham, the man who had God’s promises [Gen. 12:1–3]. ⁷ Now ·everyone knows [it is indisputable] that the ·more important person blesses the less important person [^Llesser/inferior is blessed by the greater/superior]. ⁸ ·Priests receive a tenth, even though they are only men who live and then die [^LIn the one case, mortal men receive a tithe,…]. ·But Melchizedek, who received a tenth from Abraham, continues living, as the Scripture says [^L…but in the other case, the one (receives the tithe) who is declared (by Scripture) to be alive]. ⁹ We might even say that Levi, who receives a ·tenth [tithe], also paid it when Abraham paid Melchizedek a tenth. ¹⁰ Levi was not yet born, but he was in the ·body [loins] of his ancestor when Melchizedek met Abraham [^Cthe Levitical priesthood is considered inferior to Melchizedek’s (and Christ’s) priesthood, since Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek through his ancestor Abraham].