Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Song of Ascents
The Exiles Restored
An Oracle about False Prophets
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me,
and all my bones shake.
I’m like a drunk man,
like a person overcome with wine,
because of the Lord,
and because of his holy words.
10 Indeed, the land is full of adulterers.
Indeed, the land mourns because of the curse;
the pastures of the wilderness have dried up.
The adulterers’[a] lifestyles are evil,
and they use[b] their strength for what[c] is not right.
11 Indeed, both priest and prophet are ungodly.
Even in my house I find evil,” declares the Lord.
12 Therefore their way will be slippery.
They’ll be driven out into the darkness,
where they’ll fall.
For I’ll bring disaster on them,
the year of their judgment,”
declares the Lord.
13 “Among the prophets of Samaria I saw a disgusting thing,
for they prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.
14 Among the prophets of Jerusalem I saw a horrible thing,
for they commit adultery and live a lie.
They strengthen the hands of those who do evil,
so that no one repents of his evil.
All of them are like Sodom to me,
and her[d] residents like Gomorrah.”
15 Therefore, this is what the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies says about the prophets,
“I’m about to make them eat wormwood[e]
and drink poisoned water,
because godlessness has spread from the
prophets of Jerusalem throughout the land.”
The Messiah is Superior to Melchizedek
7 Now this man Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, met Abraham and blessed him when he was returning from defeating the kings. 2 Abraham gave Melchizedek[a] a tenth of everything.[b] In the first place, his name means “king of righteousness,” and then he is also king of Salem, that is, “king of peace.” 3 He has no father, mother, or genealogy, no birth date recorded for him, nor a date of death.[c] Like the Son of God, he continues to be a priest forever.
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[d] that[e] Melchizedek[f] keeps on living. 9 One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10 because Levi[g] was still inside his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
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